Explore Ithaca

I had spent most of the summer in Greece and it had completely stolen my heart. After leaving, it took me all of 2 weeks to decide that I wanted to move there permanently… I had expected to be met with obstacles but, instead things had fallen into place. I now found myself sitting in Italy, making lists of things I wanted to do upon my return to Greece in October. I had initially intended on spending my birthday in Spain but going back to Greece just made more sense as I was now intending to move there.

The summer had been hot. I had spent almost all of time on the north part of Ithaca taking photo’s, visiting beaches and making friends. I hadn’t seen much of the south. I had made a few trips down to the port and Vathi to get things but that was it. I wanted to see and photograph more though. One of the locals had pointed me in the direction of Dimitris Artavanis and his company, Explore Ithaca, and I decided that this trip was as good a time as any to book a walking tour and see more of the island.

Dimitris proved to be a great guide, taking me to caves, churches and the oldest olive tree on Ithaca. I did 2 of his tours, one in the north and one in the south. His local knowledge is vast, giving out lots of facts about the insects and plant life we passed by while hiking. He also has the patience of a saint putting up with my endless questions and rather terrible attempts at speaking Greek.

So if you ever find yourself on Ithaca, and are up for a bit of adventure,  you should give Dimitris and Explore Ithaca a call. He has a pretty good sense of humour too so I promise you’ll have a good day out.

These are some of my favourite images from the hikes.