Yassou!
Three and a half hour comfortable ferry ride from Patras (although a bit cold and windy) and now I am in Sami, Kefalonia. My Airbnb host picked me up from the ferry terminal. 
We drove through the small town of Sami to reach where I will be staying the next few days in Karovomilos. The hosts live downstairs and they built out a little apartment in the attic with a great balcony overlooking Sami to watch all the boats coming in and out and a church across the street. Really cozy, just glad I am not taller as it is easy to bonk your head in certain areas of the slanted ceiling. She is a fabulous host who thought of everything. The kitchen is stocked with fruit and fresh eggs from her chicken. The fridge is stocked with water, ouzo beer, and some meat and cheese with bread for the sandwich maker. She even has left me birthday cake, as her birthday was a few days after mine, as well as some Easter cookies!
Thankful for the stocked kitchen, as it pours rain about an hour after I arrive, I make myself dinner in instead of going out in search of food. The next morning is sunny, So I get laundry done so I don’t have stinky hiking clothes in my backpack and leave it to dry before setting off for the day. My place is a short 30 minute walk along the waterfront to Sami. I pass some sheep grazing and laugh as an older group of men emerges from the cold water and ask if I am going to swim. The friendliness of the Greek people is far more obvious here on the island, from the women sitting next to me on the ferry to everyone I encounter when walking, who greets me with “Kalimera!” (good morning) and a smile and wave. With no solid plans, I decide to walk to Antisamos beach and enjoy the sunshine. It is a nice walk with lovely views. 
Along the way, a herd of goats crosses my path and I hear their bells frequently coming out of the brushes alongside the road as they peak out and then scoot away from me. Get to the spectacular viewpoint overlooking the beach, mountains, and super blue water before walking down the hill on to the beach. The beaches in the north of Kefalonia or mainly pebble beaches, although I hear those in the south are sandy. No matter, as it is too cold for me to go swimming. Very little is open here as most tourists don’t start arriving until May. But I enjoy the cats and lack of people and and noise. I have a soda at the beach cafe before heading back up the hill.
I take a branch of the road back to Sami to head in to the ancient Acropolis and old castle ruins of Sami. Not much signage, and mainly arranged rocks and rubble amid olive trees and wildflowers leads you to just imagine what it looked like previously. After my fill of scampering around, I find a hiking trail back to Sami instead of backtracking to the road. It is well marked and I follow it through cow pastures and forest down the side of the mountain until I return back to Sami.
I stop in at the bus ticket office to see the time of the bus to Argostoli in two days to head to the airport for my flight to Crete, but they are closed for several hours. So I head to one of the few open waterfront restaurants called Dolphins and have an early lunch/dinner of calamari with fries and salad. The owner is very kind and insists I stay until the bus ticket office opens. We chat for a bit and he treats me to coffee and a shot of some kind of really nice cinnamon liqueur. When he finds out how much I love moussaka, he says he will make a fresh batch tomorrow if I want to come back for dinner. Of course, I am in!
When I return back to my place after another 11 mile day of walking, Sophia is downstairs making dinner and invites me in. I play with her cat and chat about her moving here from Bulgaria and life here in Kefalonia. She invites me to stay for dinner, but they eat well past my bedtime around 10:30 or 11pm.
Sleep in a little, but today is a special day… Cave day! One of the main reasons I decided to come to Kefelonia was to see Melissani Cave. I have seen pictures of it on the internet and you know I love caves! There are many within walking distance of Sami. I was nervous as I hadn’t done enough research as to when it was open during the non-tourist season. Everything I found on the internet when I arrived was that it was only open Thursdays and on the weekend, which would mean I wouldn’t get to see it. But Sophia and the restaurant owner had said it would be open on Wednesday when I was here. So I tried not to get my hopes up and walked over, only about ten minutes from my guest house. And as my wonderful travel luck would have it, it opened at 10:30!! This cave is not big, but is special as part of the roof of the cave fell in, which allows the sun to illuminate the water around mid day. 
In Greek mythology, it was the cave of nymphs and artifacts were found in the cave showing that it was a place of worship to Pan and nymph Melissani. There is a small boat ride around the lake and into an inlet. I get there as the sun just starts to enter and because there are so few tourists right now (they say it can be full of people and a 40 minute wait in busy season) the boat owners let me just sit in the narrow area at the edge of the water where they load people on and off the boats and watch the sun illuminate the cave. It was suppose to be cloudy until late afternoon, but apparently “partly cloudy” in Greece can mean, like two clouds. The water is a brilliant blue and is brackish water, missing fresh and salt water like censored in Mexico. I sit there for over two hours, watching the blue of the water grow bigger and bigger as the reflection of the water dances on the cave wall. At this point, the two boat operators are laughing at me, but it was just so beautiful.
