Samegrelo tours | Off the beaten track
Lush, tropical Samegrelo will make you reconsider how many shades of green you know. This is where the clearest rivers of Georgia rush down from jungly slopes and water a fertile, rolling land on their way to the sea. This is where the tallest waterfalls are, the most spectacular mountain lakes, the quietest beaches, and the warmest winters. Samegrelo is a different kind of paradise.
Megrelian people love to have big ornate houses, neat gardens, and spicy food. They speak their own language; other Georgians can’t understand them and consider them a bit odd. In reality, they are enthusiastic, epicurean hosts. Megrelian cuisine, in my opinion, is the best in the country – lavishly flavored with the abundant blessings of its gardens and pastures and featuring several dishes that you won’t find anywhere else. Samegrelo is also home to some excellent tea plantations.
Samegrelo is a broad and diverse land. It encompasses the last windings of the Rioni River to its delta through the massive, pristine swamps of the Kolkheti Reserve, where migratory birds refresh themselves on their journeys between the continents and water buffaloes bathe lazily by the seaside. It stretches up to the majestic Tobavarchkhili Lake, two or three days of a moderately strenuous trek into the mountains, rewarding beyond words. By Balda village, the rolling foothills enclose the crystal clear waters of the Abasha River through Balda Canyon, the fairytale-like Jortsku cave and forest, the mighty Oniore, Toba, and Kaghu waterfalls, and the trail the Askhi Plateau, the great cheese factory in the sky between Samegrelo and Lechkhumi. Tsalenjikha has a stunning cathedral frescoed in the Byzantine style; Nokalakevi has a waterfall fed by a hot spring, making Georgia’s best outdoor onsen. And much, much more; Samegrelo has it all, so much so that once there, you might start to forget about seeing the rest of Georgia.
Feel free to get in touch if you would be interested in fully customized Samegrelo tours with me!
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The quietly poetic town of Tsalenjikha.
Architectural details at Tsalenjikha cathedral.
Wildflowers on the trail to Tobavarchkhili.
Chitagvalashi mountain and Tobavarchkhili lake at the roof of Samegrelo.
Toba Waterfall, the largest in Georgia, emerges from a cave in the mountainside. Those brave and skilled enough to climb up will find another waterfall inside.
Rowboat is the best way to travel the placid wetland lakes of the Kolkheti National Park.
Chakvinji Fortress in Jikhashkari, central Samegrelo.
The ruins of Menji Sanatorium, one of the many abandoned Soviet health resorts scattered around Georgia.
View from the top of Instra waterfall in winter.
A still from my short film “The Threshold“, shot at the seaside village of Anaklia. Image credit: Nat Rowbotham
Sturdy red Megrelian cows, content and well-fed, on the trail to the Askhi Massif.