Thursday = Three Caves
Today’s Greek Lesson:
Cave = Spílaio = Σπήλαιο
I woke to see legs just outside my hatch. They belonged to Andrew, and he was getting clothes from their clothes pinned spot on the life lines so he could go running with Alison, Melissa and Ken. I checked the time: 0600. It’s still dark at that hour, so I imagine their going was a bit slow until sun up. I’ve been so amazed at the energy of this bunch, and their hunger to see it all, do it all, swim and run it all. On foot, they’ve seen parts of Greece I have never seen in my 5 years of coming here.
Our night out included cocktails, dinner too late and the spotting of many of Fiskardo’s feral cats.
We had a lovely if late evening out on the town last night, and as we were still on Fiskardo’s dock, our runners took advantage of easy access to shore for their early morning adventure. As it was the most humid morning we’ve had here in two weeks, they came back drenched. The minute they were on board we pulled our dock lines and made our way out into a sea socked with fog.
Moody and still, I think the atmosphere made for a quiet ride, everyone stealing away to their corners to read or watch island mountains drift in and out of sight. With about two hours to get to Meganisi Island for our morning swim, it was a nice slow start for those of us who skipped the run.
Once we got there though, it was high test, high energy, high thrills and fun. We had planned an one way swim with a live drop and live pick up, so about 10 minutes out we all prepared to jump on Lou Lou’s call.
Go go go!
We splashed in and swam to the first of 3 massive caves along a 1 mile stretch of Meganisi’s south western shoreline. This tryptic style cave is actually my favorite in the Ionian Sea. Dramatic walls, layered like filo dough standing on end, it’s the spanakopita of caves. Or maybe it’s like a giant pipe organ, and we are small things wading among the hammers. However you see it, however I describe it, it’s spectacular.
After a good romp in Spanakopita cave, we put our heads down and swam hard for about ½ mile before we stopped at a way point that involved a short climb to peer into a huge window in the mountain - it looks like a huge black heart from the water and we’ve always wondered where it leads to. This was the group to investigate with! We saw a shallow still pool of impossible turquoise at its bottom not much else. Mystery solved. And so we each jumped from our peering perches back to our swim.
Onward to Papanikolis Cave - the largest cave of them all. This cave is so big that boats - big boats - pull right inside of it to show people the sights. We swim in, of course, on our own power and feeling smug about our immersive abilities. It’s probably 40 yards to the back of the cave, where we landed on the beach and collected more rocks - we put them in our bathing suits and buoys and bring them back to the boat for show and tell. We’ve been doing this for days and our collection is beautiful.
As we exited Papanikolis on the far side, we were amazed to see goats inside on ledges. Goats in a water cave. Well I never.
Back out and hang a right, we are covering new territory for SwimVacation here, and once again, this is the group to make a dash for another large cave about another ½ mile up the coast. But oh my, along the way….steep cliffs above and below with convoluted textures and swirling earth tones. The scale of it is hard to describe. More little caves and grottos, fields of boulders with swim throughs and hidden rooms to explore. I could have stayed there all day. I somehow ended up on my own in this surreal seascape, and took more than a few moments to myself to measure my awe and gratitude for such a place and my being in it.
Into the final cave of this three cave swim - this one not as deep, but so tall and grand, like a pantheon with its domed ceiling. Huge stripes line the walls - striations laid over eons. It was breathtaking.
We completed the swim with a live pick up in the deep blue offshore, Skipper stopping the props long enough for us to climb aboard under Lou Lou’s direction. Executed with military precision, all were aboard and within moment we were on our way.
Words I heard uttered to describe this swim - magnificent, spectacular, humbling.
We moved up the Meganisi coast to a more populated area with beaches and a few too many fast moving motor boats. So strange to think this is the same island of the wildness of the cave coast. Still, our afternoon swim was bouncy and fun and we spent a little time on a beach bar beach with a few tourists who found it very strange to see 8 people arrive by swimming. I always love the reactions of people who haven’t considered swimming as a means of experiencing a place.
Afternoon swim was bouncy and playful, and gave everyone a chance to confront urchin fears.
Dinner was fantastic, chicken and fish with fantastic marinades, and briam - a veggie dish with julienne potatoes, aubergines and courgettes (so much nicer than saying eggplant and zucchini). And what do you know, it’s crepe night! I love when Lou Lou walks out with an armful of toppings and fillings and Romesie follows with a plate full of hot out of the pan crepes. Dessert is lively when you build your own.
Build your own crepe night, and our beautiful rock collection - Alina had a small rock tantrum when I mixed up everyone’s rocks for this picture. Sorry Alina! XO
I will say things were quiet just before dinner, and it seemed that everyone was down for a little pre-meal nap. Could it be we’ve finally tired them out? I doubt it.
It’s our last night out at sea, so it’s last change for a late night skinny dip. I know Alina and I won’t miss it, as it’s our last of two weeks of such experiences. I’ll sleep with head under my open hatch tonight, eyes open to the stars until sleep takes me to dreams of caverns and caves with ages of stories to tell.
Kali Nikta,
Heather
