Experience the pink and coral flats through Dimitris Kolliakos’s enchanting paramotor flight Nestled along Albania's southern shores, the Vlora salt fields offer a captivating spectacle that stands apart from other natural wonders. Unlike the more commonly known salt pans around the globe, the Vlora flats are celebrated for their otherworldly pastel palette that transforms with the rhythm of the seasons, creating a mesmerising visual feast. Recently, these fields garnered even more attention when Greek paraglider and paramotor pilot Dimitris Kolliakos undertook a breathtaking flight over the area. Dimitris Kolliakos of Greece performs at salt fields in Vlorë, Albania on August 7, 2024. Photo: Nejc Ferjan / Red Bull Content Pool On August 7, 2024, Kolliakos flew from Greece to ...
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If you’d like to walk for miles in concrete burrows built to defend an isolationist regime that nobody wanted to attack, Kukes in northeastern Albania is the place for you. The small Balkan country’s post World War II communist leadership reveled in massive defensive works; the countryside is still littered with the crumbling remains of 175,000 concrete mini-bunkers — again built to stop imaginary invaders. But Kukes’ tunnels take the prize. Tourist guide Afrim Cenaj, 44, shows the underground tunnels beneath the city of Kukes, about 150 kilometers (90 miles) north of Tirana, Albania, Wednesday, March 15, 2023.(AP Photo/Franc Zhurda) Dug from the 1970s to the early 1990s — just in time for the communist regime’s collapse — the underground network was meant to house the town’s ent...
Read MoreEnvironmentalists protested over the weekend at the building site of a new airport in Albania's south meant to boost tourism but which they say will endanger sanctuaries for some 200 bird species including flamingos and pelicans. The picturesque Vjose-Narte lagoon close to Albania's Adriatic seaside is a crucial stop for flocks of birds in their annual migration between Europe and Africa. Flamingos are seen at the Vjosa-Narte Protected area in Vlora, Albania, January 28, 2023. REUTERS/Florion Goga The government is building the airport just 5 kilometres (3 miles) from the Adriatic coast with pristine sandy beaches which the poor Balkan nation hopes will attract more foreign tourists. "For those who think this airport will bring development, in reality this airport will bring o...
Read MoreMissing Ukrainian and Russian tourists: From Sharm el-Sheikh to Adriatic coast
On Sharm el-Sheikh's sandy beaches many of the sun loungers lie empty. At a central promenade packed with shops, cafes and nightclubs, crowds are thinner than usual. The resort on the southern tip of Egypt's Sinai Peninsula is reeling from the impact of the war in Ukraine, which has seen Ukrainians and Russians - previously among the town's top visitors - virtually disappear, tourism sector workers say. A general view of a pool at a hotel in the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, June 4, 2022. REUTERS/Mohamed Abd El Ghany Similarly, the once ubiquitous Russian signs along Montenegro's picturesque Adriatic coast have all but disappeared as the war in Ukraine and sanctions against Russia keep tourists from those countries away from one of their favourite destinations. Adriat...
Read MoreAlbanian officials on Monday declared the Vjosa River and its tributaries a future national park, a move aimed at preserving what they called one of the last wild rivers in Europe. The Albanian Ministry of Tourism and Environment signed an agreement with the California-based Patagonia environmental organization to draft an “integrated and sustainable plan” for the new park. FILE - People raft on the Vjosa River near Permet, Albania, June 25, 2019. (AP Photo/Felipe Dana, File) “This is an opportunity to protect one of Europe’s rivers, really one of the crown jewel rivers of Europe,” Ryan Gellert of Patagonia told The Associated Press. Patagonia, along with other environmental groups EcoAlbania, Riverwatch and EuroNatur, will help organize and fund a panel of international and l...
Read MoreConservationists decry plan for Albania’s biggest airport Plans to build Albania's biggest airport could destroy one of Europe's most spectacular sanctuaries for giant birds, where the noise of trucks and excavators is already scaring away pelicans and flamingos, ornithologists say. Flamingos are seen at the Vjosa-Narte Protected area in Vlora, Albania, January 15, 2022. REUTERS/Florion Goga The picturesque Vjose-Narte lagoon in the shadow of Albania's Thunderbolt Mountains on the Adriatic Sea, is a crucial stop for flocks of birds on their annual migration between Europe and Africa. It was declared a protected nesting and migration area in 2004, and is home to 200 bird species. The government says a new airport on the lagoon will boost tourism along Albania's pristine Adriati...
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