Antikithera is a small island roughly 10kms by 3kms and lies midway, south of the Peloponnese between Kithera and Western Crete.

Image from Google Earth

Being part of the Natura 2000 project the whole island is a Special Protected Area for birds.

Antikithera has a population of around fifty and only a few motor vehicles, it is a very quiet island with one Taverna and a twice weekly ferry, April to September and weekly from October to March, weather permitting ! There is no airfield on the island and the harbour is an exposed north facing one… any bad weather from a northerly direction could mean an enforced stay of another week.

In the centre of the island lies Antikithera Bird Observatory [ABO] an old converted school that accommodates eight personnel both Greek and foreign national volunteers and is run by the Greek Ornithological Society [HOS]. New guest accommodation should be ready for 2008 and looked to be near completion when I left the island.

Projects are Bird ringing, Raptor migration and the protection and monitoring of Eleonora’s Falcon -Falco Eleonorae. These take place in spring and late summer/Autumn. Antikithera has 80% of the world population of Eleonora’s breeding there and is a major migration route between Europe and Africa.