Turtles and Fish and Rum (for some)

Today we were up bright and early at 7:30 AM. We got ready as quick as we could, had some oatmeal for breakfast since we were out of milk, and piled into our 2 rental cars. We headed up the road about 20 minutes to Boatswain's Beach, which has a turtle farm among other entertainment. We all checked in and got our wristbands, then headed out to the huge park.
First we checked out the turtle breeding pond, where there are hundreds of fully grown sea turtles (the largest weighing in at over 500 lbs. and the oldest at 68 years old) swimming around. We gave them some turtle pellets to snack on and then headed over the check out the rest of the turtle tanks, which have turtles varying in size from that of a dinner plate to the fully grown half-tonners. At one tank we all got to hold a turtle and get our pictures taken with it...they were softer than we expected, with sort of malleable bodies, and their fins were extremely strong as they flapped around. We had to rub them from the tip of their chin to the base of their neck to get them to stop flapping and calm down...the keepers said it was their favorite way to be petted. That was Sarah's favorite part of the day =]
After feeding and checking out more turtles, we headed over the Breaker's Lagoon, a freshwater pool with rock waterfalls and plenty of iguanas sunning themselves on the island in the middle. We spent a little time there cooling off, then headed over to the other lagoon, which is saltwater and intended for snorkeling. They keep some variety of fish as well as 6 sea turtles in there for everyone to snorkel with, and you can also swim up to an underwater shark viewing window. We snorkeled with the kids and Del for about half an hour, enough to circle the whole lagoon once.
It looked by then that it might begin to rain soon so we headed over to the restaurant overlooking the lagoon to wait out the rain and get something to eat. Doug got another plate of fish and chips with a pina colada smoothie, and Sarah had fettuccine alfredo and bread with a root beer. The food was good once again, and Kerri got a free piece of coconut pie from the waitress since they didn't have any of the key lime pie that she had wanted. We all shared the pie and it, too, was excellent.
After we ate some of us headed over to the nature trail and walked through that for a bit, checking out the interesting plants and the "Blue Hole," a sinkhole and cave at the end of the trail. Then we went over to the bird aviary, where we got to feed some scarlet and white ibis and check out lizards outside, including the resident Caiman and Blue Iguanas, Samson and Delilah.

Cayman Islands - Day 3

Today we didn't really have any plans since we had no car and hadn't yet gotten a chance to go through all of our tourist office materials, so we decided to just spend the day relaxing on the beach. Doug wanted to go into Georgetown to a camera shop to pick up a new lens cap, so he took the bus down with Jared to run his errand. Sarah and Jamie walked over to the grocery store, Foster's Food Fair, to get some bare essentials since they couldn't carry much back without a car. On the way back we all seemed to run into each other on the West Bay Road sidewalk, also encountering Del, Linda and Andrew on their way for some homemade, fresh donuts.
Once back at the condo we unloaded our groceries and had a leisurely breakfast, then sunscreened up and headed down to our beach chairs. We pulled a few chairs and two umbrellas down to the water's edge and relaxed a few hours away...luckily the jellyfish count was slim to none today so we could swim in peace!
The boys all headed down the beach around noon to check out waverunners, with extra high hopes they'd be cheap. Disappointment abounded as they were $200/hour for a double and we'd need three of them...but once again, Del and Linda stepped up and without hesitation agreed to pay for them. We got our names on the list to take them out at 3:30 and waited eagerly for that time to roll around. In the meantime Sarah made grilled cheese sandwiches for Doug and Jared and we hung out in the condo for awhile, heading out just before it was time to go down to Red Sail Sports and have some fun.
After reapplying sunscreen we all trapsed down the beach and signed the necessary paperwork, hefting on tacky yellow lifejackets but not caring a bit. Sarah took Amanda on her waverunner and Doug took Alexander, Jared driving his own since he would've had to be 18 to drive a passenger. The boys spent most of their time racing each other, but Sarah couldn't go fast since Amanda's drive for thrill seeking isn't too keen =] They spent most of the time cruising, watching the boys, and doing donuts in the clear water. At one point Jared spotted a sea turtle or two and we crowded around to check it out, but got warned by the staff that we had to stay 100 yards apart at all times. With that we all headed in to pick up new passengers. Kerri got on to drive Alexander, Doug took Andrew, and Jared snuck off with Sarah as his passenger despite the rule against it. That worked out for awhile, but soon after Jared's driving sent them both flying off the waverunner and into the water, the staff came out and made them switch drivers. Overall the hourlong waverunner session was really fun for everybody, even for the watchers (party poopers) on the beach.
Back at our home stretch of beach, we headed inside for a little relaxation and then went back out, armed with Sarah's iPod player. It quite abruptly began to pour down rain, so all electronics were hidden in Kerri's stroller as the huge drops fell and we all took refuge in the warm water of the sea. We waited out the storm, which lasted for about 40 minutes, and then headed back inside to dry off. Soon after all of our adventures on the high seas, we were all feeling pretty hungry so we headed out to the road to pick up our new rental cars and go out to dinner.
With the rain abated, we headed a little ways down West Bay Road to an outdoor restaurant called Coconut Joe's, situated around a central 100-year-old tree. The menus were a crack-up, offering such oddities as "Monkey Bones" and "Monkey Wings" and jumping at every opportunity to make a corny joke. The food was excellent though; Doug ordered his second plate of fish and chips along with another pina colada smoothie, and Sarah had a mango smoothie with a veggie rice bowl. After some clowning around and an overindulgence on 2-4-1 mudslides by the parental/grandparental units of the group, we headed back to our condos for a relaxing and uneventful night, marred only by the lack of proper dessert (we had to settle for Coco Krispies).

