Trip to Albania

[Kasia]

Dear TFF Members,

It’s a bit late after my return, but I needed to wait for the delivery of my spoils by mail, which took a while :). Nevertheless, all the fossils are safely with me now, and I can share this report from the trip to Albania with you.

I chose Albania (with a brief visit to Macedonia) as the next destination because it has everything a perfect holiday destination should have, namely: mountains

 

castles

 

lakes

 

seas (Adriatic and Ionian) – btw, the name of the Albanian Riviera is well deserved

 

 

lagoons with pretty birds

 

canyons

 

and quite a few interesting sites to visit, both from the ancient times, like Butrint

 

to the bunkers from the communist times in Tirana.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kasia]

 

Oh, I have almost forgotten about a lot of wineries

 

and …. surprise, surprise

good wine

 

and delicious food

 

 

I did the research on fossil sites in Albania before I left, so I had a vague idea where some of them could be, nevertheless in most cases we needed either to inquire among the locals (which turned out to be successful only once – otherwise all the residents were totally puzzled by our question J) or to follow our instincts. Albania doesn’t have (maybe yet) a natural history museum, which would definitely be helpful , but I hope I have instilled this idea in the minds of the Albanians I met, so let’s hope at some point they will establish one.

 

The first location I found was right above the archaeological site which is considered the origin of Albania – and called Albanopolis.

 

According to the description it was supposed to be full of “good quality fossils in blue Lias” – nevertheless we managed to find only a few of such specimens:

 

 

 

 

[Kasia]

 

The next specimens were found a bit by chance – we were at the Cape of Rodon, on the way to the Skanderberg castle,

 

 

and there, on the road, I found these:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kasia]

As for the following location, I found an article about a surprise discovery made by an ordinary guy in a stream nearby Peqin. We wasted a lot of time looking for a stream, because none of the residents knew anything about such finds, but eventually we managed to locate one – without water

 

 

Here I found such stuff:

 

 

 

 

 

[Kasia]

 

The best location was close to Voskopoje – as one of the residents actually knew what I was after and he indicated very precisely the place. It looks like this:

 

These are the fossils we found:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kasia]

 

 

 

Some were so big that we had to leave them behind

 

 

 

 

[Kasia]

 

In Korce I met a guy who runs a little hostel and is also interested in fossils – and he indicated two sites, but maybe my driver did not understand precisely the instructions, or maybe it was too early for him, because the next day we got up at 6 am and went fossil hunting, but the finds were …. hmmm, have a look.

This is the location:

 

 

[Kasia]

 

And that’s what I found:

 

 

 

After such a disappointing start of the day, we needed to lift up our spirits, so we went to soak a bit in Permet thermal waters.

 

Naturally I could not resist and I started “inspecting” the rocks nearby and found some specimens of foraminiferas:

 

 

 

 

[Kasia]

 

And (I guess) brachiopods?

 

 

Next up was a very interesting place – the Llogara Pass, where you can find the contact point between the African Plate and Eurasian Plate.

 

(fig.comes from the ProGeosite).

The road runs along the red line and at the end there is a parking place and a viewpoint, and right beneath – an outcrop where we could look for fossils.

 

My driver found a huge rudist:

 

and hopefully it will be the first specimen in his collection.

 

These are my finds:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kasia]

 

During a hike later on in the park, I found this tooth:

 

 

The next town on our route was Berat. There are several quarries right before the city – and as I found some information about Pleistocene fossils in the quarry named Shahinova, I decided to check.

The locals told me that actually Shahinova used to be the largest cave in Albania, but unfortunately it was destroyed by the exploitation of rocks and nowadays the only remains of the cave look like this:

 

 

The quarry is huge

 

but unfortunately – fossilless We found only parts of stalactites:

 

 

 

 

 

[Kasia]

 

On the way to a nearby winery, we stopped to browse fallen rocks and there I found pieces of unidentifiable flora:

 

However it looks like a part of a leaf:

 

Although it was not easy to find the exact locations, nevertheless I’m happy with all the finds – and I’m sure I will go back for fossils (and wine

I hope you enjoyed the report and pictures.

 

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Looks like another wonderful adventure, Kasia.

Yes, I enjoyed the report and pictures, thanks for sharing. 

Some great finds, too. 

[Kasia]

8 minutes ago, Tidgy's Dad said:

Looks like another wonderful adventure, Kasia.

Yes, I enjoyed the report and pictures, thanks for sharing. 

Some great finds, too. 

Thanks, a lot of stuff to ID

 

[Tidgy's Dad]

1 hour ago, Kasia said:

Thanks, a lot of stuff to ID

 

Indeed! 

I'm currently having enormous fun identifying some of the stuff you sent me before. 

[Paleome]

Hello, Kasia!

 

Your posts are always so enjoyable to follow.  Lots of beautiful photos, with historical and cultural commentary, and your specimens are spectacular!

Thank you for taking us along on your adventures!

[Kasia]

1 minute ago, Paleome said:

Hello, Kasia!

 

Your posts are always so enjoyable to follow.  Lots of beautiful photos, with historical and cultural commentary, and your specimens are spectacular!

Thank you for taking us along on your adventures!

Thanks a lot It's fun to post the report, it's a bit like re-living the adventure again

[Darktooth]

This is a truly great report and pictures! Thank -you for sharing this with us!

[Kasia]

Just now, Darktooth said:

This is a truly great report and pictures! Thank -you for sharing this with us!

Thanks

[Ludwigia]

Thanks for sharing your adventures. Albania looks like a wonderful place to visit and I could imagine that it's also not all that expensive.

[jpc]

Wow... great adventure and exciting explorations.  Thanks for sharing. 

 

[JUAN EMMANUEL]

I live in Hamilton, Ontario where I know many Albanians. This is the very first time I've seen a report on Albania's geology. Thanks for the posting and I can't wait to see more.

[Kasia]

8 hours ago, Ludwigia said:

Thanks for sharing your adventures. Albania looks like a wonderful place to visit and I could imagine that it's also not all that expensive.

It indeed is a very nice place and people are super friendly As far as the costs are concerned, well - like everywhere, the tourism sector has suffered because of the Coronavirus situation, so some of the hotels/ restaurants are closed. And the ones that actually function - have increased their prices to make up for the lost time during the season. So it used to be more economic, although still for the tourists from EURO zone - probably very affordable.

[Kasia]

4 hours ago, jpc said:

Wow... great adventure and exciting explorations.  Thanks for sharing. 

 

Thanks - I'm glad you liked it

 

[Kasia]

1 hour ago, JUAN EMMANUEL said:

I live in Hamilton, Ontario where I know many Albanians. This is the very first time I've seen a report on Albania's geology. Thanks for the posting and I can't wait to see more.

I think Albania is an excellent country for all paleontologists who would like to make some exciting discoveries - because there is absolutely no competition Literally nobody is interested in fossils - the guys from the agency told me that I was the first tourist ever in their career to tell them about fossils in Albania and thanks to me they learned something new about their own country  This total lack of interest makes it however a challenge to locate any fossil site - because in other countries, even if people are not interested in fossils, they know for instance the places where some excavations were made by some researchers or some other fossil hunters were going to, so they can point you the right direction. Here we wasted a lot of time asking around and 99,99% of people answered "No idea".   

[Monica]

Cool trip, Kasia!  I'm glad you had a nice little getaway and found some fossils, too! 

 

(By the way - one of the students I taught last year is Albanian - if/when I see her this year I'll make sure to let her know that she should try to find fossils in her home county if/when she ever goes back!)