We couldn’t quite believe it was time to leave Crete already. The past week has gone so fast. Obviously we couldn’t start our day any other way than with breakfast in our hotel overlooking the beach. Being the last day, we all enjoyed the last morning eating together.

Getting ready to leave

Shortly afterwards we collected our suitcases, said goodbye to our rooms and hotel staff then boarded the coach which took us to Chania.

Chania

We spent the majority of our last day in Chania which was in the North of Crete and located 72km from Chora Sfakion. We decided to go to Chania as we had heard through doing our human geography tourist interviews that the North of the island is much more developed than Chora Sfakion… and they were right!! Chania attracts a lot more tourists, especially British tourists in comparison to Chora Sfakion. Many of the shop and taverna owners were trying to drag tourists into their shops. Also, Chania even had a Starbucks coffee shop – you did not see one of these in Chora Sfakion or Loutro! It was exciting to go to Chania as we found out while interviewing business owners in Loutro that all but 6 or 7 individuals left Loutro in the winter and stayed in Chania instead as the weather was very violent in Loutro.

Globalisation has occurred in Chania!

Please look at our photos on flickr which illustrate the tourist experience in Chania and reflects how Chania compares to the small villages like Chora Sfakion in the South of Crete. We are all very grateful to have been given the opportunity to visit Chania as we are now able to compare the North to the South and see how tourists can affect the area and what effect they have on the atmosphere.

Later in the afternoon we headed to Chania airport. We were all gutted to be leaving the sun and the sea behind. However on the flight home we reflected on our experiences and adventures in Crete. We had frequently been mentally and physically challenged whether it be when we climbing up Ilingas gorge or scrambling over boulders on the sea front to get from Sweetwater beach to Chora Sfakion.

Overall we can all say we had a fantastic time in Crete. We worked hard, we had fun in the sun and we made friends with people on our course… What more could 5 Reading University Geography students have asked for from a field trip?!

Group 2

We were woken up at 7am this morning by a crane digging up the beach to make the water deeper for larger ferries. The owner of the diving centre at Chora Sfakion told us that there had been plans for ferry crossing between Africa and Chora Sfakion. How true this is we are not sure, we guess time will tell! This morning everyone was sad it was our last day in Crete but we were soon cheered up when we had croissants for breakfast over looking the sea.

Straight after breakfast we started on our tasks for today which were to complete any unfinished work, compose a video of our time here in Crete and of course, finish topping up our tans!!

The first activity we completed was our website. We made sure all the spelling and grammar was correct and then we added the last few finishing touches to improve its appearance.

Below is a video of Group 2 working on manning’s n while over looking the sea…maths isn’t as bad when your in a beautiful environment!

When we were all happy with the majority of the website, the girls put their heads together to conquer some maths including manning’s n coefficient which ultimately allowed us to calculate the peak discharge of the flood which occurred in Ilingas gorge on the 5th December 2000. Meanwhile, the boys were doing less strenuous work, (but still of course very important) taking photos on the beach!

The Beach at Chora Sfakion

After the girls had calculated their sums and the boys had all their snaps, all of us headed to the beach to film some footage for out video.

All this work was making us hungry, so in the early afternoon we stopped for a traditional Greek salad…and very good it was too!! When our tummies were full we had fun finishing our video.

When all our work was completed we sat on the beach and enjoyed some time in the sun.

In the evening, everyone on the fieldtrip had a group photograph in front of the sea. The photo reflected the close bond we had all made over the week in Crete. Afterwards we went for our last group meal in our hotel taverna. It was lovely to spend the evening all together as a group, especially as we had just received our exam results for our first year at University – Celebrations were in order as everyone on the trip had passed!

Unfortunately, before it was time for bed we had to pack our suitcases ready for our return trip to England tomorrow.

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.

So far this week all the geographers have been working very hard and therefore our leader, Alan Howard made a very popular decision to allow us to have the day to sit back, relax and enjoy the natural beauty of Chora Sfakion…and too right we did!!

As usual we started the day with our breakfast. Afterwards, a few of us went for a little wander around the local mini market and shops to purchase some souviners to take back home to England with us. We were quite surprised when we found out that one of the shop owners was English and were even more shocked when she told us she was the illustrator of Peter Trudgill’s book “In Sfakia” which we had been reading over the last few days. When we were all shopped out we hit the beach with our sun cream…it was very hot!!

It was lovely to have a day to lie on the sun beds on the beach, hear the waves creeping up the shore and have the sun beaming down on us.

Soph sunbathing while reading her 'In Safkia' book

Relaxation soon turned into commotion and excitement when the Dolphin Restaurant (which is a few metres along from our hotel) caught fire! A few of us and Richard were happily cooling off in the sea when we heard a loud bang. Mike then announced that there was smoke coming out of the top of the restaurant. The fire quickly spread as we all jumped out of the sea to take photos!! There were billows of black smoke which soon turned grey. Luckily, the fire soon put itself out. Good job really as it was a good 20 minutes before the fire engine turned up!!

