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Greece: Zakynthos

Friday May 28, 2004: Departure

3:33. We are woken up and need to get out of bed.

4:00. Maurits picks us up and brings us to Zaventem.

4:30. We arrive at Zaventem, check in, drink a coffee and have a croissant.

6:30. Take off! We have a delay of only 15 minutes, because the captain is waiting for an additional 4 persons.

10:30. Landing in Athens. It’s 1 hour later here than in Belgium. Add fuel and pick up a few more people.

11:30. Departure from Athens to Zakynthos. We only need to fly an hour from here.

12:00. Arrival on Zakynthos. We only need to wait for our luggage for a few moments, take the bus and then the second stop is our hotel. By 13:30 we have unpacked and have everything on order. We immediately take the time to explore the neighborhood, we eat something on the beach: Greek salad, tzatziki and drink retsina with it. It’s OK to start good. We walk along the beach to the other side of the bay and return via the normal road. We buy sunglasses, cigars and water. Then we return to the hotel to wear different shoes and to start looking for a nice restaurant. We walk over the main road for about an hour and stop at restaurant Hera for 1 liter of retsina. We arrive back at the hotel at 18:00; make a dive, shower and then look for a car. We find immediately a Suzuki Alto for 2 days for only 60 Euro. The guy renting the cars loved Depeche Mode, nice isn’t it? We drive to Laganas to withdraw money and to have dinner. At Mr. Dallas Greek we have calamari, dolmades, swordfish and moussakas. At 21:00 we’re back at the hotel, get Mythos and water at the local supermarket. Then we write the postal cards, paste the stamps and by 22:00 we go to sleep. First quickly have a cigar.

Saturday May 29, 2004: Day one of the exploration of the island

We have breakfast at 08:30 after a good night of rest. It seems to be an expanded breakfast here: eggs, tomato, cucumber, cheese, sausages, bread, croissants, 3 different kinds of juice and coffee. After breakfast we check out the book of TUI, to find out what we can do and see on the island. There is nothing much we can learn from the book. At 09:15 we leave with the Suzuki Alto (bright yellow). We drive to Zakynthos city and from here to Alykes; that was still OK. Then we drove around a long time in Alykes. There were no road indications and if there were indications it was not correct or it was leading into different directions. Cool. In Ano Gerakari we visit a Byzantine church. In the end we found the correct road to the Xigias Cave. It’s beautiful but there are a lot of tourists and they behave disgusting. In the meantime it is becoming very hot. We continue our way to Korithion via Askos, where there is a zoo (not really zoo, more like a children farm), which we did not visit. We move on via Asteri to Volimes. We then drive to Navagio, where the shipwreck is located. It’s Very pretty and very high. Timo has a little bit fear of heights. But it is very beautiful, the azure blue water with the beach and the marvelous rocks. It’s the best! About 1 kilometer past Anafonitrie we have lunch at “O Fotis”: stuffed tomatoes, Greek salad, tzatziki and 1 liter of water. We stay here about an hour, from 2 till 3. Then we drive off to Marié and Kambi. That’s a nice village, but not really something special. Eef has taken the wheel for the time. We drive into the inland via Exo Chora and Agios Leon. We receive our first impression of the inland: it’s green. Via Kiliomeno and Agalas we drive to Keri. At bit further to Lithakia and we stop at a supermarket and buy really Greek things: stuffed vine leaves (dolmades), retsina, past that looks like rice (manestra), peppers, paprika and a lot of other things. Passing along Laganas we are back in Kalamaki at 16:30. We change clothes and swim in the pool (with bubble bath) until almost 19:00. Then we take a shower and prepare to go out to eat. First we book an island tour by boat on Monday: 20 Euro per person. It’s not really cheap, but we have a saying when we’re on holiday: Money is not an issue. We eat at Hera: garlic bread, octopus in vinegar and two portions mixed grill. A liter of red wine tastes well with it, but nothing special. We buy some more water and retsina to drink on the balcony. We finish the postal cards and the diary and go to bed at 22:30.

