One man has planted thousands and thousands of corn plants for your entertainment and created a maze
THE more I walked, the more I began to worry about how I was going to get out of there. I was in the middle of a corn field and all I could see was corn and occasionally other people running around in circles, holding on to pieces of paper as if they had a national treasure in their possession. Well, it might not be a national treasure but those cards were our way out. We had to get them stamped in order to exit the field and be regarded as winners. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to make it and would probably be left in the middle of the maze, running into dead ends every second and shattering my hopes of ever getting out. Does any of this sound appealing? If you are up to the challenge and feel you can make it through Cyprus’ newest attraction, pop down to Avgorou and have a go at the Cyprus maze.
Although the idea of getting lost in a maze excited me, and a bunch of friends, the whole concept is targeted at children. As the younger generation are turning into computer heads and their thumbs are worn by video games, the Cyprus maze will be taking a chance and hopefully turning all those heads towards the environment. “We are looking at getting kids to be more active and get them out into nature,” said Andy Aldiss, the man responsible for this attraction, “but the most important thing is to get them away from computers, mobile phones and video games. We are trying to give children a new way of looking at life by solving puzzles and working out clues.”
The idea is to get children working as a team and challenging their minds with the Maze Puzzle. Throughout the 5km of pathways, the children must find various posts where a puzzle must be solved in order to get their card stamped and they can move on. If they have successfully collected seven stamps they are eligible to exit the maze as winners. “When they are given all the instructions and a ticket, we set them lose inside the maze and they know that the answers are in there, they’ve just got to find them,” explained Andy. The journey begins on a bus (which doesn’t move) that has been transformed into something like a classroom. “In order for children to understand the importance of taking care of our environment, everything you see here on the field are things other people discarded, including this bus,” said Andy. The bus had been abandoned in the middle of a field; a quick fix-up and some paint turned it into something useful. Andy was right, there was nothing that screamed new on the field. The maze is fenced with old water pipes, which Andy found hundreds of around the fields, which have been painted and now look amazing.
Even though the maze is actually designed with children in mind, there is only a slim chance that a young child could make it – sorry parents – but all is not last as Andy has designed another, smaller, labyrinth for toddlers. The Rock Labyrinth as it is called isn’t really easy peasy either as there is almost 250 metres of pathways and dead ends. The Rope Puzzle is again something the whole family could enjoy. “The idea is to try and get from one end to the other,” said Andy, “but you have a rope around your wrist which you follow and others have the same, so you end up very mixed up and you have to get out of it.”
Almost two years of planning have brought the maze to where he is right now, based on designs and mazes created in the UK, USA and other sites across the globe. However, a corn maze seems to be something that only Cyprus could offer. “This form of Agri-Tainment, which is something between agriculture and entertainment, was something I couldn’t let go of,” explained Andy, “because with all this that I am creating at this moment, schools could benefit as well. There’s so much to study and kids are always interested in stuff like this.” To top the educational programme that Andy has going, the maze itself is in the shape of Pegasus cut out from the field. Oops, I think I’ve given away one clue. And don’t forget to try your luck at the Wishing Well.
The Cyprus Maze will officially open on Saturday. Tel: 99 892249 for more information or visit www.cyprusmaze.com