The Dolphin hotel with workmen on the roof!

In the evening, we all went for a meal but as you can probably guess, it wasn’t in the Dolphin Restaurant!!
When we negotiate where to eat Saturday evening and decided against going to the Dolphin, RIchard joked “you don’t fancy chargrilled dolphin then!”

As usual we started the day as we have always done and had our traditional breakfast in our hotel taverna. After we finished our bread and orange juice we went to buy our ferry tickets which was going to take us on the same journey as we had taken yesterday from Chora Sfakion to Loutro.

Ferry

The ferry journey took us very quickly over to Loutro where our aim was to find out about the current and future impacts of human activity, primarily tourism on the village.

When we arrived in Loutro we sat down in the first bar, called “Sifis Hotel” and planned our day over ice cold drinks… bliss!! The owner of this hotel, Christina, was so welcoming and helpful in answering our questions. As a group we interviewed her for quite a while. We asked Christina and other business owners several questions about:

• Loutro’s greatest asset
• The significance of tourism to the local economy
• The quantity of imported food
• Trudghill’s representation of Loutro
• Plans for further development
• Seasonality of tourism
• Cultural conflicts

Christina spoke of a new road being built in Loutro which would allow people wider access to the village. However, Christina was not keen on the idea of the road as she felt it would spoil the isolation which the village offers. However, when we asked some tourists their views on the plans to build a road to Loutro they felt it would be selfish not to as it would make access a lot easier for locals. Ultimately, it was established that any type of future development had to be sustainable.

We also questioned tourists about their experiences and perceptions of Loutro. We asked them questions similar to the ones below:

• The attraction of Loutro as a holiday destination
• Mode of transport to Loutro
• The importance of tourism
• The consequences of change
• Whether they would be willing to support eco-tourism

Sifis Hotel in Loutro

After we stopped for lunch at the Sifis Hotel’s restaurant, we had a browse through the local shops and purchased some souvenirs. We negotiated a price for a taxi boat to take us back to Chora Sfakion where we carried out the same lines of questioning to the tourists and business owners in Chora Sfakion. It soon became apparent that Loutro recieves more long term tourists where as people often just visit Chora Sfakion for a day, usually being the day they catch a ferry to Loutro or Agai Roumeli. We also interviewed the owner of the new Notos Hotel in Chora Sfakion. This new hotel was built to attract younger tourists as it has a swimming pool and rather than being typical hotel rooms they hotel offers suites. There is also another new hotel in Chora Sfakion which is a nudist hotel. This hotel is owned by the same owner of the Hotel we were saying in (hotel Livikion). Again this new nudist hotel aims to attract a wider range of tourists.

Below is a video which shows hundreds of tourists disembarking the last ferry of the day in Chora Sfakion which had carried tourists from Agai Rouemli and Loutro. One day we counted that 663 individuals came off the ferry and yet only one person stopped in Chora Sfakion. Instead the other 662 people boarded coaches which were waiting in Chora Sfkaion to taxi them to the North of Crete.

Overall, we had a very insightful and talkative day!

Please look at our photos on flickr which illustrate the tourist experience in both Loutro and Chora Sfakion. Please click the link below to take you to the first photo in our photo diary.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/gg2fcgroup2/3641669578/

After a good night’s sleep we started the day like we had done on Wednesday morning with bread and honey/jam provided by our hotel. Once our tummies were full, we headed to buy our ferry tickets which took us from Chora Sfakion to Loutro. Loutro was the neighbouring village to Chora Sfakion and could only being accessed via ferry/boat. Once we had paid our 4euros each for a ticket, we boarded the ferry along with numerous other tourists, who we presume came from the North. We came to this conclusion because Chora Sfakion was a very remote region with few tourists. 72km from Chora Sfakion was the North of Crete which was supposedly attracted more tourists. The ferry journey lasted approximately 20 minutes and during this time we were able to appreciate the spectacular scenery along the coast.

On arrival in Loutro, we paused for refreshments in a local bar and noted a few differences and similarities between the two villages. We wandered through the village until we reached a hidden staircase which bought us to the start of our long coastal walk back to Chora Sfakion.

The video below shows the village of Loutro. As you can see the buildings are all white with blue shutters and windows making them all blend in. In comparison to Chora Sfakion, the buildings are all down near the sea. In chora Sfakion however, the buildings go a lot further up the cliffs.

As we walked along the predetermined route, we stopped to make observations of the biogeography and geomorphology. We also tracked our route using the GPS and marking waypoints to show the difference in land elevation.

Below you can see our route from Chora Sfakion to Loutro on the ferry and then coastal walk back to Chora Sfakion. Our route was tracked using a GPS receiver.

Overall we were intrigued by the variation in geomorphological processes (such as mass movements including rock falls) and geomorphologic landforms. These included scree slopes, rills and gullies, gorges and erratics.

The difference in flora and micro-fauna along the walk was also noted. The difference in vegetation was very noticeable and we recorded changes in vegetation with elevation.