Sunday May 30, 2004: Second day with the Suzuki Alto

In the morning we get up on time, breakfast, same table as we had yesterday. We leave immediately to see the most southern point of the island. First we drive to Zakynthos and then to Vasilikos and from there to Gerakas Beach. This is a nature reserve (the Greek way off course). We walk around and enjoy the beautiful sight. Here is a special protected area for the turtles. That’s OK. From here we drive to a few other beaches. Porto Roma is just a beach and very pretty. Especially quiet was Porto Zorro, but pretty windy. On the road to the north we have a beautiful view at Zante. We follow the main road to Alykes and try to drive to two caves on small paths. Back and forth between the villages Drakas and Skoulikado and Alykes we look for them, but we never found the caves. After a few hours we need to stop to eat something and we find a good place in Alykes; a beautiful restaurant along the road and along a river. We enjoy the lunch of moussakas and spinach pie. On the way back to our hotel we look for the monastery Agia marina, but can’t find it. We pass a church, but this is not the one we’re looking for. So we return to Kalamaki. Just after Zante a Greek gipsy was selling garlic. We stop and Eef tries to bargain: from 30 Euro to 12, she’s doing well. We decide to rest at the swimming pool, there were clouds for half an hour, but it was OK, warm and a lot of sun. At 8:00 we are back in our room, have a shower and take an aperitif and around 19:00 we go to Zepos restaurant with a view at the sea, it’s the best. Garlic bread, fried eggplants, calamari and souvlaki lamb with twice half a liter rose and half a liter of water. We try to look for another road but there is no way that is shorter. It is 2.3 kilometer from the hotel to Zepos and then we need to take the same way back, maybe this is too much to do on foot tomorrow. We buy some stuff for tomorrow (boat around the island) and drop the car at the rental shop. Keys under the doormat and leave the car open. Then back to the hotel, write diary, drink retsina and go to bed at 22:30.

Monday May 31, 2004: Island cruise

We need to get up a little bit earlier than yesterday and get out of bed at 07:15. Like we’re used to do we stay a bit longer and then prepare everything to leave, the bag pack and ourselves. We leave by bus at the office where we bought the tickets, but first we have breakfast at the hotel. There we start a conversation with a woman from Westmalle. She has a daughter who lives in Bornem, very close to Sint-Amands. Then we go to the main road, the bus picks us up at the tourist office at 08:50. We need to stop two more times to pick up more people and we drive to town and take the boat there. We need to wait for about half an hour before the boat leaves. From Zante we head north. We pass along a few beaches to Alykes. There we see the Xigias cave that we also visited by car and also the Blue Caves. Timo had expected more from the caves, but you need to use a very small boat to go into the caves themselves and then is will be much prettier. It still is beautiful now also, but would be better. From this point on the island we head directly to Navagio Bay, also known as the bay of the shipwreck. From time to time the sun disappears behind the clouds, but we don’t mind. We passed along a few small islands, very nice: Agios Nikolaos and Mikronissi. Back to the shipwreck: this is really most beautiful. The water is reflecting the beautiful turquoise onto the rocks around the water, about 500 meters high, really gigantic and beautiful. The boat stays here for half an hour. We get off the boat and have a swim, not together because one of us needs to look after the bag pack. The water is ice-cold, but it is a very nice experience. We have a sandwich with tuna (about three days old) and 1 small sandwich with cheese. We’re being idle and after a while it’s time to move on: time flies. We go to the south from here. We sail along Porto Vromi. We’ve seen that by car too. There was not much to see and now there is still little to see. A long time later we arrive at the Dolphin Caves. Few dolphins, and a lot of caves and very pretty ones too. We really sail into the cave with the big boat. We move on just next to the coast and come across very beautiful places like the Keri Caves. We only pass by. Then comes the climax of the trip. The possibility exists to spot loggerhead turtles between Marathia and Gerakas. You need to look for a shadow just below the surface. Timo sees one; points at it and downstairs people start to shout. The boat turns a little bit around, but the turtle is already far away. We stop another time for ten minutes to swim and only three fools go into the water. At 18:00 we’re back at the harbor. From here we return to the hotel by bus, take a shower, chill and then go to eat. This time we go to Zepos on foot. Our dinner is: Zepos Greek salad, tzatziki, giouvetsi and lamb kleftiki, a bottle of red wind and half a liter of retsina. We come back to the hotel at 22:00 on foot, rest a bit and then drink something on the balcony and go to sleep. No morning call tomorrow.