Cayman Islands - Day 2

So having arrived in Miami, we happened upon an Asian restaurant called Manchu Wok, an unlikely place for breakfast but one we had tried before with relative greasy success. We all ordered something to eat, Sarah opting for an egg and cheese croissant sandwich and Doug ordering eggs with toast and orange juice.

After breakfast we all headed over to our gate to wait out of 5 hour layover and were rather disappointed to learn that it had been extended - instead of leaving at 11:25 AM, our plane was now delayed and set to leave at 1:00 PM. With nothing to do but wait, we laid out our things in an section of the waiting area and proceeded to do just that. Sarah slept a tiny bit on the ground, as did Doug, but we were always rudely awakened by Anthony's (the youngest of Sarah's cousins, he is 3 years old) screams or constant questions.
Sarah and Anthony enjoying KitKats and pretzels.

He was super excited to go on the plane so the inquiries were never ending (How do the police keep the monsters off the planes? Is the plane as tall as Sarah? etc).
Eventually, though, our wait was over and at about 1:10 PM we were allowed to board the plane. The pilot explained and apologized that the delay had been due to bad weather in Atlanta, which couldn't be made up for since the crew was required by the FAA to have at least a 10 hour crew rest in between flights. The pilot was pretty cheerful and humorous, so we all forgave him. This flight was much less full than our previous one had been, yet the flight attendant still failed to deliver peanuts or pretzels or whatever snack it is they served to the both of us, so we were stuck with just our ginger ales. The flight was only an hour and a half long, so we got into Georgetown at about 2:15 PM Cayman time, which is only two hours later than California versus the three in Miami because they do not observe Daylight Savings Time here. The 70% humidity was immediately noticeable once we stepped onto the runway, which was bordered on both sides by ocean; also noticeable was the pair of Cayman men playing Caribbean music live outside the terminal. We stepped into the air-conditioned terminal and waited for some time in line to go through customs, which was fairly simple and unintimidating. We had only a few bags to pick up since neither of us had checked anything, and we quickly headed out of the airport, eager to catch our shuttle and head to the condos. Del checked in with the tour company who was running our shuttle and we got aboard along with a most-likely-intimidated quiet couple and completed the short drive to West Bay Road where Villas of the Galleon was located. We also got the treat of seeing an iguana on the side of the road, kindly pointed out by our driver as American music filled the van. We finally arrived at the condos and checked in, then scoped out all three to decide who would go where.
We settled into condo #1, which has a small ocean view and two rooms, one with two twins and one with a California King.
We headed down to the beach, which is practically our front yard. The white sand was dotted with pine and palm trees as well as umbrellas and chairs, with the light blue, very clear water rolling calmly up the shore. We all swam for awhile in the water, keenly noticing the jellyfish that seemed to be omnipresent. Doug ran to ask the office if they were stinging jellyfish, and the woman told him that yes, we should stay away from them, but they should be on their way out after being whisked in after a recent tropical storm. With that promise, we carefully swam awhile longer, Sarah opting to lay out rather than get stung again (she was stung in Mexico a few years ago) until we were too hungry to swim anymore.
