Greece

our time in greece reflected literally the blue and white colors of the country’s national flag: lots of white beaches, endless blue sky and sea. as we have sailed over the calm sea, a peaceful sunrise welcomed us in greece. barely on the mainland, we boarded directly the next ferry boat that brought us to the natural paradise of corfu. we passed the first graveled roads and sand tracks through a thicket of olive, pine and oleander trees and discovered an endless and lonely spot next to the ionian sea, where we decided to stay for a couple of days. it was the perfect place to get to use to the wild-camping life and thus to organize our defender, our equipment and of course ourselves. our nutrition was enriched by the tasteful local vegetables and fruits and thanks to the elderly lady owner of a nearby tavern, we could also fill up the 60-liter water tank of flora. those days were characterized by pure freedom and beyond enjoying the winds by doing kite surfing, we loved having sand in the hair, salt on the skin and becoming sun kissed by the daily sun rays.

since we have a mission in our minds, we finished our robinson crusoe life and went on with our greek journey in direction to the mountains of the national park of vikos-aoos. actually, it would have been too easy just driving the roads without any challenges: on the highway, we suddenly recognized jerky movements of the car while applying the break. it was a bit scaring since we passed steep slopes from time to time and one could imagine how happy we were when we accidentally discovered a land rover repair shop at the highway exit to ioannina. by the help of the cordial and supportive mentality of the mechanics there, the super diagnostic skills and knowledge of our friend michael at home, which he transferred via live video support, we could find and solve the problem. notably, only by communicating by hand and feet and the help of google translate! since we had already passed some gravel roads, one wheel bearing and one screw of the panhard rod got loose. now, we are definitively more aware to check all screws and nuts more regularly.

back on the track, we worked our way up to the mountains, where we got attracted by the world’s deepest george, the vikos canyon. what a stunning landscape of huge and rough rocks embedded in soft green oak forests interrupted partially by ancient monasteries and by small villages of slate stone houses like in the canton ticino. a place dominated by nature, by bears and wild hogs and where the interfering behavior of humankind seems far away. likewise in meteora, where it looks like if giants had played with stones and where monasteries built on top of them exuding a spiritual atmosphere. it is breathtaking to imagine how monks had built them hundreds of years ago.

after passing mount olymp, we went back to the coast and spent some time at various gorgeous places in the region of chalkidiki. calm nights in lonely bays followed peaceful moments in the wilderness of greek olive groves. in thessaloniki, the final destination of our route through greece, we enjoyed the hip and vibrant ambience while awaiting our south african rooftop tent delivered from germany. fully packed with memorable mediterranean moments and strengthened by the fantastic greek cuisine, we headed off to a long one-day journey directly to istanbul.