Tuesday June 1, 2004: Zante

Zante itself: the capital of the island. We sleep a bit longer; at least that was the idea. Some annoying English people wake us up too early. We have breakfast at nine. We have bread, cheese, coffee and juice. Then we want to get ready for Zante. We’ve been told it will be a complete disaster to try to go there by bus, but we’ll try anyway. With a bag pack full of stuff we go to the main road to catch the bus. If the bus comes, because often she does not even stop, because she already full with Laganas tourists. We wait there for a few moments together with another Flemish couple, but after twenty minutes we give up and take a taxi that came by. It costs 3 euro each and we give 1 Euro tip. So we’re now in Zante close to Church of Dionysus. This is the first thing we see. From the outside it looks like a big and pretty building and it is nicely decorated on the inside too. We don’t enter completely, because there is a service at the moment. We follow the sea and arrive on the Solomos Square. We pass along some fishermen, who sell their catch on the boats. They sell cuttle fish, calamari, octopus, red mullet and even a huge ray. From the square we walk to the Byzantine museum, which is worth a visit. At least it is for Timo, because there are a lot of icons. Eef likes it too, but nothing more than that. We walk to a small monastery, then to the gymnasium through the center and in real Greek parts of the city. Using a small road we go to Strani Hill. There is a castle and we must have seen it. A steep path, a small church (closed). Another climb and we’re there. Some rocks (practically indefinable), but a beautiful view. We need to walk down too and then look for something to eat. We buy a sandwich with turkey and vegetables; we started to get hungry; it’s 13:30 as well. We eat the sandwich on Solomon Square and check out what we want to do still. First we buy a necklace for Eef and then we need to find where the bus station is. We find the station quickly and we only need to wait 15 minutes for the next bus. At 15:30 the bus arrives and drops us off in Kalamaki centre, close to Zepos restaurant. From the restaurant we walk back for half an hour on the beach with our feet in the water. We decide to rest a little bit in the hotel at the pool. We sit in the shadow because our skin is burnt. Then we swim and prepare for dinner. When we’re swimming the women from Westmalle comes towards us. She starts to brag about her seeing a turtle, very close. We’re a bit jealous off course. She and her husband suggest going and watching the turtles on the beach. Eef quickly puts some stuff away in the room and we go to the beach with the four of us. When we arrive at the beach she immediately cries: Marc there is one over there. We can’t see a thing, but we accompany them into the water. Marc has spotted a turtle and leads the animal to us. We can see them very good now. We try not to disturb them too much, no stress for them, hey. On a regular basis you can also see a head of the turtles rising above the surface and after 5 to 10 seconds they disappear again. Marc leads another two to us, so we can see them easily: one very large one and another smaller one. We see the largest turtle the longest time; this is really great. In total we see about ten turtles today and then return to the hotel. We take a shower and then are ready to go to eat. We have to go to Laganas, because that’s the only place where we can withdraw money. We follow the beach from Kalamaki to Laganas and there we have something to eat at Mr. Dallas Greek. We have onion soup, tomato soup, shrimps saganaki, mix souvlaki grill and one bottle of retsina. We buy a phone card and are disgusted by the general atmosphere at Laganas and pay too much (7 Euro) to get away by taxi. We phone home to Betty and buy two more Mythos and sleep around 23:15.

