Natural Notes of the Trip:

Kakheti Region

The Kakheti region was where we first started our trip. The Kakheti region occupies the southeast area of Georgia. It is a very mountainous region with many people growing grapes for whine. While there are many mountains there are also valleys that are very flat, so there is a lot of variety in the landscape. The trees seemed to be similar to what I am used to in Connecticut. There are large rivers going through the city Tbilisi and some large lakes/resevoirs as well. The city Sighnaghi in the Kakheti Region is high on a cliffside overlooking the Alazani Valley. It was cooler in the higher mountains, though it could get hot when near a lake or resevoir, it was mostly a dry heat lacking humidity unless we were near the water.

Prometheus Cave

The Prometheus Cave was my favorite part of the trip. Discovered in 1984, the Prometheus cave is a mile long cave filled with Stalagmites, underground rivers, a light show, and huge openings. This was my first time ever in a natural cave so it was a very memorable experience. The stone in the cave was limestone but also had clay and calcium in it.

Martvili Canyon

The Martvili Canyon was our stop after the Prometheus cave. We went to do a boat tour through the canyon and much to my surprise the Professor and another student on the trip were both told to sit in the front of the boat and were given paddles. There was a strong current that was caused by a waterfall up the canyon that we went to see. The canyon was narrow with the walls high up and covered in plants.

Adjara Region

The Adjara Region was the final location of the trip, we were staying in Batumi which is right on the Black Sea. Much to my surprise there were mountains almost completely surrounding Batumi which made it a location I found very unique seeing the mountains meet the sea. Since it was on the water it was very humid in the area and was home to plants like palm trees and bamboo which took me by surprise. When we were in the mountains I saw on a mountain in the far distance (likely outside the adjara region) snow was still on the peak of the mountain. We took a boat tour on the black sea where we stopped at one point to swim in the waters away from the beaches. While the beaches constantly have things being stirred up from the waves being out further on a calm day showed how clear the water is compared to beaches in Northeastern America, while swimming we were clearly able to see deep below which was a very cool experience.