The Greek Seek - Day 5

 

Day 5 of our Greece adventure was all about the Cretan countryside and the beach. Chania, the town we are staying in, is on the northern side of the island. The beach we decided to visit is on the southeastern end of the island. To get there, we had to drive through the countryside and a mountain range. It was an absolutely gorgeous day all the way around. The roads were a little harrowing in places but fun!

single lane mountain tunnel - often the roads were single lane and if we met a car, you just pulled as close to the edge as possible

Stunning views - they are everywhere

Natural caves

Elafonisi Beach is popular because it has a large area for swimming and PINK SAND!! Beaches are often very rocky throughout Crete, even the area under the water so even though it is an island surrounded with water, of course, you can't swim everywhere. Elafonisi was absolutely remarkably beautiful. Words just don't do it justice. The photos help. Truly, the water is this blue!! I did not alter the color of these pics! It is also crystal clear! We spent the day on the sand, in the water, exploring the rocks and my not-so-little guy did lots of snorkeling and LOVED it. And yes, the sand is pale pink in various areas. Just beautiful!!

Pink Sand!

I almost looks like he's standing in a pool instead of the ocean.

Pink Sand and Pink Nose!

My guy!!

Not a lot of birds - there isn't a lot for them to eat here - no crabs and very little plant and fish life.

Dune vegetation

In exploring the rocks, I found pools of water in pockets within the rocks. Some had vegetation in them and some were in various stages of evaporation, leaving the salt crystals in the pocket. I found the shapes they formed to be quite interesting. Many of the rocks looked volcanic in nature.

The flower looking plant was under the water and attached to a base by a stem. The base was attached the rock.

After our beach day, we made our trek back through the mountain range. There were numerous small villages that we passed through. Also along the mountain road there were occasional pull off areas which locals took full advantage of the beach traffic by selling their homemade honeys, olive oil and liqueurs. It was a fun, beautiful and interesting drive - we thoroughly enjoyed it!

900 year old Olive Tree!!

It was a long, hard day of swimming!

Once back in Old Town Chania, we cleaned up and headed out to find dinner. Tonight we opted for a different fair and went with an Italian place. Since the town has such a Venetian influence, we thought it would be good and it was! We had bruschetta and traditional salad to start and then I had risotto with chicken and mushrooms - all was quite tasty!!

A little more strolling through the old town and the waterfront and then we called it a night. Tomorrow, we have another day in Crete but will be staying in the capitol city of Heraklion tomorrow night, nearest the airport. Honestly, Crete is so pretty and so varied that I could spend a week or more just on the island! Definitely worth the trip!