We discussed where to go and opted just to walk down the beach and find someplace since we didn't have a car to use. We walked a half mile or so down the beach, sweating under the blazing sun, until we reached a beachfront restaurant laid out in the sand. We sat down to eat at Calico Jack's, ordering smoothies and ice water from the British Columbian waitress. The extended menu offered vegetarian quesadillas, which Sarah ordered along with a mango smoothie, and Doug went with some fresh fish and chips and a pina colada smoothie. The food was excellent, and both of us were brave enough to try Linda's conch fritters, a specialty here; they were not bad! The adults hung out at the tables enjoying their CayBrews, the local beer, as the kids headed a few feet down to the beach. Doug wrestled with the boys in the water while Sarah and Amanda swam a bit and watched the craziness in the water.
We soon noticed that we were being bit by little black flies, supposedly No-See-Ems that we could see, so we decided to head back as darkness began to fall. As we were walking slowly down the beach we noticed ripples in the water and saw that there was a huge adult sea turtle swimmng up near the shore. We guessed that it was probably looking for a place to lay its eggs, so we tried our best to leave it alone after a few photos. Doug noticed that his lens cap was missing, so we searched for it on the sand in the dark. When we couldn't find it, he ran back to the restaurant beachfront to look for it but it was nowhere to be found. Sarah waited for him on the beach and when he returned we gave up and headed back to the condo, dodging crabs and possible washed-up jellyfish in the dark. Once we got back Sarah hopped in the shower as Doug headed out once again with his headlamp to look for his cap again. He returned about half an hour later empty-handed. Jamie, Jared, and the two of us headed to bed early as we hadn't had proper sleep the previous night and all drifted off quickly in the cool rooms.

Cayman Islands - Day 1

Today was exactly what it should have been - a packing and preparing day. Our flight was due to leave LAX at 10:45 PM, a red eye to Georgetown, Grand Cayman, British West Indies with a layover in Miami. Both of us spent the day finishing up our DVD of our Sierra backpacking trip so we could show it to Sarah's grandparents once we got to the Caymans. Once Jared was done with FilmED at 4 PM, we got the last of our things together and headed out for Sarah's aunt Kerri's house, which is just 5 minutes from the airport in El Segundo. Surprisingly the traffic wasn't too terrible, and we got there in about an hour. We picked up Sarah's cousins Alexander and Andrew and their luggage and went to wait inside the airport while Sarah's mom and Kerri went back for the two other kids and Jesus, Kerri's husband.

About 20 minutes later they showed up along with Del and Linda, Sarah's grandparents, and we proceeded to the self check-in kiosks. The check-in process took awhile given that we had 12 people , but eventually we got it done and went through security as well, where all that was confiscated was Alexander's toothpaste. We made the trek to our gate, 48A, as Linda stopped along the way to buy a KitKat bar for everybody (it's sort of a travel tradition that she does for the grandkids whenever they travel together). Once we found a big enough circle of vacant chairs, we all unloaded our carry-ons. Kerri's clan (as they definitely are with 6 people) headed to Burger King, while the rest of us opted for Chili's. The waitress put together enough tables and chairs for six of us and we slowly but surely got our order through and processed. Sarah had a bowl of potato soup and a side Caesar salad, which Doug shared with her along with his own cup of soup. When boarding time finally rolled around, we clambered onto the plane in a semi-orderly fashion and took our seats, the two of us next to Jamie and Jared somewhere up front by himself, having taken Doug's assigned seat.
The five hour flight went by fairly quickly, possibly because our last flight was 11 hours! We both slept off and on until we arrived at Miami International at 7-something AM Miami time (4-something AM to our weary bodies). Sounds like time to switch over to Day 2! .....

