day 10... An absolutely incredibly unique experience while staying in Ioannina?.....touring the Perama limestone caves! Although Ioannina is not far from the Albanian border and a quick side trip into the Albanian countryside was tempting we opted for these crazy underground caverns.Perama is a small village located just across Lake Pamvotis from our campsite. These incredible underground caverns were discovered in 1940 by the locals trying to hide from the Nazis during the 2nd world war.The caves have a huge array of stalactites and stalagmites.As we walked through the dark passages I remembered my geology teacher describing how to remember the difference between the two.A stalactite holds "tight" to the ceiling.The constant dripping of the mineral laced water over the millennium created beautiful limestone-based icicles which hang by the hundreds from the ceiling of these caves. Many chambers and passageways wind through 1100 meters of underground cave. The damp water-filled air creates a very special habitat for some unusual spiders.Through evolution, because of the lack of light and sound, these spiders are both blind and deaf.The guide was a friendly Greek kid who put up with me using a flash while taking pictures. A flash wasn't allowed because it would adversly effect the spiders and bats. A skeleton of a bear was found in the early years. Some how it found its way into the labyrinth of passageways but couldn't find its way out. We walked for an hour going deeper and deeper until a slow steep climb led us back to the surface. Huge cavernous spaces filled with stalagmites and stalictites,water dripping everywhere, 17 degree constant temp.......we loved it! .......What is a roadtrip around Greece without spending some time on a Greek isle? With that in mind we headed for Lefkada and within six hours we found ourselves at Dessimi beach only minutes away from the small village of Nydri.Found a great place on the edge of the water overlooking more azure seas filled with tropical fish and greek fishing boats. Truely postcard material and we're here with the sea lapping at our tent once again!What a life! Swam for three hours, walked on the beach and caught a few rays from that intense greek sun. The island has a lot of charm. Off the coast we can see Skorpios, the final resting place for the Onassis family.Aristotle was the Greek shipping magnate that once was married to Jacqueline Kennedy. We swam out to a moored fishing boat and floated on the anchor rope while admiring the tropical- like paradise.Nydri,located 11 k's south of Lefkada town, is a busy place and at times reminding me of Keys West Florida. Lining the narrow streets of this island town were many shops,ouseris,tabernas,gyro and silver vendors. We walked main street for hours stopping for a guick salad at an outdoor taberna. Nice and lite. Hit the spot. An Othodox priest with some friends walked in so we knew we were at a "locals eat here" place. We took a ride down to Poros to check out the camping down there but decided that we had found quite the lttle gem of a campsite and were parking our butts and not moving for a while.Its great being on the island.Gives our Greek odyssey a whole new side. Ruins,busy city,natural wonders and now island life. A good cross-section of life in Greece. I just learned something interesting. An explanation as to why the land is so barren in certain areas of the country.Its because of the olive tree! The tree was so highly prized for its oil that most of the forests were cut down and replaced with the olive tree. The trees have a big tap root which enables them to get water from deep down therefore not requiring a whole lot of rain. The down -side is the root system doesn't hold soil together so erosion takes place resulting in what we see today,barren mountain sides. Anyhoo........ another fantastic day in Greece with a twist ........island life!
