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Feb 7, 2026

Hiking to the Nokalakevi fortress and the canyon around it

Once upon a time…Nevermind. I like hiking, and I like to be in nature listening to its silences and sounds. Being now in Georgia, I have a lot of opportunities to enjoy truly spectacular views in different parts of the country. I mostly go hiking with a local hiker community, and I take photos not only of the nature but of the people from the community while hiking with them.

Last weekend I managed to get out of Batumi to a different part of Georgia: Samegrelo region. Nokalakevi, in particular. Nokalakevi is the fortress-city known from the ancient times. And it’s situated near the sulfur springs Betlemi and the local canyons. There is the old forest along the canyon with the trees covered in moss. In February it’s almost spring in this region. So it’s almost guaranteed that you will be able to see new flowers springing under the mossed trees there.

All the photos here are shot with the Sony 85mm/f1.8 lens.

(ISO 800, 1/200 sec, f/5.6, 85mm)

a man shaking a tree with pollen

(ISO 800, 1/250 sec, f/2.5, 85mm)

a flower blooming

(ISO 800, 1/2500 sec, f/2 85mm)

undercover with first flowers in moss forest

                                                                       

view from the fortress to the valley

(ISO 100, 1/40 sec, f/8, 85mm)

close-up view of pollen

(ISO 800, 1/1000 sec, f/1.8, 85mm)

view to mossed trees

(ISO 800, 1/125 sec, f/1.8, 85mm)

a man on an old tree

(ISO 640, 1/160 sec, f/5.6, 85mm)

black and white photo of pomegranate tree

(ISO 640, 1/160 sec, f/5.6, 85mm)

 

 

Koscya Helaku. Some rights reserved.