Legend has it that in a little village up in the mist of the mountains of Cyprus, a stash of the most exquisite, most rare and most expensive treasure was hidden in haste by a witch on the run from her persecutors. The name of this village was Panagia, and the name of the witch - 'Monashilakas'. Monashilakas had collected this treasure by means of bribery and general ill means, and she prized her collection more than anything else on earth. The villagers of Panagia however, were not so fond of Monashilakas and were fed up of being robbed and tricked of their hard earned possesions... and so one very dark night when the moon was but a tiny slither in the sky they rallied together and chased Monashilaka into the forest. Monashilaka tried hard to evade her persuers, and even conjured and bewitched the nymphs and tree spirits of the forest to glow and illuminate her path, but despite her efforts she was eventually caught and captured by the villagers who knew the forest paths much better than she. The villagers tied Monashilaka to a tree and demanded she return their stolen valuables, or they would chop off her hands for being a theif....Monashilaka refused...and the villagers, angry at her stubborness proceeded to chop one hand clean off...at this point...Monshilaka disappeared into a swarm of Dryads and tree nymphs ...leaving the severed hand behind....and the valuables like Monashilaka were gone...
100 years go by, and the long fabled treasure of Monashilaka had still yet to be found. A young man, desperate to find the haul in order to buy the love of his life a ring...Legend had told him that the spirit of the witch still lingered in the forest, guarding the treasure she had desperately hidden in the last moments of her earthly life, and if an individual entered the forest on a dark night clearly shouting the magic word 'DIAFOTIZO'..the tree nymphs will spring to life and illuminate the path guiding the seeker to the treaure...however...if the seeker should happen to resemble any of the villagers from that fateful night..then the seeker may meet the revenge of Monashilaka.....and so off our voyager went...passing a white stone marker on his way into the forest which marked the number of people mysteriously missing inside the forest, and set off in serach of the treasures of the forest and of his heart.
Did our young venturer find the treasure...or did he meet a different fate inside the forest....?!?
And if you venture into the forest in search of the treasure yourself ...what will you find..?!?
This is a Night Cache.....
It will only work at night time, and there are a few things you will need on your venture....
A Flashlight / 2 and a spare set of batteries just in case (THIS IS AN ESSENTIAL ITEM)
A sturdy pair of shoes
A friend to hold your hand
Nerves of solid steel
and
The magic word - 'DIAFOTIZO'
Starting at the start coordinates, enter into the forest (Noting the number of missing individuals lost to the forest before you on the stone marker to your right), SHOUT the magic word and the forest should illuminate before you.....
There are two green stars signalling the start of the trail.....
follow the green markers illuminating before you, passing between 2 where there are 2 facing marks, until you reach a circle of WHITE stars. This marks the location of the cache. The markers will all be green until you reach the cache, and once you have found the cache you will be following a series of WHITE markers....and there are a number of other markers throughout the trail to inform you of something...
TWO GREEN STARS: Start of the trail
THREE MARKERS IN A LINE: Go no further in this direction...look around to find the direction of the trail
GREEN MARKERS: Follow, this will lead you to the cache
CIRCLE OF WHITE STARS: This is the cache location...well done!
WHITE MARKERS: These will lead you back to the starting location once you have found the cache.
The total walk is just less than 1km car door to car door and should take you no longer than 20 mins. The trail is entirely on wide, flat tracks and will not lead you off the path at any stage, however there are a couple of inclines so you will need to be steady on your feet, and if you are unsure, take a headtorch to keep youor hands free. You will not need to venture off the path or into the depths of the forest at any point. The forest is in a safe area, although to be sure, cachers should never travel alone.
Enjoy...and GOOD LUCK.....