10.8.2009: A Ship Tour all around the Island.
We have booked this journey in advance on our trip to Zakynthos city. Today, we were picked up in the morning with a bus near our hotel, and brought to the harbour. There we entered our ship for a whole day trip all around the island of Zakynthos.
We start from the harbour of Zakynthos City.
The Campanile (bell tower) of the monastery of St. Dionysios.
Leaving the harbour
Zooming in on the Campanile, with the mountains behind.
A huge cruise liner is anchoring, the passengers are landed with small boats.
An airliner shortly after the start.
The city and the harbour are slowly vanishing from our view.
The cruiser with the mountains of the Vasilikos peninsula in behind.
We are now shipping along the eastern coast of Zakynthos: steep coast with interspersed beaches.
Another boat overtakes us.
This seems to be the road we were driving the day befor yesterday.
Behidn this coastal rocks ...
... the small cove of Agios Nikolaos appears, with its tiny harbour. Also from here boats leave to ...
... the blue caves.
Here the ship is anchoring.
With small boats landing at the big ship, passengers are brought to the caves (of course for an additional fee). Knowing that, I would not have visited the place yesterday, I could have saved the journey; however, now I have plenty of time for exploring the place at longer swim. It is a unique experience to swim into such a cave....
Bathing at the other ship too.
Of course, the family takes th opportunity to see the caves from inside.
We procede along the coast
Onece more the view through the great arch.
We now have passed the northen cape and reached the western coast.
Here, the terrain gets increasingly rocky.
A mountain range of up to 800 m height is escarping down to the sea.
The fragile rocks are washed out by the waves and finally ahev fallen down. This can be supposed to have occured much more frequently during the ice ages, when there was a climate here like the middle European climate now, with frost breaking up and destroying the rocks in winter.
We are now approaching ...
... the famous Ship wreck beach.
Panoramic view of the rock walls around the famous ship wreck beach. Click here or into the picture for a larger version.
The rock wall to the left of the beach is nearly 200 m high. Here is another, smaller and narrower beach, to which I did swim - swimming beneath such a wall is a special experience.
We are approaching the beach, the ship is landing here.
We have been looking down from this platform the day before yesterday.
More ships have been landing here.
In 1981, a smugglerīs ship (constructed in Glasgow, 1937), full with cigarettes, capsized here in a storm and since that time is laying here in the sand.
The sheer never ending rock wall over a shingle beach of small, smoothed, white limestones. Click here or into the picture for a larger version.
The beach is a bit overcrowded with passengers from several big ships ...
We are starting again now, to tackle the second half of the round trip.
A final panorama ... (Click here or inside the picture for a larger version)
... before we take the corner ...
... and leave the cove.
Unbelievable rock scenery ...
We are proceding along the rocky western coast.
More rock walls. Click here or inside the picture for a larger version.
A recent rockfall - a warning that the rocks are still moving. No wonder in an area with frequent earth quakes.
We are passing tiny rocks in the sea.
The cove of Vromi with its two roads. We donīt land here, despite the announcement in the prospect, because we are behind schedule due to longer stays at the caves and the beach.
The huge concrete cross Iīve seen yesterday.
The tavern to the left is a bit hidden and nearly cannot be seen from here.
Once more we pass ...
... numerous caves.
Der Dogeīs palace in Venice? No, the numerous caves on the western coast of Zakynthos.
Arc de Triomphe in Paris? No, the rocky western cove of Zakynthos.
Some of the covesī roofs will not hold for long ...
Panoramic picture - western coast of Zakynthos. Click here or into the picture for a larger version.
We are now approaching ...
... Cape Keri. I have been sitting on the very right rock spur the day before yesterday, waiting for the sunset.
We now circle the cape, the southwesternmost point of the island.
Once more my view place from the day before yesterday.
The two rocks of cape Keri.
The tall mast near the Lighthouse Restaurant.
We take the narrow passage, seemingly deep enough for our flat boat, a catamaran.
More rocks to pass
View back to the rocks.
The Lighthouse Restaurant, zooming in. Zoom. The day before yesterday we were sitting up there and were looking down to the two rocks in the sea.
Caves ...
Rock walls and coves
Caves ...
And another "Arc de triomph"
We are now circling the southern cape of the Keri pensinsula ...
... and are heading for the large cove of Laganas. Far right the island of Marathonisi, to the left of it in the distance the white houses of our hotel.
Inclined stratified rocks.
Panoramic picture of the cove of Laganas, with the island of Marathonisi in the foreground. To the right in the background the Vasilikos pensinsula. Click here or into the picture for a largher version.
Marathonisi. From this point of view, the similarity of the contour with a turtle is really striking (hence the popular name "turtle island").
Rocks of Marathonisi, Vasilikos pensinsula in the background.
A last bathing stop at this beach.
Caves and turquois - blue water.
Cooling down, at least..
Swimming into the caves ...
After a rather short stop we head or the last leg of our journey, circling the Vasilikos pensinsula.
Marathonisi
Viewing over the large Laganas cove to Gerakas Beach.
The mountains of the Vasilikos pensinsula.
Differently colored rock layers also on the southern coast.
We are now heading in northern direction along the eastern coast. Continental Greece with the western Peloponnes in the backdrop.
The village of Kokiaraiika ...
... and mountains up to 400 m in behind, on the pensinsula.
The huge cruiser has lifted her ancors and started to leave. A long day is behind us, and we are rather tired when we are leaving the ship in the harbour of Zakynthos city.
