LAST ADVENTURE ON SANTORINI

Today we met our bus to go on our excursion over to the volcano, hot springs and then to Thirassia and our donkey ride. Our first stop was the volcanic island of Nea Kameni. Upon our arrival, I made the decision not to attempt the climb to the crater. It was a very hot day, uneven path and strenuous climb that would last about 35 minutes with no shade. Not for me. Tina went and took my camera – when she got back 1½ hours later … she was so mad. She said there was nothing to see (I guess I made the right decision – well right for me anyway). She said there was a pipe sticking out of the ground that was some sort of a vent and that was all.

Next – on to Palaia Kameni – the hot springs – Since I had all that time on the boat, I had changed into my bathing suit and was already for a dip. The boat stopped and people started leaping off it into the frigid (cool) water of the Aegean and then swim over to the shallow hot springs area. Poop! I wasn’t going to do that either. So I put my clothes back on again and waited for the boat to start off for Thirassia. The people that had made the small swim and into the hot springs were slightly orange when they returned. Whatever minerals that were in the hot springs covered the suits and bodies of all who entered and there was nowhere to shower off.

Ok we departed for Thirassia and when we threw out the lines, all that was on the shore were a few restaurants. The top of the cliff where the ghost town of a city remains was accessible by donkey only 1 way and when you got up to the top…you just had to walk down again as there was nothing to see! We decided not to go up and that was our day nothing turned out quite as we had expected. However, we did have a nice boat ride.

On our way back to the port – as we were sailing back, a tragedy occurred in Oia. The donkey/pedestrian path from the water up to the cliffside town had a landslide. One man was killed and 4 others were injured. Our little boat passed close by and we could still see part of the slide happening and people on the slide area. The unfortunate tourists were on the tour boat that was about 10 minutes ahead of ours. Some of the people on our boat were supposed to do that ride/walk, but now the area is closed as the slide has destroyed a big part of it. So we all went back to port to awaiting buses and that concluded our outing. I took some pictures, but was not aware of exactly what had happened until we were docked.

So now we will be at the hotel for a restful day and then our homeward journey starts tomorrow. It begins with a 5 hour ferry ride getting into Athens around 11:00 p.m….then a short sleep at the hotel when we will be picked up at 4:30 a.m. to get to the airport for our 2.5 hour flight to Frankfurt. After a 5 hour layover in Frankfurt….we will then depart for our 10 hour flight to Vancouver. So there will be no envying me this part of the journey…but it is necessary as to get home. Just hope the new volcano in Iceland does not interfere with these final travel plans.

I am looking forward to coming home and it feels good to say….see you soon!