Scooter day with Dirk and Annie! First stop was Melissani Cave. Part of the roof of this cave fell in over fifty years ago, revealing an underground lake. We lined up for the boat tour with all the other rubes, and it was certainly worth it.
We hopped back on the bikes and headed up, waaaay up. Mount Ainos is home to a national park and is the tallest mountain on the Greek islands. It smells like home as it is covered in fir trees. Greece is quite barren in general, but Kefalonia is a verdant wonderland.
We tooled around for a bit more, stopped for a tasty lunch and then Dirk and Annie continued the scooter tour while Mike and I headed back to Eufimia to make sure Coral made it through the late afternoon influx of boats safely.
The next day we decided to test Annie’s sealegs and motored over to Ithaca with a little jib action for flair. We tied back in a beautiful bay, Ormos Sarakinko, just over the hill from Vathi. Dirk and Annie hiked over the hill to check out the town, but Mike and I spent a lazy afternoon. Well I did, anyway. Swim, nap, swim. Good times. At around 7:30pm a swell started to creep into the bay, which made for a rolling night. Imagine sleeping in a giant water bed. Oops, not very good hospitable planning on our part.
We decided to keep it simple for Dirk and Annie’s final night and headed back to the dock in Sami, Kefalonia. We had gyros and ice cream for lunch and then they took us out for a wonderful dinner at a tasty taverna. So good!
The next morning we rented a car to take them to the airport. After hugs and besos, they were en route back to Spain. They must have had a good time because Dirk emailed to say that Annie made Greek salad for dinner last night!
Mike and I took advantage of the rental car to explore a bit more. First stop was Argostoli, the capital of Kefalonia. It’s a large town with very very narrow streets, or at least they felt that way to me, I’m not used to being in a car these days. We stopped near Koutavos Lagoon, a haven for Loggerhead turtles. This guy was more than accommodating to the tourists, swimming in circles, taking adorable gulps of air and posing for photos.
Close by is the recently restored Drepano Bridge. Full disclosure, it was too hot to walk all the way across.
We hopped back into the car and headed north, stopping at a lookout to admire the view of Kriaki Beach.
A little further north we took a winding road down from the hilltop to Myrtos Beach. It is a beautiful spot and the water was seriously as warm as any bath I would take. Weird. Mike snorkeled over to the cave while I floated in place. Did I mention that I don’t have to do anything to float in the Mediterranean? No joke, I can be vertical in the water, perfectly still, and I float. Please spare me your comments on my BMI, I think floating is a good thing. I am now fairly confident that if I fall overboard I will not die immediately! Yay salinity!
We had lunch in Myrtos and then continued north to Assos, but it was crazy busy with no parking, so we resolved to visit in the boat someday soon.
Returning to Sami we stopped for this nice view of Euphimia.
The next morning we headed south and anchored on the SE coast of Kefalonia in Ormos Katelias. Mike entertained the idea of trying to launch his kite from the boat, but as Ruth would say, I offered it up and went to shore to launch him. He had a pretty good run as the only kiter in the bay, and I once again crushed some serious candy.
Next stop, Zakynthos!
Spectacular photos in the caves!