Once I finally took the boat tour, I meet a girl from Texas that had been living in London for seven years and she offered me a ride to the next cave, Drogarati. 
It is 8 euros for the Melissani Cave, but only 10 euros for a combined ticket to both caves and they are about four and a half miles apart, so it saved me another long walking day. This cave is more impressive in size. You walk down about 90 stairs to a cave full of stalagmites and stalagmites. They think the cave is over 100 million years old, but was just discovered 300 years ago when an earthquake created an entrance. It was pretty cool, both literally and figuratively.
I get a ride back to Sami and check out a cave Sophia had mentioned when she learned of my love of caves that is a few blocks from the guesthouse. 
Zervati cave has no entrance fee and is the middle of the neighborhood. There is an iron fence that you just open and close behind you. After a small overgrown trail down, you can see the water. These were more underwater caves that I guess divers have been working on exploring. I don’t explore too much, as it is kind of creepy alone and I also hear and then see a bunch of hornets in the tall grass and I assume there is a nest somewhere nearby.
I return to the guesthouse, as Sophia said she would be off work at 2pm and we could get coffee or something. Instead, she offers to drive me to a beautiful beach she had mentioned the night before that was a bit far inaccessible by bus during low season called Myrtos Beach. It is supposedly one of the best beaches in Greece and was in some film Captain Corelli’s Mandolin. We pass flocks of goats, sheep, and a donkey in pastures by the roadside before reaching the viewpoint overlooking the beach. The beach is breathtakingly beautiful. It is a rock beach and not sand, but the rocks are super white, which causes the water to be a milky, super blue color. 
I don’t even think I have ever seen that color of blue before and pictures can’t even due it justice. Sophia insists we drive down to the beach from the viewpoint, and she points out a small little cave at the end of the beach that I go check out for cave number four today, making it a super successful cave day!
We return home and Sophia is off to go tend to her chickens on the other plot of land they own and so I head to Dolphins restaurant again, as I promised to the owner to try his moussaka. It was delicious! Each one is a little different and I am hoping to perfect mine at home with the tips people are giving me to make it. The owner treats me to another after dinner liqueur to try and a coffee. Tonight’s liqueur was called Mastika, flavored with part of a Greek tree called the mastic tree. It has a very delicate lemon-ish, pine-like flavor that is not at all overpowering. The restaurant owner and I say our goodbyes and I head back to the guesthouse to pack. I am sad to have to say goodbye to Sophia. She offers a ride to the bus in the morning, but I know it is early for them and she has already done to much for me. We hug and I give her packages of Pike Place Market orange cinnamon tea that I bring as presents when I meet special people when traveling. A few minutes later, I hear a soft knock on my door and Sophia gives me a little string bracelet called a Martiki that they give to family and friends to ward off evil spirits and bring good luck.
Kefalonia is an amazing place and is everything I think of when I think of Greece. It is relaxed, wild and beautiful and full of friendly people, nature, trails, meadows, and livestock. Sad to leave as I barely scratched the surface and there is so much to see and explore, but difficult without a car and limited public transport during low season.
Up super early, I catch the bus to Argostoli, leaving at 8:15a from Sami. The bus is pretty empty (six other people) and we cut through the mountains past many grape fields and wineries to the other side of the island, arriving about an hour later. There are no buses running to the airport now, so I will have to take a taxi, giving me about three hours to wander Argostoli. My main goal is to see a sea turtle. They have a bunch of loggerheads that live in the wharf sea grass and come up when the fishing boats are here. I see one within minutes! The small boats line the waterfront, selling their fresh morning catch. They clean it as someone buys it. Octopus, skate, and big and little fish are all for sale. When they clean it, they throw the innards overboard and little fish and a few seagulls feast. A turtle comes by, popping his head out and then disappears. 
I wander and walk the walkway across the wharf for a bit and grab a coffee on the waterfront. Argostoli is way bigger than Sami and busier, but still comfortable. And taxis are a fixed rate of 20 euros to the airport and there are a few hanging out near the bus terminal (taxis are expensive and sometimes hard to come by). I head to the airport early, as I hear travel is busy before Greek Easter. But it is a small airport and wasn’t necessary :) All checked in and heading of to the Venetian port of Chania, Crete for the night before heading by bus to the small mountain village of Lividas to hunker down for Greek Easter.
Hope everyone is well!
Love,
Betsy
No comments:
Post a Comment