Tripping in Zakynthos

Hey there fellow Steemians, it's Rabbe here. As I told you guys earlier, I was lucky enough to have two full weeks of chilling in the amazing island of Zakynthos, a small island that belongs to Greece. I'm not going to make this a full travel location review, just something to let you guys have a sneak peek into what I've been doing for two weeks.

A compact paradise not for everyone

"How small is the island then?" you might ask. Well, so small that by renting a car you could have visited all the best beaches and sights in one day. I was told that the longest distance from one coast to the other is only 40 kilometers or just under 25 miles. Basically this means that you can drive from one end of the island to the other in an hour without even hurrying.

An aerial view of the island.
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

So does size matter? In this case, yes. But whether it's a good or a bad thing is up to you. I personally love these kinds of places. Small islands with not that many tourist attractions, not too many party zones but in turn dozens of small beaches, coves, caves and beautiful nature. I have no problem swimming, snorkeling and exploring for two weeks. Could have continued for two more. You have access to all the best places since everything is so close. However, it might get boring if you're more the kind of person who seeks night life, lots of people and all kinds of guided sightseeing tours.

That said, there are some beatiful places to visit for those who want to see something special. Want to see where sea turtles go nesting?
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
Go to Marathonisi, you might even see the turtles swimming around.

If natural structures are your thing, visiting The Blue Caves is a must.
* Image credit: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/495003*

The picture doesn't do justice to the place, so I can only encourage you to go check it yourselves. You will find a whole lot of caves along the coastline that you can explore by yourself or book a guided boat tour.

There's one more place I'd like to mention, and that's "The Shipwreck". It's a small cove only accessible by boat. I'm not even going to try to explain it more, just see for yourselves.
Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/live-zakynthos/4290456859
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

Moving around

As mentioned before, car is a good choice for moving around since everything is just a short drive away. However, it's not for those with a weak heart. The roads are small and have a lot of tight curves, which is enough to make some say "no way in hell". When you combine this with the locals driving almost twice the appropriate speed, it can be quite tough to stay calm and cool. However, I would say it's still worth sacrificing one pair of clean underpants. We had a car rented for a day and it was an awesome day.

For those with more time and less suicidal tendencies, a local bus is a good choice. It takes you pretty much anywhere on the island, just takes a chunk of your time.

If you're into exploring the beaches and coves, what could be an even better choice of transportation? A boat of course. You can rent a boat quite cheap with no need for a license. We had a boat for a day and as someone who very rarely gets to be on boats or ships, I loved it. Cruising around the coast and stopping for a swim or some snorkeling was awesome. We even visited the Blue Caves mentioned earlier. Everything went well, except our anchor got wedged between a couple rocks so tight that we couldn't get it out and had to cut the rope. I even tried to dive down there and get the anchor out but it was like 10 meters deep in the spot, which was a bit too deep for me. I can do 6 meters with no problem but this time I had to give up. The guy we rented the boat from just laughed and said it's very common since there are lots of rocks down there. So if you rent a boat, think about where you anchor.

Rabbe's photo and note gallery

As an ending I thought I'd spam a couple photos from my trip. They are not good or professional by any means, just the basic holiday photos.
The town square in the capital town of the island. It was funny how the "capital" was just a few kilometers long strip filled with some restaurants, houses and shops.

Most of the houses are white because it helps to keep them cool in the heat. However, someone wanted to stand out with the brightest red they could find.

While driving through the island we came to a place with a few kilometers of hills that were completely black throughout. Turns out there had been a huge fire a few years back, which left all the vegetation burnt and charred. It was kind of eerie seeing the place like that. And in fact there was an another wildfire during our stay.
Which looked like this from our hotel.

The water is so blue it's almost surreal.

And finally a small dump of the views.

So, that's Zakynthos à la Rabbe for you. Until next time my friends. Peace.
-R

P.S Special thanks to the people that have followed me, I just noticed there are a hundred of you guys. It means a lot.