Sunday 21st June 2009
Samaria Gorge
This morning everyone woke up rather cool and refreshed – finally we had figured out how to use the air conditioning!! When we were alive and kicking none of us wanted to ruin the tradition of missing breakfast overlooking the sea and so this is how we started our beautiful Sunday morning.
Once our tummies were full, we went to purchase our €16 ferry tickets which was going to take us from Chora Sfakion to Agia Roumeli, stopping via Loutro on the way. At 10:30 a.m. we boarded the ferry which took us from Chora Sfakion to Loutro and then to Agia Roumeli/Samaria Gorge. The journey took about an hour and therefore on the way we were able to appreciate the scenery, including the stunning White Mountains. We also contrasted the landscape between Chora Sfakion, Loutro and Agia Roumeli. There were several beaches on the first part of the ferry journey but on the second part, there was a lot of greenery and vegetation on the cliffs.
Agai Roumeli
When we disembarked the ferry we followed a path in Agia Roumeli which took us through the old and derelict village of Agia Roumeli and then along the Samaria Gorge. We paid a €5 entrance fee to the gorge as being a National Park the area had to be preserved and looked after.
Below is a video which was taken on the ferry as we approached Agai Roumeli. The video shows Agai Roumeli and Samaria gorge.
The walk through the gorge was very beautiful in comparison to Ilingas Gorge. Our reasoning for this is because Samaria Gorge has National Park status from 1962. Consequently, the ground was even and the path was clearly marked. There were also rubbish bins, sign posts, fences and an information centre along the route. The vegetation had been preserved and the gorge was very colourful with lots of pink flowers. Wooden bridges and rafts were also in place to allow people to cross the river flowing through the middle of the gorge. Samaria gorge appear to be the complete opposite to Ilingas gorge. Ultimately, Ilingas gorge had not be managed at all where as Samaria gorge had been made human friendly!
People helping each other across the bridge
We interviewed tourists who were walking along the gorge to find out their reasons for visiting the gorge, their impressions of it and how they felt about the management of Samaria gorge. Generally the visitors enjoyed walking or were hikers and had heard about Samaria being a “must do”. Several tourists, especally British ones had book their visit through a holiday rep or travel agent.
In the gorge we walked up to the Iron Gates which is the narrowest part of the gorge, measuring a mere 3 metres wide. The height at this point however was between 300 to 350 metres.
Group 2 girls at the Iron Gates
After we stopped at a shady patch just past the Iron Gates to eat lunch, we headed back down the gorge. Just before our descent we counted the number of people who passed us in 5 minutes. More people came down the gorge than went up it.
Group 2 at the Iron Gates in Samaria Gorge
Once we finished our walk down the gorge, we stopped in Agia Roumeli to interview some of the hotel and business owners along with tourists. We found out the number of rooms in the hotels, how much a room cost per night and when the busiest time of year was. We got the impression that like Loutro and Chora Sfakion, the area was busiest during July and August when Greek locals came to visit. We were also imformed Agai Roumeli was much quieter after 5:30 p.m. when the last ferry from Agia Roumeli departed.
At 5:30 p.m. we boarded the ferry with hundreds of other people back to Loutro and then on to Chora Sfakion.
Tourists who have just disembarked the ferry in Chora Sfakion and boarding coaches which head to the North of Crete
In the evening, we had a meal and some local Raki in the Three Brothers taverna!
We are all feeling a little bit sad as the penultimate day draws to a close. However, we still have good intentions to make the best of tomorrow.
