Ithaka

Heading out of Sivota the next day we caught a great wind and sailed at about 6-9 knots heading to a small uninhabited island of Atokos where the boys found some absurdly high rocks to jump off, causing slightly anxiety in their over anxious Greek mother. You can just about spot them on the top. We went on a long snorkel marvelling at how the sea floor suddenly plunged into great depths and darkness while in the light of the shallows we enjoyed seeing small schools of darting fish, some parrot fish, urchins and big bright black and orange star fish.

From Atokos we crossed to Ithaka probably my favourite spot of the whole trip and parked in a bay that was breathtaking. Here is the bay:

We walked into the hills covered with pine trees and sage bushes. We collected sage as we walked along and as we brushed the bushes the sweet smell filled the air. Sage therefore was the herb of choice and we used it to make tea, put in pasta, bake with potatoes and in salads. We walked over the hills to the Schinios Cape where the green from the trees was reflected in the water. The water was cool and refreshing and so so clear. Our port that evening was Kioni in the north of Ithaka where we had to dock a little away from the land so we needed to use the dinghy to get on land. There was an awful lot of slipping and sliding getting in and out especially after several glasses of good local wine. We walked around the sweet peaceful village where we talked to a Greek lady about her beautiful passion fruit which she brought from south Africa and admired the wonderful colours of the local plums.