Wednesday June 2, 2004: Zante and turtles

We do everything very calmly today, or at least that was our intention. We start by having breakfast, same as always; as of now they have an automatic coffee machine. After our breakfast we have a walk on the beach, as the weather is not very nice. We have left only 5 minutes and we feel the first drops of rain. It does not get worse so at least that’s something. Along the coast we see on some occasions the head of a turtle coming out of the water. When we walked to Laganas yesterday we saw a dozen, and now a bit less. That makes complete sense because during the day they swim away from the shore. Just in front of the restaurant Zepos is a hill with some kind of platform. From this point you have a clear and beautiful view on the bay all the way from Kalamaki to Laganas. We don’t wait for the bus, but walk the remaining 7 kilometer to Zante. Close to the road there are very old and thick olive trees, some of them even are two meter big. After the walk of about 1.5 hours we arrive in Zante, close to the church of Dionysus, but first a stop to got o the bathroom. We at the same time have an ouzo me meze (olives, cucumber, octopus, feta and bread). It’s very nice and tasty and cozy. The sky has turned clear, so we walk into the church and then outside in the harbor to the museum of Solomos. It should be worth it, but if you don’t know the poet and not the Greek sentences, it means nothing. We walk further to the Church of the Lady of the Angels: a little church that was one of the few churches not destroyed after the earthquake in 1953. Originally the church was located on an island in the sea, but after the city extended, the church is now based on the land. We’re hungry now and buy apples, bread and Babybel in a Spar shop. We eat it at the waterside. A few minutes before 14:30 we take the bus back to the hotel. We need to pass by Laganas first and it takes 45 minutes to get there. We might have been earlier on foot. Today all activities are delayed for an hour, because we’re tired and need a rest. After an hour we go to the beach with the binocular and the zoom lens to spot some more turtles. We spot now less than yesterday on the dunes, so Timo goes into the water for a few moments. An elderly English man has seen one, but he goes further into the water than Timo. Just a meter in front of Timo a turtle comes out of the water, really great. It’s a shame he did not have his camera with him. The couple of Westmalle also walks on the beach, we talk a bit and get ready for dinner. We walk on the beach to Zepos and see a lot of turtleheads arising. Timo runs back to the hotel to get the zoom lens and now we can take beautiful pictures when they get air. We can take picture twice and on the hill at Zepos we see a lot of them coming up and take some more pictures. We drink a bottle of retsina and half a liter of water. Today we only take a lot of appetizers: tzatziki, Zepos Greek salad, meatballs in tomato sauce, mushrooms in garlic and stuffed tomatoes. It is very nice and it’s a lot of food. We walk back by road, because the beach is restricted access during the night to protect the turtles. We buy another retsina and walk all the way back to the hotel. Eef gets a cigar and we enjoy the sight of the full moon. Full moon along the beach, not on it, is beautiful. We stay and enjoy the retsina, the moon, the water, the cigar and each other and by midnight we return to the hotel, light a candle and then go to bed.

Thursday June 3, 2004: Our last day and evening

Today we stay in bed very long, till after 9. Then we rest next to the pool: swim, rest, swim, rest and we do this until 12:45. Then we walk to Zepos and have a pizza each: one Greek and one tuna, with retsina off course. After lunch we walk back to the hotel. We feel the sun starts to burn our skin even though we already have a color. We get our cameras to take some more pictures. Timo goes into the water and seen a few, but not like previous occasions. The sea is much wilder, maybe that’s why. Eef stays on the beach, wrapped up like a hot dog, to avoid the sun. We sit and watch the sea and the turtles on three different spots and cherish the last day and the last sun. At 18:30 we are in the hotel. After we are ready we again to Zepos on foot. On the way there we watched turtles and the sea and arrive at Zepos around eight. We have two fishermen plates, ouzo, water and tzatziki. It all was the best, even the bill. We return walking on the paved road, we buy retsina and sun oil, because now it is getting clear we have been burnt severely. At 22:00 we sit on the balcony together, drink the retsina and smoke a cigar. This is the last evening and the last candle. Around midnight we sleep.

Friday June 4, 2004: Departure home

At 08:00 we get up and have breakfast. After the breakfast we pack all our stuff. After an hour we’ve finished this and we go to a shop. We buy oil and lives for our mums and for ourselves.

10:30. Ouzo on the beach.

11:30. We pack the twigs for the oleander for Maurits and pack this as the last items.

At 12 we need to get out of our room. We drink another two ouzo in the bar with Marc and Bea. At 13:00 the bus is there and brings us to the airport.

13:20. Arrival at the airport and check in.

15:30. The plane should leave now, but there is some delay. At 16:15 we finally leave and all goes well.

15:30. Landing at Kerkira. The weather is very bad. My mum Linda is here now and she has no luck with the weather. We send a message (SMS) to Maurits to make sure he does not leave to the airport too soon.

17:15. Second take off of the day. Eef is not feeling well. We land in Zaventem at 19:30 local time; for us it is already 20:30, about an hour of delays. That is not a lot. When we’re waiting for our luggage, we receive a message from Maurits we need to come out. He has brought our Cartouche. We’re very happy to see him again and he is too. He has been very nice at home, so we can do this again.