Discover Ajara: UNESCO-protected forests, legendary Georgian hospitality and futuristic architecture

Georgia’s Ajara region lies along the Black Sea Coast. Historically it’s been a crossroads of civilisations, where Europe meets Asia.

In this episode of Explore, we experience its rich culture and legendary hospitality, visit Georgia’s second city Batumi with its mix of ancient history and futuristic architecture and explore the region’s stunning nature which lies just outside the city.

The region has a huge diversity of nature, all within easy reach of Batumi. With its subtropical climate, bamboo trees and citrus trees flourish. Visitors can enjoy the beaches along the coast of the Black Sea, and within ten minutes be in the mountains with waterfalls and pristine rainforests.

Ajara’s lush forests cover 60% of the region and are unique, with some of them 20 million years old. They are the only place in the world where colchic forest, a humid, deciduous rainforest, and wetlands coexist.

Mitrala National Park is one of four protected national parks in Ajara that form part of a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Mike Garforth is a British Forestry expert who has been living in Georgia for the last two decades.

“The forests here survived the ice ages” he explains. “The rest of Europe was covered by hundreds of metres of ice and all of the forests were destroyed and all wildlife was destroyed. Here in Georgia, everything survived. And here there are species, we call them endemic species, that cannot be found anywhere else.”

Mike shares that some of the things he loves about Georgia are the abundance of delicious seasonal fruits and vegetables and how hospitable Georgians are.

"Georgia’s got a very rich, very proud history, people are very warm, very family oriented and very hospitable. There’s a saying in Georgia that a guest is a gift from