As legend would have it, Aphrodite was born here – on Cyprus. The sea on its southern coastline is said to be the font of all love. The island is one of the oldest cradles of civilization in the Mediterranean: The Greeks, Egyptians, Romans, Ottomans and British all lived here at some point in history.

No sooner has our presenter Sineb El Masrar arrived on the island than she sets off for the Troodos mountains, where she tastes some prize-winning Cypriot wine. Next stop on the journey is Ayia Napa, for a meeting with Louis Hadjioannou. The marine biologist is looking for an intruder that really shouldn’t be here at all: the lionfish.

Climate change has lured the creature to the Mediterranean Sea. Just as in many places throughout the world, the Cypriots set great store by good food and drink. For Roddy Damalis, who owns the restaurant “TaPiatakia”, the focus is on breathing new life into traditional dishes by combining them with unusual ingredients. After that, the presenter heads for the beach. More than four million tourists visited Cyprus in 2019, often bringing mountains of plastic waste along with them.

The environmental protection organization Akti campaigns against the increase and the consequences of plastic waste on beaches – by giving talks in schools, for example. During the summer months, student curriculums also include beach clean-ups. Sineb El Masrar talks to Charis Theodorou about the campaign and the microplastics problem blighting the Mediterranean.