Day 10 - We Meet Sarah's Mysterious Underwater Nemesis

This morning we were again up by the usual time due to the stifling heat inside of our tent. In town, we opted to save some money by not eating at a sit-down place, so we bought a vanilla-banana cream pastry and an apple strudel at Artemis bakery and some fruit and snacks at a little market. We decided to head to Tsigrado, a beach which had been recommended to us by a couple at the ATV rental place on Thursday. When we got there we could see the cove below the cliffs and there was a person-sized rift with a rope going down the length of it. So Doug going first, we rappelled down the cliff to the sandy beach bottom.
Once on the beach we found a spot in the disappearing shade. The water felt amazing, and there was some good snorkeling around the rocks and the cave/tunnel that went from the shallow to the deep water. We also spent some time snacking and lounging around on the beach, even though the shade quickly deserted the beach as the sun rose higher. We stayed at Tsigrado for about 3 or 4 hours and it was our favorite of all the beaches we visited in the Greek Islands.
When we were ready to leave Tsigrado and move beaches, we made the ascent up the sandy rift carved in the cliff. At the top we paused to take some pictures, then got atop the ATV and drove pretty much just around the corner to Firiplaka. After parking the quad, we walked a short ways through what looked like someone's personal little waterfront dock area and we were on the beach.
The beach had two parts, a small little cove area with rocks and a longer, more crowded area shoring up to the shallow open water. We opted for the cove-like area since there weren't any people there and there was a little shade. After we settled our stuff down we went right for the water since it was hot out. Sarah went first, picking her way through the rocks to get to the open water. At the last area of rocks, though, something went wrong - she took a step forward between two rocks and felt a sharp, searing pain between her big toe and her second toe on the left foot. She yelled for Doug to come and started to cry with the intense pain and looking to see what had done the damage. Doug arrived and we hopped out of the water, Sarah still sobbing, and sat down as Doug ran to get some ice from the bar. The long cut bled only when held openm, but some of her foot swelled up and under the cut it turned kind of blue, with her entire instep feeling tender and a little tingly. The intense pain continued, so after about 20 minutes of holding the ice on, we opted to head back to the campground.
Strangely, once she was up and about for a bit, Sarah's foot stopped hurting. After hanging out for awhile we went into town to eat. We ate at an Italian restaurant which we forgot the name of and shared a Hawaiian pizza and tortellini with red sauce, which came with bread. We had some more ice cream, Sarah getting chocolate gelato and Doug attempting to use the soft-serve machine by himself to get some vanilla. We stopped on the way back to watch the sun go down. The night was calm until about 10 PM, when a wedding reception started at the restaurant at the campground. They had put a slip of paper outside our tent that morning warning that the restaurant would be closed at 5 PM for the reception and they were "sorry for the disturbance." Turns out they meant a disturbance lasting from 10 PM until 8 AM the following morning. They pumped music (mostly American, like the BeeGees) loudly all night and lit off fireworks, so we hardly slept at all that night. That's how to make a true unhappy camper!

