Lefkada Town to Mongonisi, Paxi
May 28
With only a week left before my flight home, we needed to pick up the pace a little to assure there'd be no ferry fun in my future. Paxi is a small island north of Lefkada and south of Corfu.
We passed through the 10:00 AM opening of the floating bridge and were on our way.
Turns out the winds were perfect for the course and we sailed until about six miles south of the island, which is where the breeze died out. That left us motoring the final hour or so into tiny Mongonisi, the southernmost anchorage on Paxi.
A quick scout for showers around the two tavernas in the harbor didn't end well. Yes, there was a shower, but at three Euros for four minutes (four minutes!) even I had to draw a line. A jump in the bay would suffice.
Mongonisi
May 29
Mongonisi was basically the two tavernas and a small beach filled with too many families on holiday. So with nothing much to do, we ventured out of the harbor towards the coast. Erika and I thought we were walking to Gaios, the largest town on the island. Francis... started walking the other way. Before I fully realized what was happening, I was climbing up a mountain (again). So, yes, I've come to the conclusion that if there's a mountain, it's likely I will be climbing it - or in this case, clinging to it.
There are a bunch of sea caves on the west side of the island, one of which, in Greek lore housed a Greek sub during World War II. Unfortunately the caves are accessible only by boat - and our dinghy wasn't going to get us there. So instead, here we were: climbing up and over the tops of the caves, with hopes of at least being able to see them from above. An already precarious (and I'm thinking that's not really a strong enough word) situation was, in my opinion, made more so by the fact the mountain was pretty much covered in loose rocks. "Nah, we do this stuff all the time." I was assured by Erika. Oh, okay then.
That said, the view from the top was spectacular. Almost spectacular enough to make me forget I had to somehow get down the mountain. Without ending up in the crashing waves. Hundreds of meters below.
We celebrated not falling off the mountain by walking to Gaios, two kilometers up the coast. Well, two kilometers by boat... five when walking along the winding and hilly eastern coastline.
Again though, the views... tiny beaches with strikingly blue waters sprung up around nearly every bend.
Gaios itself was a bit more touristy than we had hoped. Ferries from Corfu arrive throughout the day and the seafront area is overtaken by the incoming masses. We took the arrival of the day's third ferry as our cue to leave.
We had read that you can't get lost on Paxi. With the help (?) of a map even less accurate than the Lefkada napkin map that quickly proved false. Photocopied and faded this "map" included roads that didn't exist, leading to places that no one had heard of while omitting the streets we were actually walking on. That didn't stop us from trying to use it as our guide though.
The plan was to cross the island and walk down the west coast to Mongonisi. A good plan that didn't quite work out. Each time we reached a crossroads we consulted the map hoping to find our location. More often than not, it wasn't there. Francis' navigation wasn't exactly confidence inspiring either. At most junctions "This is the way." would be quickly followed by "Possibly." Unfortunately, it rarely was.
We were saved by an older British couple sitting outside a mini-mart that seemed to magically appear out of nowhere. Drinking Amstel Lights while perusing a very detailed giant walking map of Paxi they invited us over to take a look. We retraced our path on their map and quickly discovered we went the wrong way at pretty much every turning point. We showed them where we came across some sheep and a guy riding a motorbike with a dog on his lap and in return, they politely suggested that a map may help our future explorations.
It's amazing how much easier it is to get where you're going when you actually know where you are.
The inland route was covered with massive old olive trees. Unfortunately it's not the season yet but neatly folded nets had already been placed next to each tree in preparation. One of the paths led past this abandoned stone house. Well, abandoned except for the goats that had moved in.
Descending the hills we eventually connected with the main road right outside of Mongonisi. We were in the water as soon as we got back to the boat, the shallow sheltered harbor perfect for a little swim.
Mongonisi, Paxi to Sivota (Mainland Greece)
May 30
Our course again determined by the wind, a pit-stop on the mainland was needed to break up the sail to Corfu.
There's not much to say about Sivota really. Although, having the same name as the place where we were almost set adrift by the striped-shirt-Inbetweeners-charter-boat Brits should have been a sign.
This Sivota is a strange little holiday destination filled with cheesy tourist shops and overpriced restaurants. Then there's the music.
We tied up right in front of all of the restaurants and bars on the quay. Probably not the best decision but the spaces further out in the bay were all taken by the time we arrived. There was a good reason for that. For most of the night the noise wasn't too bad but apparently 1:00 AM is the agreed upon time to turn up the volume. Or maybe someone just placed a giant speaker right outside the boat.
Welcome to Club Sivota.
It was loud. It was awful. And it went on and on and on.
The lone bright spot... we'd traded in the Lefkada Town Bayern boat for this one... Dortmund flag flying high.
Don't. Look. Down.
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
Mongonisi, Paxi, Ionian Islands, Greece
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