I don't know why, but this somehow intrigued me and I wanted to know more about it. The locals couldn’t give much information. It seemed it was something they’d rather not talk about.

Back at home I searched the internet, sites and discussion groups. But still I couldn’t find anything substantial (only something about Joni Mitchell).

I thought: ‘If this existed, it must have been an impressive time for the people who were there. There must be pictures and stories. If I can’t find anything about it, it’s probably not true; it must be a hoax.’

I gave up the online search.

 

May 2005 I was browsing through some very old LIFE-magazines (European edition). My parents gave them to me; I kept them for a long time, but now I was cleaning out my storage space. Before

I would throw them away I took one more good look at them.

And there it was! In the August 19, 1968 issue: seven pages about the Matala colony with exactly the kind of pictures I was looking for. The article is written by Thomas Thompson and photography is by Denis Cameron.
I scanned the article and split it up into comprehensive pages for a small website (bandwith was a problem in those days). And I wrote 2 lines, asking people to send their stories. In 2007, Ria from Belgium was the first to respond.

 

2010

5 years passed and I came in contact with a few friendly people willing to share their Matala experience.

I am not, nor have I ever been a flower child, but I am interested in simple ways of living, close to nature and human values. I was in Matala only in 1996 for half a day.

Slowly I realised why I was so intrigued by the Matala caves and the notion that they were inhabited in the sixties and seventies.