Psistrakis — new visit

14 April 2009 visit with Afroditi Kardamaki, Manos Petrakis and Niovi Stasinou. Psistrakis is a place that gives far more than we can return — the least we can do is respect it.

We found discarded carbide residue and rubbish scattered through the cave. People who treat a cave this way should not call themselves cavers.

Chitres (cave pots): on the floor of the final 80m shaft, erosion pots formed by dripping water from high ceilings — the falling drops set pebbles spinning, drilling circular holes in the rock. The sound of the spinning pebbles gave the formation its Greek name. When the enclosed pebbles become coated white by salt deposits, they are called “cave pearls.”