Leaving Lagouvardos, I put the road on the GPS, for the unknown to me, but also to many, from what I learned, waterfall. The German couple had spoken to me about this place with great enthusiasm.
Crossing the country road from Marathopoli up to the intersection with Gialova, the landscape captivates you with its summer landscape. Olive trees all around, heat... and the golden light of the sun mercilessly hitting the crystal waters of the sea on the right side of the route. The place smells of salt and pepper. If you find yourself there just close your eyes.
At the intersection I turned left following the directions until I entered a dirt road and found the sign I was looking for.
After a while I reach a spot that had olive trees in the middle of nowhere. This was the parking lot supposed to have a total capacity of 5-6 cars. A British couple assured me that this was the place I was looking for as you couldn't see anything else around. Not even water.
I rode the bike further down a rough trail until I couldn't go any further with the bike. I locked the motorbike there.
As soon as I crossed the very small bridge made of pallets, I was entering the shelters of a mysterious forest in the form of a tunnel, I immediately started filming the route without knowing where it would take me. After five minutes of walking I see something magical.
Turquoise waters among huge plane trees. There was no way I was getting out of there. I started looking for a surface to put my mattress on when the light would fall and immediately dove into the cool waters of the waterfall.
The water of this particular waterfall is not that cold and you can sit for quite some time.
After about an hour, a family of four visited the place. Zeliko, Croatian by birth, with his Greek wife Marialena and their two young sons, Orfeas and Leandro. I suggested that I take a souvenir photo for them to remember their family vacation.
Then we chatted, exchanging fb, phone numbers and travel destinations. Zeliko used to be involved in photography and he suggested that he take a picture of me on the rock of the pedestal. They left after a while offering me cookies and cream puffs, in this way repaying the thanks of the acquaintance.
The place there was quiet. I was alone for many hours. Opportunity for a bath with green soap I thought. It wasn't long before about ten visitors appeared. A couple approaches me and addresses me in English, thinking that I am not Greek. They turned out to be Greeks too and we all laughed together. Marios and Fei were cousins on summer vacation. In their quest to find the Kalamaris waterfall, they took the wrong path. We exchanged communications with both of them and in the end they left, me and two young Italian women staying at the spot.
Andrea and Margarita from Florence. They came for a short vacation in the Peloponnese. The three of us talked for quite some time as Margarita kept asking questions. Before night fell the girls said goodbye to me and continued their journey.
Reading and writing on the makeshift bench of a fallen plane tree trunk.
Time to eat. Boiling water in the small pot and trachana for boiling. Fortunately, I also had some salt with me in a bag from a canteen in Lagouvardos because otherwise the commercial trachana is somewhat immune.
I have already lit the oil lamp and hung the colorful lights on the nearby plane tree. The head lens in its red shade does not collect as many insects around your head as the white light and also on the illuminated paper on which I am writing these lines.
Free, in the heart of a forest with darkness almost falling. Spiritual night. From moment to moment you wait for the elves to come out and the fairies to visit the waterfall. To drink from its water, to come next to you when you sleep, to tell you the secrets of this place. To whisper something in your ear and then disappear so as not to betray their imaginary presence. If your mind has wandered enough you might even see them. So far I've just been challenging them, but we haven't gotten to talk.
The jackals had begun to howl very close by. But none of them came close enough. Tucked inside the sleeping bag. This time with the rushing sound of falling waterfall water. Despite the noise, peace. Yesterday by the sea, tonight by the small podium.
Daybreak. Eight in the morning. The place is not easily caught by the sun since it is tucked under the thick shadows of the trees. The oil lamp was still burning. I had left her in a safe place to illuminate the trunks with her minimal light, giving them another form, different from this day. Gathering gear, brushing teeth and a final farewell look at the waterfall.
Again on the dirt road with the machine and this time I almost collided with a large jackal that was thrown vertically onto the road.
It is worth visiting this place. Watch the video!
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