While planning for this trip we wanted to do a few fun things/excursions. We knew this would be a hard one so we only took volunteers. Saul was still recovering from his flu, but he said he felt way better. To be continued.
We loaded up in the van with our fantastic driver who was a local bee keeper as well. He was extremely friendly and drove us along the steep and windy roads to the top of the hike. He even brought us oranges from his home after!! We started early and I was under the impression we would die of heatstroke. We actually started off cold and Nina had to wrap a towel around her.
Mistake: Not everyone had wool socks and hiking boots. I also forgot that I had already paid for tickets online.
We descended down the path of our 10 mile hike and it was completely shaded and utterly beautiful. There were quite a few hikers and we got a little congested at times. Eli was running many of the parts. We got separated quite a few times because of everyone's different speeds. Fortunately we figured out the markings of black and yellow paint to help us stay on the path.
There were stream crossings, the gorge was very similar to Havasupai, but without the red rocks! It was so shocking because it actually wasn't killer hot. It was HOT but we weren't dying. Christina had to put on my shoes at one point and I did the rest of the hike in sandals. Saul by mile 6 developed really bad blisters.... kudos to him though, not even a complaint. We could tell he was struggling though due to just being sick.
Jay and Eli talked about planes the entire time, I soaked in the grandeur, Christina was a beast, and Jody was steady!! Jay and Christina did fall.
Mistake: Don't go on hikes without PROPER FIRST AID AND MOLESKIN
By the end of the hike, Saul was WORN OUT. Still not complaints though. We had read that there was food at the end. There was a shuttle we could take, but Saul was a champion and we walked 1 more mile to the restaurant and BLACK SAND BEACH!! This was one of my absolute favorite beaches of the trip.
It was beyond hot on the black sand. SANDALS WERE OF COMPLETE necessity. Saul didn't listen to me and burned the bottom of his already blistered feet. At this point he was done and fell asleep on the beach chairs. Jay chilled at the restaurant and we looked to the horizon of Africa. It was phenomenal and that is an understatement!! The waves were lovely and it was easy to swim up and down the beach. People can take a ferry to get to the beach without hiking, but when you hike Agia Roumeli is the most beautiful reward.
I forgot to mention that we ate a delicious restaurant. The food was exceptional and thew view to die for. The pictures can't do it justice. It was extremely hot at this point but we had a good 2 hours before the ferry would take us to the van meeting point to drive back.
It's hard to write about. You want to transport back in time and maybe appreciate and soak up the moment just another 10 minutes more. It was one of the best hikes of my life with the most amazing people in my life. (Maria and Ella as well, but they rightly knew their limits and chilled with Rachel at the Air BNB) The ferry didn't have much shade and we were a little sun fried by the end. Our driver picked us up and took us on the SAFE road back. I had read so much about the dangerous roads and I was so glad to have a driver that was sane and spent the extra 20 minutes to take us back a safer route with American rapper 50 cent in the background.
Joe fell asleep in the car and when he woke up he was ready for a fun dinner with Ella, Maria, and Jay and Rachel. The rest of us CRASHED HARD!!!
It was quite the way to start our trip with a bang and will go down as a Best 4th of July!!!!