Day 9 - Encounters of the American Kind

This morning we got up around 8:30, unable to stay in the tent any longer since it was so hot. After making use of the facilities, meaning Turkish squat toilets with no toilet paper, we headed into Adamas for breakfast. We picked a place with nice outdoor seating and were greeted by an American (!) waiter. He was staying on the island for awhile as a break from his home in New Jersey. Speaking in a way that convinced us he might be gay, he took our orders and told us the beaches with the most "tur-quah" water to go to. Doug had a waffle with ice cream and Sarah had eggs with bacon, with fruit salad to share.
When we were finished eating we drove north to Sarakiniko. After wandering around the white rocks a bit we found a spot near the tiny, uncrowded beach to get in and swim. We snorkeled a little and when we were done we took our things a bit higher up on the rocks to settle down and watch the waves hit and spray the rocks. Sarah napped a little and Doug journaled while watching the commotion below. We were getting hungry, but as we got up to leave we saw a sunken ship down the coast a bit and decided to investigate. We hiked over the white rock formations until we were closer and we stopped to take pictures. Then we headed back to the quad and rode into Adamas. We had a short lunch outside along the bay and beach at Papikinou, sharing a Hawaiian pizza and some water.
After filling our tummies and deciding we'd come another time for another delicious pizza, we headed back out to a beach the breakfast waiter had said was "ahh-mazing!" We had some trouble finding it but instead stumbled upon Agios Konstantinos, a little cove where we stood out at the only non-Greeks. The water was cold but there was excellent shade for us to rest in so we swam, snorkeled, and even did a bit of rock-jumping. Back up on the beach we spent some time looking through the rocks lying in the sand and Sarah amazed Doug with her ability to find beautiful ones as well as bits of sea glass, some of which we kept. We stayed awhile longer until everyone had left but for one couple, grateful for some peace and quiet. But after awhile we noticed them repeatedly slamming something into the rocks and realized the man had caught an octopus with his bare hands while snorkeling and was eagerly trying to kill it. We opted not the stay and watch, so we packed up our things and Doug attempted to burnout and give their car a little sand-dusting on the way out.
We drove back to the campground and spent some time in the pool, then changed and went over to the campground's open-air restaurant to eat and watch the sunset, which happens late at about 9:15 PM. We ordered a meal and appetizers from the waitress, who had pretty bad English and seemed to insist on leaving her shorts unbuttoned at all times. For dinner Doug had French fries and tortellini while Sarah had fried zucchini (an attempt to incorporate some veggies) and buttered pasta with too much cheese. We snapped some pictures as the sun went down and enjoyed a leisurely dinner despite the fact that the staff were frantically bustling about trying to hang cheesecloth from the eaves, which we figured was in preparation for the high season.
Following dinner we showered, Sarah in one out of the four stalls whose lock was jammed, and we spent the remainder of the evening reading and relaxing. We slept, again pestered by the howling wind which rattled and shook our tent.

Day 8 - Welcome to Milos

Of course we were awakened early in the morning (2-3ish) by someone knocking loudly. Then we heard some guys yelling "Get up! They're kicking us out!" We don't exactly know what happened but they had trespassed somehow and the four of them had to leave. The rest of the night was quiet.
This morning we got up around 8:00 AM, showered, got ready and packed up our tent and things. We paid our 36 Euro bill at checkout and went up to central Fira to get some food for the ferry ride to Milos. We got Motion juice, which is excellent, some chocolate and strawberry mini-crossaints, and gummy bears for the ride.
We got to the bus station a bit early for the 10 AM bus and there was a bit of confusion finding the right bus to Athinios, but eventually we got on with our packs. The driver came up to me, shook his head and muttered some Greek, and took my pack to store in the side of the bus, leaving Doug with his. Sarah was a little worried, but when we got into Athinios at 10:25 it was there in the cargo hold just as it should be. We went into the passenger terminal and waited for our ferry, which arrived about 10 minutes before its 11 AM departure. We boarded and grabbed what we needed out of our packs since we had to leave them on the outside deck.
The ferry ride was uneventful, two hours long with one stop in Folegandros. It was not crowded, but we stayed in out seats which were 2nd row from the front. On the ride we journaled a bit and read our respective books. We were glad when the ride was over because we were tired and it was very cold on the ferry.
The ferry arrived in Adamas Port, Milos at 1:15 PM. First we went to the Tourist office and got some brochures, then walked down the quay a bit until we found a rent-a-car called Kozzmozz. We rented an ATV for the 6 days we will be in Milos, this one bigger and more powerful than the Santorini one for 175 Euros. We picked up the quad and our helmets and headed for out next campground, Achivadolimni Milos Camping which was 7 km away from Adamas. We got there and checked in, then went to scope out a campsite. Within 5 minutes, Doug's pack hit a flower tree and he got stung twice by a wasp. We decided to camp on the other side of the grounds. We set up our tent near the reception and they gave him some ointment for his "bee" sting, which brought down the swelling a bit. After we set up camp, we drove back into town to eat at a place called Flisvos, which was recommended in Lonely Planet. The waiter was so soft spoken that it was a bit awkward. They didn't have the vegetable plate that we wanted to order, so we both ended up getting pastitsio, which was supposedly a type of Greek lasagna. It was like a loaf of long macaroni noodles baked together with a quiche-like layer on top. It was almost good and not very fresh. We went to a little gelato place on the waterfront afterwards and Sarah had Toblerone flavor, which was chocolate but had some weird orange crunchies in it, unlike any candy bar. Doug had something really coconut-y.
After eating we drove back past the campsite to the nearby beach, Achivadolimni. The water was nice and refreshing, even though the small fish that kept following our feet scared Sarah a bit because she didn't want to lose a toe. After some time at the beach and the realization that our 1 Euro goggles fail completely, we headed back to the campground. We took a dip in the pool and journaled/read to the constant screeching hum of the annoying tree bugs which are everywhere here. We went to sleep early and slept pretty poorly because of the wind that rattled our tent.

