Meandering East

The Blue Eye is a natural spring which bursts at top speed from an underground cavern, thought to be over 50 metres deep, forming a river which flows down towards the sea at Sarande. The road to Muzine was dusty, nondescript, littered with rubbish and industry and did not give any hint of the landscape to come. As we descended into the valley, the river is a swimming-pool blue colour with lush green vegetation growing in and around the river valley. Huge native gunnera line the banks and other prehistoric looking big architectural plants, which naturally grow here, make the area feel like a man-made jungle: all the wonders of the landscaped garden of a Victorian Sublime stately home, or a posh garden centre in Chichester. Our jaws dropped when we arrived and stayed dropped as hundreds of dragon flies and butterflies fluttered across the crystal clear waters, and the sound of bird song and mating crickets filled our ears. Even tourists could not ruin our wonder. The makeshift car park housed some thirty cars and a few coaches but only a gaggle of tourists stood around the phenomenon, fixated. ‘No swimming’ rules had to be broken as we joined the brave, jumping into the freezing cold ‘eye’ and diving down into the black of the cave, as the rush of the spring water flowing pushed you up and along. At 10 degrees no one could stay in the water long but the urge to jump in was addictive and totally refreshing.Read more