Paxos (Ionian) - Walk to Arkoudaki beach:

The rocky beach at Arkoudaki

This is a lovely round walk from Lakka taking in one of my favourite spots during my stay in June 2014 -the rocky beach at Arkoudaki. Allow circa 45minutes for the complete walk without any stops. You will, of course, want to stop -for water, photographs or just to sit on the rocks and watch the boats passing.
Starting from the "upper" road in Lakka (the one on the left, looking inland) head to the harbour end of the road where, on your right, you will find the Sweet Gallery shop. Just past this is a steep road heading upwards, again on your right.  Enjoy the views over the harbour as you quickly climb above Lakka.



When you reach the top, turn right onto the larger road and follow this round a left hand bend then straight ahead. Shortly after you pass a turning on the right you will see a wooden sign for the beach pointing into woodland on the left. If you end up in someones front drive you have gone too far and need to backtrack a few yards. Even if the sign has gone you should still spot the path going into the woodland.

Scramble over the rocks to stay dry

This well trodden footpath then descends down through the pretty woodland roughly following a dried up ravine on your left. The footpath stops some feet above sealevel and you are left with a bit of a steep scramble to drop down to the beach. Just watch your footing carefully on this bit. Once there you can either turn right for the rocky beach or to continue the walk turn left onto the impressive slabs of rock. These are fairly flat and make a good place to sit or sunbathe. Looking straight ahead you will see the Greek mainland with the mountains of Albania behind. Looking slightly to your right you will see Corfu. And looking in any direction you will see plenty of small boats heading to or from Lakka harbour.



Boats heading into Lakka harbour

Continue walking along the rocks towards the headland of the harbour -there's a bit of rock scrambling involved (especially if you want to avoid the inlets of seawater towards the end). When you reach as far as you can go, just before the headlands, you will see a steep "path" heading up the cliffs. This brings you onto a proper footpath at the top which will lead you along the clifftops around the harbour and back into Lakka. This last stage of the walk gives good views and photo opportunities looking down onto all the boats moored in the harbour. You can, of course, reverse this walk but I think this way round works better. Now, time for a Mythos.
Regards, David.

Lefkada (Ionian):

Approaching Nidri on the car ferry

As a companion piece to my last posting on Meganissi here's a post about a day trip made in 2008 to the nearby island of Lefkada (Lefkas) to see the Ronies waterfalls near Nydri.
Arriving at the port/town of Nydri (Nidri) after the short ferry trip from Meganissi you are met with a busy harbour front lined with tavernas and shops.

Ronies waterfalls on Lefkada

To get to the falls head back through the town away from the harbour until you reach the modern looking ring road. Now, I had to turn right and follow the road for around 10 minutes or so (though this is going to depend on where you initially joined it). There is then a smaller road on the left which is the one you want. Hopefully, it will be signposted either for the waterfalls or the village of Rachi which is near the falls.

Ronies waterfalls near Nidri

This is a lovely walk through nice countryside. As you near the falls note the dry river bed to your right (well, it was dry in August). The gorge up to the falls is signposted welcoming you to the waterfalls "Ronies". Some sources refer to them as the Dimossari waterfalls -don't worry it's the same place!
When you reach the top of the gorge there are a number of pools and lagoons of water fed by the stream of water coming down the cliff face. Don't be disappointed, this is unlikely to be a vast cascade of water (not in the Summer at least) but all the same it's a novelty to see running water. Some people took the opportunity to cool off by paddling in the pools. Just be aware that there are frogs swimming about in them as well. There was also a bat hanging under the rocks which periodically went for a fly around.
As you head back down the gorge there is a taverna where you can stop for a drink or meal before your walk back to Nydri.
You should probaly allow around 45 -60 minutes for this walk (harbour to falls) and
I certainly thought it was well worth the effort. Regards, David.