Uncle Bob and the dog do the Cyprus E4

A veteran German hiker mastered a long European trail and found an unexpected companion on the last leg.

Fancy a 10,000km hike? Well, Uncle Bob did, starting on the E4 trail from Spain and ending up in Cyprus.

The fit German hiker in his fifties was accompanied along the last stretch of his formidable year and a half journey by Finn – a fearsome looking but peaceful stray Alsatian who had adopted Uncle Bob in a Paphos village.

The trusty companion then accompanied Bob on the journey up and through the Troodos mountain range. Initially sleeping outside the tent, a storm in the mountains saw Finn cuddle up for warmth inside.

Friends, family and simply those he met along the way kept up to date on Uncle Bob’s daily shenanigans through his Facebook account – with Finn regularly stealing the show.

But that left Uncle Bob with a dilemma: he had to find the handsome hound a new home before he left Cyprus.

“Now he’s in in the best hands in Oroklini on his cozy couch, stealing his stepbrother’s toys… and I’m here in the bunk bed of a hostel in Nicosia,” Uncle Bob wrote on social media, a few days before his departure from the island.

Uncle Bob was initially meant to travel across the Atlantic for the US’ Continental Divide trail, but it was in the ghost-village of Istinjon in Paphos where I met the intrepid hiker.

Cyprus is the last – or first, depending on which way you start – stretch along Europe’s E4 long distance path, passing through countries such as Greece, Hungary, Romania, Spain, France and Switzerland. The Cyprus section of the E4 was inaugurated in 2005, and is 539 km long and takes in Troodos and the Akamas.

“I had initially planned to hike the Continental Divide Trail in the US but the borders were closed due to Covid by the time I arrived in Lanzarote,” the former caregiver told the Cyprus Mail.

Determined and undeterred, Uncle Bob then set his sights on the E4 – double the length of the route he had initially planned on.

Having worked his way though the European mainland, Uncle Bob finished off the Herculean effort in Crete and then Cyprus.

“I arrived in Kyrenia on December 28 and started hiking in Paphos two days later, eventually finishing at Larnaca airport almost a month later on January 26,” he told us, adding that he left Cyprus last Sunday.

Rarely sleeping under the comfort of a roof, Uncle Bob instead “wild camped” under the night sky – not a very common sight in Cyprus. That was only ever an issue once, however, as the experienced hiker scouted out suitable spots.

“I pitched my tent two times in the buffer zone, the first time the UN control didn’t see me at all, but the second time I had to move my tent about 500 metres,” he said.

For some of us getting off the sofa is effort enough – so how does one decide to hike 10,000km?

“It all started when I was 40 and read a book by Stephen Pern on the Continental Divide trail.

“I was thrilled and decided to try a part of it, so I bought some gear, learned to navigate and looked for someone to join and then did 14 days in Montana,” Uncle Bob explained.

Since then, the German hiker has trekked across five continents.

“In Nepal I did the Annapurna Circuit, in Tasmania the Overland Track, in Peru the Salktantay trek and the Appalachian trail on the US east coast,” he explained.

With the E4 under his belt Uncle Bob can rest easy, but I imagine that elusive Continental Divide hike may prove too tempting.

And if he does find time to rest, he’s already got another project in mind: writing a book.

Stumbling into Uncle Bob was a refreshing reminder of the world outside of this small island, and having been inspired by another hiker almost 15 years ago – the German proves that wanderlust is infectious.

Cyprus itself is undergoing a transformation, with locals rediscovering lost trails.

Indeed, the deputy tourism ministry announced last month that two forest shelters are now available in Livadi, near Gialia in Paphos.

It is hoped that they will welcome both local and international hikers as Cyprus is working to further establish long distance trails on the island.

But they definitely won’t have a Finn to keep them warm at night.