Day 7 - Hanging Poolside

This morning we got up around the usual time thanks to the rooster. We wanted another delicious breakfast, so we went back to Corner and sat outside again...of course, we also had the same waitress. Doug had the same thing as yesterday and I had a lemon-sugar crepe, both with fresh-squeezed orange juice, and we also shared a fruit salad with pear, apple, kiwi, nectarine, apple, orange, and banana.
We had no real desire to wind up on another disappointing beach, so after walking around Fira for awhile we decided to just spend out last day in Santorini lounging around and relaxing at the campground. After returning we bought an hour of internet access up by the pool bar and used it to research camping and beaches in Milos, our next island destination. We had about half an hour left so we wrote a nice, long and perhaps too-detailed e-mail home.
We decided just to hang out at the pool for the rest of the day. We settled under an umbrella in the shade and journaled, read, napped, swam, and read our travel books for about 5 hours or so. The waitress, who is very enthusiastic about happy hour, kept asking if we wanted drinks, but we only ordered spaghetti arrabiatta, which was rather bland instead of spicy but was not bad, probably because I love almost any kind of noodles.
After hanging out by the pool a bit longer, we got ready and headed up into Fira. We walked around for a bit and stumbled upon two restaurants recommended by Lonely Planet - NRG, which has crepes and waffles, and Stani, which has traditional Greek food and which we opted for. We walked up to their outdoor balcony (waitress: go upstairs to get better view and to get more hungry!), which has an alright view of the caldera. Two Greek girls came up shortly after us, and as they chain-smoked the waitress proceeded to dote on them and take their order first. Once she decided to help us, we ordered Cokes with a "Volcano" pizza for Doug and chicken with rice and potatoes for Sarah. The chicken was pretty dry and the rice a little bland, but at least there were some vegetables involved and the potatoes were good, as well as the pizza. After dinner we checked out the Fira nightlife one last time and then headed back to the campground hoping for a good night's rest.

