Greece

Today was our big expedition on Crete. After a late night last night, we set alarms to get up for breakfast in before making the 1 hour drive to the entrance to Samaria Gorge. One of the most famous locations in Crete and home to their National Park, the Samaria Gorge was forged after tectonic plates met; later, snow and rainfall would carve the rock with the Taranto River into the 16km (10mi) pathway we hiked down. The entrance was at top of the mountain where we left our car. The first 5 miles were actually through a forest… and nearly straight down hill. It was a very rocky path and we skipped the hiking boots (extra luggage weight) and regretted it. The forest was cool and calm (though we did see lots of goats on the drive up) but you had to keep your eye out as you made your way down. Apparently, in high season, it can very crowded but we decided to start at a little later (9:40 as it turned out) to miss all the early buses from Chania dropping off hikers at the entrance. It was a stiff walk down and we finally decided to take lunch camp at 12:30 at the halfway point in Samaria village (now deserted but it looked like people used to live there). After we had sandwiches and a 20 minute break, we started to hustle as we wanted to reach the end by 15:30. Shortly after taking out, we finally entered the actual gorge. Must less steep (though no less rocky) but with a beach at the end, everyone was eager to make it to the end. The gorge was very beautiful and so impressive. The hike made us think of a combination of Rocky Mountain Natl Park and Smokey Mountain Natl Park. The weather was beautiful and mostly sunny and dry… great for hiking. They even had springs every 2km that you could refill your bottle at. Though very thankful we weren’t doing this hike in the summer months. We finally found the end, with only a couple of casualties (both of Joce’s IT bands) and hopped a short bus to the beach town of Agia Roumeli. Only accessible through the gorge or by ferry, it was a quaint village with a black sand beach. Apparently they have only 40 actual residents. We found the boys some shovels and all got in for a swim. The water was very cool but refreshing after a long hike and we all enjoyed our first dip in the Aegean Sea. We had booked the only ferry out at 1730 and wanted to make sure the kids had time to enjoy the beach… in the end, we enjoyed it just as much as the kids. After about 90 minutes, we had time to rinse off and change back into clothes for the ferry. This was about a 55 min ride to Sougia - the nearest town with a road - while a couple in the party took a nap. After about 400-500 people got off the boat for large buses, we had a private van waiting (thanks ChatGPT for giving me that tip) which drove us 37 minutes (for a 50 minute trip) back to our car park with our awaiting rental. We were happy to be back (alive and only mostly carsick but certainly fast.). Then, halfway through our 1 hour drive back home, we stopped at a small, local, family owned restaurant for some home cooked food (souvlaki - basically shishkabobs, and moussaka). Finally home at 9:30, everyone enjoyed a shower before crashing in bed. Tomorrow, more driving but more relaxing too.Read more