North Zakynthos

All these photos were taken up in the north of the island. The little lighthouse at Cape Skinari is pretty much the northern tip, and the yacht was taken just below it. The two windmills were just slightly to the east, a few hundred metres. If I was understanding the Greek signs correctly, the house one may have been available for renting. I'd have loved to see inside it, but I'm not sure if I would want to stay somewhere that had so many tourists looking at it! We climbed down a lot of very steep steps and swam at the bottom of the cliff. I think that was where C became addicted to snorkelling...I am too short-sighted to see the fish well unless they're near the surface, so I did better in shallower waters.
The shipwreck is often described as one of the iconic views on Zakynthos, although it's only been there since the early eighties. The story is that it was being used to smuggle cigarettes, and ran aground in the cove in stormy weather. The cove is only accessible by sea, and it is even more beautiful than it looks in the photos. C was rhapsodizing about it. In fact, he had to take some of the photos - I climbed down a long way, and then it just got too steep and sheer. Wish I hadn't lost my head for heights! The sheer cliff in the first photo is the left side of the cove. There were some beautiful butterflies, almost impossible to take photos of. For sure we saw some Scarce Swallowtails. I don't know what this little one that landed on my toe was - and of course I had the wide-angle lens on the camera at the time, for all the panoramic views. A visit to a good butterfly site is called for, as there are still two or three I am trying to identify. It amazed me how far out over the sea they flew - you could be swimming a long way out and still see them, and the morning we hired a boat I saw one a long way out.
More to follow...








This last photo was taken on the way back from the lighthouse. I thought I'd spotted the umbrella hanging by the door on our way, and asked C to stop on the way back. Unfortunately neither the scooter nor the dirt-bike that we hired were very good at starting. At least with the dirt-bike there was always a kick-start option, but it meant I was a bit slower than normal to ask him to stop for photos.