Day 6 - All-Terrain Adventures

This morning we were rudely awakened at 5:30 AM by the noise of a screeching rooster that screamed for the next two hours solid - it was not a normal sounding rooster either, it sounded pretty demented. Doug took a sunrise walk while Sarah tried to get a little more sleep. Around 8:00 we both showered in the communal bathrooms and got ready, then headed up the hill to central Fira to get some breakfast. After some indecision, we decided to sit outside at a place called Corner. We ordered fresh-squeezed orange juice and this time we were not disappointed - it came in a wine glass, thick with pulp and the top covered with a fresh orange slice, neon colored straws sticking though the middle. The menu was very appetizing - an array of delicious-sounding crepes and waffles. Both of us decided to get a waffle that was covered with walnuts, honey, sugar, whipped cream, strawberries and a scoop of vanilla ice cream topped with an animal cracker. It was both impressive and delicious.
After eating we stopped by a place called Moto Chris to rent an ATV for the day. We had seen tons of people riding them and they seemed like a fun and convenient way to explore the island. It cost us 20 Euro for the day, so we rented a yellow one and got the rundown on how to use it.
We decided to drive to Oia (ee-uh) on the northern tip of the island, whereas Fira is fairly central. The ride took about 25 minutes and we stopped along the way to switch drivers and take some caldera-view pictures. We drove down a steep hill to get to Ammoudi, the quintessential little Greek port. After some pictures, Doug push-started us and we were off on our slow descent back up the hill, pedal to the metal. Back in town we searched for snorkel goggles, found two pairs for 1 Euro each, and headed off to find a beach. We searched for about half an hour for a beach called Pori, winding through fields of grapes and hill-top houses. We eventually found a tiny little rocky beach, but it wasn't really swimable and there was no snorkeling so we got back onto the ATV and, thoroughly sunburned by this point, opted to try and find another beach called Vilchada. We got way lost going through the island's central valleys, but somehow ended up there eventually. There was striking sand cliffs above the beach, but our eyes were directed more to the very elderly, very nude couple visiting the beach with their granddaughter. The beach was nice but the water was again chilly and I was pretty burnt, so we didn't stay long and headed back to the campsite.
Once back at the campsite we went to the pool again, did some laundry, and I took a nap until about 7:30 PM. Then we returned the ATV and went back to the same pasta place since we were tired and I was embarrassed about looking like a lobster. This time we shared a cheese tortellini out by the pool and hit the sack (quite literally, sack being sleeping bag) pretty early.

Day 5 - Under the Santorini Sun

In the morning we got up around 7:00 and went to have breakfast, but nothing looked good so we decided to wait. We arrived at Athinios Port in Santorini around 8:15 AM. After disembarking from the ferry, we waited for the public bus while being solicited hotel rooms for 10 Euros (are you gullible?) and admiring the small port. We took the bus up to Fira on the top of the caldera for a few Euro. There at the bus station we met two other backpacking girls who were looking for Santorini Camping as well, one from New York and one from Colombia. We walked with them the half mile or less to the campground where we checked in. The campground has a pool, bar, market, restaurant, and other facilities for a less-than-bare-minimum camping experience. We found a shady spot to set up our tent in the dirt and were by then quite hungry, so we set out for the restaurant by the pool. We sat at the bar and ordered a French breakfast for each of us, which consisted of French toast, ham, cheese, bread with butter and jam, plus some orange juice which was like watered-down Sunny D, a disappointment after yesterday's fresh-squeezed.
After breakfast we rushed back into town to catch the 11:15 AM bus to Red Beach, which we had read was very nice. It dropped us off nowhere near a swimable beach, so we walked aways down the waterfront past some tavernas, then up a staircase. We walked awhile longer along a path and then it turned into more of a hike up the red rock cliffs which reminded me of Lake Havasu. We came to the peak and saw the beach below us, lined with umbrellas and crowded with people. After scaling down the peak we tentatively took a seat under an umbrella but of course we were approached within minutes by a woman demanding seven Euros for its use, so we carried on down the beach past the crowds to settle in the sand. The water was pretty, but once we disturbed the water pieces of seaweed floated up and coasted everything. It was deceptive to look through the water since everything looked like a rock with a mossy covering. It was really windy and hot, but the water was still very cold. We spent about an hour or two at the beach and then headed out. We passed a cafe on the way out and stopped for a pizza and a Coke, which were refreshing. We weren't exactly sure when the bus back to Fira left, so we made it back to the stop by 3:00 PM. We got ice creams and waited while a little mommy dog begged us for some and we let her clean up after us. We ended up waiting for the bus for an hour.
Once we were back at the campground we took a quick dip in the pool, which was very crowded, and then sort of accidentally crashed for a nap until about 9:00 PM! We were hungry so we walked up into town to find some food. After wandering the streets with the rest of the bustling nighttime crowd, we decided to get some spaghetti for takeaway. I had spaghetti with tomato sauce and Doug had tortellini with a cheese/alfredo sauce. Then we headed back to the campsite, hung out for a bit relaxing, and went to sleep.