Kolkheti National Park

Kolkheti National Park, Georgia

Sunrise light gleaming across the reed-fringed wetlands and shallow waters of Kolkheti National Park in western Georgia.

Kolkheti National Park is a warm, wet coastal wetland on Georgia's Black Sea plain, with lake water, reeds and Colchic forest.

The place

Kolkheti National Park occupies the wet coastal plain where western Georgia meets the Black Sea, on ground once called Colchis and now split between Samegrelo-Zemo Svaneti and Guria. Its mapped centre is near 42.11 north and 41.70 east, in the gap where the Tikori and the Supsa reach the sea, and the land runs through Zugdidi, Khobi, Lanchkhuti, Senaki and Abasha districts. Founded in 1998, it guards a low wetland country built around Lake Paliastomi, the marshes beside it, and forest that stands in ground which stays wet. Central Kolkheti's marshes carry Ramsar status, the international designation for wetlands.

Rain is heavy and falls in every part of the year, on the order of 1,500 to 1,600 millimetres, so there is no dry season to aim for. January is the coolest month, with lows near minus 7 degrees Celsius. August usually sits near 22 degrees, though it has touched 34. Strong coastal winds arrive in spells and roughen both the lake and the open shore.

Travel is often by boat. Craft go out on Lake Paliastomi and along the Pichori River, on short loops and on longer routes. Birdwatching, horse riding, walking and diving are offered alongside. Visitor access dates from 2007. The character of the place is the join of habitats: reed, open water, flooded wood and a Black Sea beach in one coastal sweep. Settlements such as Korkheli, in Zugdidi district, stand at the edge of that wet ground and show the plain as a home, not only as a boundary on a map.

Its story

Kolkheti National Park takes its name from Kolkheti, the Colchis of Greek myth and of Georgian tradition. Long before a park was drawn, this coast belonged to the old warm belt of forest that crossed Eurasia in the Tertiary, a wetter world than the seasonal woods that followed. From that lowland came the kingdom remembered as Kolkheti, or Colchis, which minted its own silver coins, the Kolkhuri Tetri. Greek writers treated Colchis as the far edge of the lands they knew. It is the shore Jason and the Argonauts sought for the Golden Fleece, and the home of Medea, daughter of King Aeetes. The same cycle of stories sets Prometheus in the mountains of this wider land, punished for giving fire to humanity, and it names others of the Colchian line: Idyia, Pasiphae, Circe, Chalciope and Absyrtus. Some accounts also tie the Amazons to Colchis.

Greek settlers from Miletus, drawn by the coast's wealth, opened harbours at Phasis, Gyenos and Sukhumi. Alexander's campaigns never took those ports in. When Persian power receded, much of the country was called Egrisi and was attached to the young kingdom of Iberia, or Kartli, while keeping a life of its own until Mithridates of Pontus took it over.

Related but distinct peoples lived along the Black Sea shore, among them the Lazi, the Heniochi, the Macrones, the Mossynoeci and the Soani. Roman forts later held the coast, with uneven success. Highland groups raided the lowlands that now lie inside the park boundary. The marshes and the forest outlasted those kingdoms. Founded in 1998, the national park is the modern boundary around what remains of that wet Colchian country.

What to see

Culture

Kolkheti National Park stands in Mingrelian and Gurian country, where western Georgia keeps its own speech, songs and table habits inside a wider Georgian culture. Samegrelo is Mingrelian-speaking; Guria, on the Supsa side of the plain, is widely associated with close-harmony polyphonic singing. A guest is still received at the supra, a shared meal led by a toastmaster, with wine and a sequence of toasts. The Colchian past is local geography, not a distant legend: the park's name, the lake country and the tales of Medea and the Golden Fleece all sit on this coast. Fishing, boats and cattle on wet pasture shape village life, and feast days pull families back to settlements in Zugdidi, Khobi and Lanchkhuti. Small parish churches anchor those villages. Anyone stepping inside is expected to dress modestly and to speak quietly. Boatmen on Lake Paliastomi and the Pichori read the channels as farmers read fields, and going out with them keeps that knowledge in work. Ask before photographing people, and stay on the boat trail rather than pushing into reed beds where birds nest.

What to wear

Kolkheti National Park is rural western Georgia, and dress around it mixes ceremonial clothes with ordinary town wear. For festivals, choirs and family feasts, men may wear the chokha, a long wool coat with rows of cartridge pockets, belted at the waist, and sometimes a papakhi of sheepskin. Women may wear a long dress and a light or embroidered headscarf. Those garments are for ceremony, not for mud. In Zugdidi, Khobi and the coastal villages, everyday clothes are jeans, shirts, light jackets and trainers, with a waterproof added when rain starts. The weather decides what is actually useful. Rain falls in every season, the ground stays soft, summer can feel close and heavy, and January can turn cool. Sensible kit is a light waterproof jacket, trousers that take mud, and boots with a grip rather than sandals. On Lake Paliastomi or the Pichori, a hat and a layer against coastal wind matter more than smart cloth. Shoulders and knees should be covered in a village church. In the reed beds, dull colours are the practical choice.

What to eat

Plan it

Best time. May, the driest month at about 56 mm, suits Kolkheti National Park best, while September and October are among the wettest. Rain runs near 1,500 to 1,600 millimetres and is spread through the year, so a dry month cannot be counted on. January lows sit near minus 7 degrees Celsius. August usually sits near 27 degrees, with daily highs around 38 degrees and heavy humidity. Late spring has the least rain and avoids the coolest weeks, so it is kinder for long hours on the water, while July is the hottest month.

How long. 2–3

Getting there. Kutaisi and Batumi are the usual airports for this part of western Georgia. From either, the last leg is by road toward Poti and the shore between the Tikori and the Supsa, or through Zugdidi for the northern districts of Kolkheti National Park. Boat landings on Lake Paliastomi and the Pichori are fixed locally rather than at a single gate, so the day's access point should be confirmed before setting out.

Budget. mid

Tips

Etiquette

Nearby

Sources