MYCOBOTANICA-MAY 2026

a Botanical + Fungi focused Immersion in Northern Greece

Greece this time of year is breathtaking.  Super blooms everywhere! Rare plants and hillsides blooming with of terrestrial orchids, peonies, rock rose, valerian, geranium, hawthorne, elder and more!! Come touch plants and stroll around nymph lily mountain lakes where rare salamanders live.  Witness lichen drenched trees and sun kissed mountain streams.  Walk ancient paths and stone bridges where Cistus and Campanulas grow.

We visit a range of different habitats and ecosystems.  Hardwood Kermes Oak, Hazelnut, Ironwood + Beech gift us their incredible mycorrhizal mushrooms like Boletes, Truffles and Chanterelle.  The evergreen of the Fir and Black Pine share Lactarius + Suilles and pine loving fungi. Between these forest habitats we flow amongst rolling sheep and goat grazed high meadows and we even experrience a pseudo-alpine habitat where we see stunted yet mighty old Junipers scattering the terrain and where St. Georges Mushroom(Calocybe gambosa) fairy rings bless our experience.

Come truffle hunting with our friends and their cute dogs that are cared well for and loved.  These amazing cute little pups find us truffles to enjoy, sometimes huge ones! We spend the day on their truffle farm alongside a limestone bed river.

This 9 days is for someone who wants to deepen their plant and mushroom knowledge. Our MYCOBOTANICA seminar will either be your introduction or a continuation to your educational path. We welcome both novice and those with experience working and learning from plants and mushrooms.

SOME TOPICS + group activities

-Identification of Plants, Trees, Mushrooms and more!

-Ethical Harvesting + Gathering of Plants and Mushrooms

-Common uses of Mushrooms + Plants of Greece

-Demystifying Taxonomy + Binomial names

-Smelling Your Way Through the Forest

-Learn how to make Botanical Hydrosols, Oxymels + Honeys

-Common Greek Herbs for Immune support

-Cooking wild mushrooms + local dishes

+ MORE!

DAY ONE- Ioannina > Western Zagori >Truffle Hunting

Meet us in the glorious and ancient city of Ioannina! A rich place for history, food, textiles and lively cafes and parks. Ioannina is also rich with the truest gift a mountain-side lake and hundreds of years old Sycamore trees. Although we dont spend much time here, we def visit some of my favorite spots and will suggest great places to visit and stay. Once we leave Ioannina we head slowly into the northern Pindus mountains and eventually make it to our friend Toula + Katerina’s Truffle farm and homestead. Here we meet the cutest pups, dogs that are well cared for and not treated badly and exploited, sadly a thing we have seen over the years. Pictured is Rocky finding Black Summer Truffles like a fluffy sweet angel! After our truffle hunt, we are blessed by our hosts who make us a mushroom + truffle forward meal under the trees and grape vines.

Day 2 - Western Zagori - Village life, Natural Dyeing + Farm to Table Meal

Today we start seeping into the region. We stay in stone villages and start drinking the village springwater. We open our time in the region with meeting with a local artist, host, farmer and friend Lena Athanigerakiou. Lena is a specialist and historian regarding local shepherding and the use of wool. She helped start a local cooperative of women who are growing endangered breeds of sheep for our indigenous wool to continue the tradition of woolen arts and textiles. Today we enjoy the process of creating dyed wool with both mushrooms and plants.

Day 3 - Vikos Gorge > Voidomatis River

Today is a day of riverside walks, collecting aromatic herbs, gazing into mesmerizing flowers. We visit the Vikos Gorge, Europe deepest gorge. The villages in this area are stone, steep and sometimes popping with tourists, luckily we are on the cusp of peak season. We keep learning and stop to admire the plants in this special valley.

Day 4- Plant processing, Hydrosols + other botanical preparations

Ever sit on the ground and be completely encircled by millions of wild flowers?

Day 5 - Central Zagori - Travel Day