Beyond the Beach at Pavilosta in Latvia, Pavilosta, Latvia (B)

It is said that every road in Pāvilosta in the Kurzeme region of Latvia leads to the beach. This may be true but they pass by some interesting places on the way.

Fringed by Baltic coastline and the Saka River, Pāvilosta offers a closeness to nature it is rare to find. Enriched by beautiful parks and historic buildings reflecting an interesting heritage there is plenty to delight in this small town. But, I did start my visit with an early morning walk along its beautiful beach fringed by grey dunes.

Grey dunes fringe the large, sandy beach of Pāvilosta and the widest of these, at 1.5 kilometres has been designated the Grey Dune of Pāvilosta nature reserve to protect this unique landscape. The creation of this nature reserve, like their restoration of old buildings is another great example of the Latvian passion for their culture and natural landscapes. In Soviet times the local fishermen here would dry seaweed in the dunes to make agar (a food thickener). This accounts for the abundant vegetation growing here. In summer the blooms of Breckland Thyme and Narrowleaf Hawkweed carpet the dunes in yellow and violet. A small group of local enthusiasts campaigned vigorously for the protection of this special area and in 2007 it became a specially protected biotope when the nature reserved was established. Today, visitors can stroll through the dune along the boardwalks or admire it from the specially constructed observation tower. ...... (follow the instructions below for accessing the rest of this article).