To put it lightly…. were all very relieved to reach Sweetwater Beach which was a nudist beach two thirds of the way along our challenging walk. We stayed for a while in Sweetwater beach to cool off in the sea and take in the beautiful scenery. The sea was refreshing to say the least!!

Sweetwater Beach

As we reached the end of Sweetwater beach, we filled up our water bottles in the natural spring. We were looking out for springs, as Peter Trudgill had mentioned in his book “In Sfakia” about “very drinkable water” (Trudgill, 2008, p.10).

After our break at Sweetwater beach we then started the final but most challenging section of the walk. We had to negotiate a bouldered track and scramble over large rocks to lead us across the coast. We were anticipating a path that cut into the cliff as described by Trudgill as “narrow and jagged with an overhang.” And he wasn’t exaggerating or joking!! The walk was very mentally and physically draining. We were competing with the heat and trying to take in the surrounding but had to also concentrate on where to place our hands and feet next. If we didn’t do this, we could have fallen off the vertical cliff into the sea!

The path we followed which was cut into the cliff

When we reached the top of the cliff and approached Anapolis road there were scenes of jubilation!! We all felt we had made personal achievements.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped via the Ilingas taverna to interview the owner about his experiences during the 5th December 2000 flood. The owner was able to give us an insightful account about the flood which threatened his business. We looked at photographss and held a informative conversation about the impacts on the flood. We discoved that the sea has actually moved backwards as a consequence of the flood bringing more sediment to the beach. The height of the beach also increased. Although the Ilingas taverna was not destroyed “water came up to the first floor” and the material underneath the taverna were removed.

Ilingas taverna on Ilingas beach was affected by the 5th December 2000 flood

On arrival back to the hotel, we have a well deserved cold shower which was soon followed by a lovely meal and ice cold beverage!!

After all the physical activity we were all completely shattered and so we had a nice relaxing evening in the hotel taverna and then headed for bed.

Another successful day came to a close.

All us geographers walking to Ilingas beach

On arrival to Ilingas beach we were met by our trip leaders and were briefed on the days tasks.

• To calculate the peak discharge of the 5^th December 2000 flood. We did this by taking various measurements and making observations.
• To assess the impacts of the flood on the aesthetics of the Ilingas gorge.
• Asses the variations and the profile of the Ilingas gorge.

We left the beach and headed for a difficult climb up the Ilingas gorge to approximately half way (3.5km). The terrain was very variable but mainly loose, uneven and difficult underfoot. We all soon felt our walking boots were a very good purchase! During the day we hopped between spots of shade as the temperatures gradually increased as the day went on.

Material on the gorge floor

On the way up the gorge it was hard to focus on the surroundings as we were trying to negotiate the difficult terrain. However, after we covered certain amounts of the gorge we stopped for much deserved water breaks where we thought about what we were going to measure on the way down from the gorge.

On the way down the gorge we stopped at 7 sites where we took a series of measurements including:

• Temperature and humidity readings for both the air and ground.
• The latitude and longitude readings stating our location (we experienced some problems doing this at certain places in the gorge due to a lack of signal).
• General observations including vegetation.
• Wetted perimeter.
• Cross sectional area.
• Diameter of random clast samples.
• Slope gradient.
• Maas and Macklin 2000’s classification system to determine how active the gorge was.
• The height of flood – we did this using a clinometer.
• Elevation readings.
• Indication of flood activty on bark of trees.

Throughout the day we took plenty of photographs and made sketches to accompany our field notebooks.

Cheryl and Laura working in their field note books

When we reached the bottom of the gorge we completed our days activity by walking back along the coastal route back to our hotel. It was not long before we were all in the sea cooling off!!

Ilingas Gorge

We have arrived safely in Chora Sfakion after experiencing a coach journey along an extremely long and winding road! We were all very excited to have arrived in Crete and were soon at our hotel, Livikon.

The long and winding road...

Once we were settled in our rooms it didnt take us long before we explored the village of Chora Sfakion taking in all the beautiful scenery as we strolled around the village. We were taken back by the beautiful, blue, crystal sea and the impressive cliffs. We noticed how all the buldings met our expectations which were directed by Peter Trudgills description of the buildings. Trudgill said “the external walls were whitewashed, and the doors, windows and shutters were painted Greek blue” (Trudgill, P. 2008; p.20). This description fitted reality perfectly. Depsite it being early in the evening, the temperature was still much warmer than we were used to back in England. However, it was not too unbearable, in fact it was rather pleasant!

Below is a video of the village of Chora Sfkaion.

Very soon after gaining our bearings we all took to the beach for a quick swim in sea. It was very calm and relaxing after spending most of the day travelling.

In the evening we ate dinner in the hotel taverna and were made to feel extremely welcome by the hotel owners and staff. Shortly afterwards we were all feeling tired and therefore put your adventure to bed for the night ready to start a full working day tomorrow!

References
Trudgill, P. (2008) In Sfakia: Passing time in the world of Crete, Lycabettus Press, Athens