Puglia, Amalfi & The Med

OR: SLOW & STEADY wins the race: to Kerri Caves & Turtle 🐢 Island 🏝️

An amazing sunrise 🌅 as we caught the tender from the ship to the island 🏝️of Zakynthos. We have been using an app on our phones called ‘Get your Guide’ for all of the tours we go on… They are about a third of the price of the ship excursion cost and they have been absolutely fantastic: you are connected with great 👍🏻 reputable companies!
Forward planning pays off! 😉 👍🏻

Shout out to another fantastic app that I have used during this holiday : AIRALO for E-Sim cards for the phone 📱 Without it, navigating to particular points of interest and to company locations would not have been as simple. The map 🗺️ component has been invaluable. I have never travelled with a phone connection (previously only relying on wi-fi at hotels 🏨 & cafes ☕️). This is the first time, and I now realise it is extremely handy. In one way it is also sad 😔 because up until now I have happily travelled 🧳 the world without any ‘connection’. There are positives and negatives for everything… You learn that lesson when travelling 🧭

Zakynthos is the most southern point of the Ionian Islands and the third largest. It covers an area of almost 405 sq. km. Zakynthos, an island with great contrasts such as golden sand beaches and imposing rocky shores, has a temperate, Mediterranean climate, with mild winters and cool summers. Zakynthos also has a long and rich culture, much influenced by the Venetians. According to mythology and the writings of Homer, the island was named after Zakynthos who was grandson of Zeus and Electra and the son of Dardanus who founded Troy! (Personal connection to me 😝 …nice way to round off the cruise 🚢)

Waters 🌊 around Zakynthos often have electric light blue 🩵🩵🩵colour because of the numerous sulphurous caves around the beach and when the sea is rising a large quantity of sulphur radiates, giving the possibility of taking beautiful pictures. We did just that on our Turtle 🐢 island and Kerri caves boat tour… We took to the spectacular, calm blue waters of the Adriatic Sea for a Slo-mo boat 🛥️ ride (turtle pace) to this part of the heritage listed island. We were a little bit worried about the time (5 hour trip) and getting back to the ship before it sailed off without us! We actually saw turtles 🐢 at the bottom of the crystal clear ocean as we passed through the cove. ☀️ 🌊 🇬🇷 Just so cute!

We spent the entire day in and out of the boat, jumping into the clearest and most beautifully transparent blue water 💧 I have ever seen in my life! It was simply divine. The temperature in the water & out was perfect ☀️
The turquoise water lapped against the white cliffs as we joyfully made the most of the last beach swim this holiday 😢

We arrived at the final swimming spot and there were little boats selling beers 🍻 and food! We swam and drank coronas 🍋 in the sun! 🌊🐢🍺🍺🍺☀️☀️

The images will speak for themselves… please 🙏 take a look at the videos as well: sublime! The only thing that slightly tarnished a perfect day was the last minute worry that we would not make it back to ship in time! Thankfully we made it to the port with seconds to spare; not before having to tell the bus 🚎 driver
to “…take a straight to the fucking Port…” when he took a turn to go to the olive 🫒 pressing factory! 🏭
Phew 😮‍💨 🚢

A more amazing 5 hours I cannot recall! It was so magnificent, breathtaking and stunningly relaxing 😎 💙🤍🩵

Transported me back to those days when I’d spend all day at beach 🏖️ as a child, in & out of water, sunning myself, relaxing 😎 & feeling salty, sunburned & genuinely grateful: travelling reconnects you to that part of yourself that you thought 💭 you’d forgotten… 🙏Lue lisää