Zakhyntos land excursions: The southeastern part
24/06/2013
We leave Zakhyntos and go directly to the north with the idea of getting to the area on which was the Voidi. Some curves before entering the bay of Tsilivi we have a good view of what remains of the Voidi. From this area, Cape Akrotiri, you can see the beach of Tsilivi with Cape Gaidaru, the Donkey, and out at the bottom, Skinari.
If we now return to Zakhyntos by the coast road we got to the top of Krio Nero which is the start of Zakhyntos Bay. We see the small church, the Skopos left and, top right, the lighthouse.
Once we have passed Zakhyntos city, way down south, we find the church of Ayos Spiridion on the beach. It is a church that has been renovated recently. We look for one of the rocks that marked the Archduke right opposite the church. We see others but not the one we were looking for...
A few meters away is a turn from which the Archduke drew a house and a small rocky hill. Today we do not see it, because of the trees, so we have to approach a little more. We see that the house is not there, and right next to it there is a petrol station.
We went through Argassi, a tourist town, and took a picture of the shopping street of Argassi, typically tourist. Once we passed Argassi we reach Davia and from there we take a picture to the city of Zakhyntos with all Argassi Bay in the foreground.
We continue along the coast to the fork that leads to the west side of the peninsula of Vassiliki, where we find the beaches where turtles, Caretta caretta, lay their eggs. Before turning, in the distance, we see the Banana Beach and Cape Vassiliki.
Once on the west side of the peninsula we see from above Sekania beach, with access strictly prohibited. To the south you can see the beach of Dafni, accessible with restrictions. At the background the Gerakas Cape.
Finally we reached the beach of Gerakas, also with limited access, which is a lovely unspoilt beach. Before getting into the beach there is the Turtle Recovery Center that has worked for years to protect the entire environment related to them.
Then we climbed the mountain Skopos in order to reach the monastery Skopiotissa. From the former monastery we see that there is only the church and a building south of it, the rest are ruined. North of the monastery is the top of the mountain.
From the top we have a beautiful view to the monastery, with the Bay of Laganas just behind. We see also Peluso Island and north, the city of Zakhyntos and Kefallonia Island in the distance.
Finally, before returning to the city of Zakhyntos, we passed Banana Beach. This area of Zakhyntos is one of the few areas around the Ionian in which we have seen sandy beaches.
It's time to go to dinner... we'll be back again with some more land excursions in Zakhyntos.
