BLUE EYE NATURE PARK

This 293-hectare protected area (Syri i Kaltër Nature Park) is a popular tourist spot along the road between Saranda and Gjirokastra (9 km east of Mesopotam) and at the foot of the Mali i Gjerë massif (1,789 m above sea level). The park is organized around a superb "spring" called Syri i Kaltër: "the Blue Eye". The name is due to the hues of the micro-algae that, on the edges, give a brilliant blue-green reminiscent of the iris of an eye, while in the center, the powerful, cold waters gush out from a depth of 50 m, where the absence of light evokes the blackness of the pupil. This is the birthplace of the coastal river Bistrica ("limpid river" in Slavonic), which after 25 km flows into the Ionian Sea south of Saranda. More accurately, it's a resurgence: the Bistrica rises higher up, in Mali i Gjerë, but remains underground until now. The site also owes a great deal to human activity. A small dam was built on the Bistrica during the communist period, level with the reception parking lot. This created an 8-hectare lake. A 3.2 km trail leads around it through a beautiful forest that was once a hunting reserve for the Communist elite. But the main trail to the "spring" (1.5 km) is not very bucolic: cafés, souvenir stores, a small tourist train and vehicles in all directions (scooters, bicycles and electric motorcycles for hire). More peaceful are the kayak excursions on the lake.