Kalogeros beach
The only written references I’ve seen to the Kladou Gorge, west of Samaria and Agia Roumeli, which originates below the summit of Kokinovari, 1694m and ends at Domata beach, advise never to attempt a descent without a guide, for – “ this is one of the most dangerous and inaccessible gorges of Crete ” – and I’ve never met anyone who has done even that.
At Agia Roumeli
My friend Andreas Stavroudakis from the Calypso Hotel in Agia Roumeli, who knows the area as well as anyone, suggested a walk of 1 to 1.5 hours from the coast, saying the limit of exploration was on reaching a vertical and unassailable wall at Letzara. Another reference insists “the only way to see part of this natural sculpture is to walk upside down (sic !) from the beautiful beach Domata.”
Domata from above
Domata is a strenuous four-hour walk from Agia Roumeli (see Explore ! June 2017) but only 5 km (and much flatter) by kayak, which is how we arrived there. It took us an hour, passing several ‘Spilies sto Marmaro’ – small marble caves – then the attractive strand of Fournoti beach. This is home to the rare and endemic “hypericum aciferum” plant, and also several tiers of bee-hives ;I once landed to search for the flower, but made a rapid exit, pursued by bees … The Mediterranean here is the Libyan, or South Cretan Sea, a vast expanse stretching to North Africa ; sitting in a single 4.5-metre sea kayak always brings to mind the Breton fishermen’s prayer for safety – “the sea is so wide, and my boat is so small …”
The sea is so wide
Rounding Cape Kalotrividis, we drifted through brilliantly clear turquoise waters, stretched legs at Kalogeros, then paddled on the short distance to Domata.
Domata beach
Behind the shingle beach is an area of soft dark sand, and above that the vertical wall of conglomerate rock, topped by pine trees, gazed at, admired and photographed by thousands of ferry passengers, though few will ever come here. A projecting slab gave us protection from the sun and any possible winds, and a short “siesta” before the next part of our expedition.
At Domata
As the afternoon cooled, we set off into the Kladou Gorge.
Kladou Gorge
Intially wide and boulder-strewn, with no path or way-marks, in twenty minutes it narrowed, then widened again, then became narrower still, to just a few metres across, with some easy “scrambling” necessary in places.
Gorge narrows ..
Steep walls towered above us, as impressive as any gorge in Crete, pine trees clinging impossibly to sheer faces.
and narrower ..
After 1.5 hours, at c. 600m, with Kokinovari peak high above us, we turned round without reaching the 150m rock wall at Letzara, which may have been ten minutes away … or an hour or more ….
Descending, we collected quantities of rain-washed pine logs, which together with driftwood from the beach made for a pleasant evening by the fireside, with reminiscences from days gone by (and some ‘raki’ ..) ensuring a reasonably comfortable night under the stars.
Fireside
Possibly the raki, but Neverland was just visible .. “second star to the right, and straight on til morning ….”
We woke early to a perfect dawning – “ Up from the eastern sea, soars the delightful day …”
Up from the eastern sea ..
Housman at his best. Leisurely English breakfast tea with boiled eggs, then back afloat, and unhurriedly along the coast, past little Sedoni beach to land at Tripiti, and visit tiny Ag. Nikolaus chapel and the Evacuation Memorial (see Explore ! – May 2018)
Nearing Sougia
Getting ashore at Agios Antonios (Hareis) proved too difficult, the rocky harbour there intended for small craft rather than low-in-the-water kayaks, so we continued on west into Sougia. Time there for late lunch at a favourite cafe, then relax and swimming whilst waiting for the “Samaria” to return us to Paleochora, arriving there soon after seven o’clock in the evening, having filled the previous unforgiving thirty-six hours with full distance exploring, along a spectacular part of Crete’s southern coastline.
A Decade Of Explore! Contest Winner
Last month we celebrated 10 years or Explore! with a contest.
We asked people to solve a cryptogram puzzle. This was the sentence to be decrypted
RSWYG JCSPB HV ICJJAC JCSPB, MBC PBHXPC XR
GHLVR
The answer, of course was “Sandy beach or pebble beach, the choice is yours”
The lucky winner, picked at random is…
Catherine Dawson of Otley, UK.
Congratulations to Catherine! A Crete puzzle book will be on it’s way to you.
If anyone wants to get hold of the Bumper Crete Holiday Puzzle Book, it is available to order from Amazon here:
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I hope this will remind the couple from UK, who Barry & I met at the recent PAWS Flea Market in Paleochora, of their boat trip to Domata, and swimming and snorkelling in the deep clear waters off the beach.
Good to see you still so active Bob – at 75 now???
Absolutely not, think you’ve got your ‘sums’ wrong .. but anyway, as the saying goes, “age is just a number …” Carpe Diem
Yes, Bob. Your account of the Kladou Gorge – by Kayak certainly took us back to our magical morning at Domata Beach last year where we swam in the beautiful waters and walked along the beach.We are the couple who were in conversation with you at the Paws Flea Market. Wonderful to know what was above us but, sadly, we would not be capable of that; we’ll stick to snorkelling!
Perhaps you would let us know when you discover EDCereley’s memorial at Sto Mio Bay. Having visited the museum in Perivolia, we recently met the 91year old grandson of Skalides,in this village, and he regaled us with some interesting memories he had of WW2.
Thank you for your monthly retrospectives which we always look forward to particularly now we are back home in England.
There’s more about the fascinating little museum in Perivolia in ‘A Walk from Kefali’ – Archives (March 2016) with two photos of Zacharias Skalides, who was 87 when we met him in January 2016.
Hi Bob, I’ve lost you mail address!! I need some help erecting a flag pole at the junction with main road up to yours and Talos!! Were running a yoga retreat there from 2nd September and need to direct the student off the main road !!
can you help or advise??
cheers
Peter
Author
Hi Peter,
Barry here. The best (and easiest way) to do this is to use “What3Words”. It gives a unique three word code for any 3m x 3m square on the planet. It is a website and a mobile app. I will send you the 3 words for the junction you are asking about in reply to the message you sent on the contact form
There’s already a small signpost at this junction, marked SPANIAKOS – Talos, indicating the track off the main road : coming from Chania it’s about 1 km below Kalamos, after the bridge, on left after the bend.