By Nicolas Bard

The trip to Lake Kerkini is distant, but it’s worth it. With the creation of the dam in Strymon in 1932 a magical landscape of great environmental importance and a great wetland was born.

The mountain tumors of Beles and the Crusians located on the outskirts of the artificial lake create a habitat for hundreds of rare species of birds and mammals, which have found refuge on the banks of Kerkini. This environment is also ideal for buffalo living as they love water and spend much of the day in the lake.

O largest population buffalo In Greek territory it is today in Kerkini. According to the prevailing view, the Greek buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) comes from Asia.

Settled in the area in the 13th century And they live there to the present day. Another version wants the buffalo to live in the area for about 2,500 years, already when Xerxes transported his army supplies, crossing the Strymon River. They are also called “water bodies”, as they are animals that especially love water, and spend much of the day in the water.

Until the 1950s existed in Greece around 75,000 buffaloas they helped the farmers to plow their fields with the plows. However, with the introduction of tractors and productive Dutch cows, their numbers were significantly reduced, resulting in only 600 animals remaining in 1992. Shortly before we enter 2000, the remaining populations joined a conservation program as a rare breed of farm animals in danger, and since then their population has begun to recover!

Today about 4,000 watercolis gave life back to the Kerkini areadeveloped as an area of ​​high tour of interest, with many sights, hostels, taverns, buffalo breeders and buffalo standardists, and as a result of being a major gastronomic destination. The buffaloes, which are not well known to the general public, stand out for the taste and nutritional value of their meat, as they are rich in iron, phosphorus and vitamin A.

If you are in the area, it is worth making the lake round with horses, through the meadows that extend to the surrounding areas, with mountain bikes, with 4×4 jeeps or even on foot, if you are a hiking enthusiast. Depending on the season, the area of ​​the lake ranges from 4,000 to 8,000 hectares, and beyond the buffaloes you will see rare species of birds, finding a safe refuge on the banks and dense lake reeds.