Ancient port of Gythio and Dimitrios Shipwreck

Leaving Kamares, we headed north around the coast 12kms to Mavrovouni (4kms south of Gythio) to Mani Beach camping (N36.72538 E22.54376).  It was time to do some washing, so yet again for us that meant going on a campsite.  Unlike our last campsite at Koroni, this one had a few motorhomers on it – mostly Germans and Austrians, and one other fellow Brit.  Everything closed on the campsite at the end of October (restaurant, bar and mini market) so, with washing all done and pegged out, we got the scooter off the back and went into Mavrovouni to do some food shopping.  We then just vegged out for the day by the beach and chatted to John and Sheila (the Brits) who we were parked next too.  Like us, they had been travelling around Europe for last 2 years, so we had lots of stories to share. There are so many cats and kittens on this campsite, you have to have eyes in the back of your head, otherwise the kittens will be inside your motorhome in the blink of an eye.  We can't wait to get back to wild camping!

Camping Mani Beach

The next morning, whilst we had unlimited water, we gave Sonny a good clean inside and out and then headed the short journey to Gythio.

It’s Sparta’s ancient port and a pretty little seaside town, but very touristy.  Every restaurant/ taverna we passed, the owners were trying to get us in for a meal.  There are a lot of fish restaurants and the smell of fish hung in the air - literally as they hung it out to dry!

Octopus tentacles hung outside a restaurant

Near the old town is Marathonissi Islet, where in Greek mythology Paris of Troy, after abducting Helen from her husband - the King of Sparta, dropped anchor and they spent their first night here.  There is a lighthouse, tower (now a museum) and a little church on it.

Marathonissi

Tzanetakis tower-fortress built 1810 by the Turks to guard the harbour

Old boats moored up at the harbour.  Given the writing on the side, we think they may have been used to transport migrants and refugees

A few kilometres up the road from Gythio is the Dimitrios Shipwreck and a great wild camping spot alongside a fabulous long, sandy beach. (N36.78952 E22.58175).

Sonny, parked up on Valtaki Beach, near to the Dimitrios Shipwreck in the distance

Already parked up was another Brit motorhome and a young German couple in a camper.  We were later joined by another German camper and an Austrian one.  We go weeks without seeing any motorhomes/campers and then they all come along at once!

The shipwreck is a bit of an attraction in these parts.  The 67-metre freight ship was built in 1950 and has been stranded on Valtaki Beach for the last 37 years.  Rumour has it that the ship was smuggling cigarettes between Turkey and Italy and was seized by the port authorities of Gythio.  It was deliberately released from the port and left to be dragged by the sea to the beach (approx 5kms from Gythio Port) and was then set on fire to hide the evidence of cigarette smuggling.  Another mysterious rumour is that it was a ghost ship of unknown origins.  All I know to be true is it's one massive rusty old ship! 

Dimitrios Shipwreck

Enjoying a swim - a safe distance from the ship!

They continue to pick the olives.  Although, unlike the olive pickers we saw at Kalamata doing it all by hand with plastic pitch forks, here they had machines to strip the olives from the branches.  To be fair, they had a lot of trees to do and the machine was making light work of it all.

This morning we said goodbye to the beautiful peninsular of Mani, as we headed on to the 3^rd peninsular of the Peloponnese. The roads changed from being lined with olive trees, to orange trees.

We parked up in a little place called Kokkinea (N36.79877 E22.78324) next to another lovely beach.

Sonny is on the left behind a Belgium Motorhome

Further up near the small marina, where the photo was taken are a couple of Brits.  They live in Bulgaria, and like us bought an apartment there in 2005.  They have lived there ever since, near to Veliko Tarnovo and told us they like to come to the Peloponnese for the winter.  Who can blame them - it’s lovely and warm, with stunning scenery and friendly people.

Sally x