Day 11 Rekini to Spartyllas - a rare sighting!

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So i awake covered in mozzie bites after a great night in Sidari. I breakfast at 8am. Here they have a toaster and an egg boiler for you to do it yourself so while I eat toast with cheese and meat my egg boils. Then eat egg, almost perfect and the yolks are so much more bright yellow here; just shows how fresh they are even in hotels. My bus isn't until 10:30 so I have plenty time so I take a stroll to check on the weather before packing. The winds have gone there are clouds about but the sun is up; it is pleasant without being too warm so it looks like ideal walking weather as today I head into the Pantokrator range. Return to pack and then sit in the reception area watching Sky Sports for a while. I walk round to the bus stop opposite the betting shop for those who know Roda to wait on the bus. A lady is also waiting. It arrives just a couple minutes late and is almost full; most passengers it seems are heading to Corfu Town. My fare to Rekini is just 1.40€. The bus goes via several small villages and approaches Rekini past where my walk takes me. The conductor calls out Rekini and I am the only person who alights; some of the passengers look at Shrek puzzled. The bus departs and I remove my walking instructions from my bag and I'm ready to start.
So its straight on at the bridge from where I stopped yesterday up the road the bus has just come down but not for too far. Soon beside the road is a large wooded sign indicating it as an entrance of the Valanio Footpath Network. I turn in and the track is blocked by a large lorry which men are loading olive wood logs onto. They stop to let me past as I head off up the track into the woods and soon reach a stream. The notes say a bridge is planned as a road improvement......that would be a shame as a footbridge would be better and keep the vehicles out......and goes onto say clamber down the bank and cross on rocks or you may have to wade. In John Waller's book he says they had to remove shoes and socks and wade across. I look around, the water is at least 2 foot deep and there are no evident rocks in front of me, just a very large clump of large leaved plants in middle but you cannot see what sort of surface they are rooted too. I go upstream a bit and see a large rock in the middle but better still a fallen tree lies across the stream. Not too wide but managable even for someone like me who doesn't have great balancing skills. So I clamber down, cross the tree bridge and am on the trail the other side. There are a lot of dark blue damsel flies about here and the odd dragonfly. I'm looking around to hopefully see a tree frog but didn't spot any. So the path away is a small overgrown track very wet in places due to the recent rains, a trickle of water ahead is crossing the track to go into the stream, now on my left. Just I go to step over the water I notice, well camoflaged against the soil a freshwater crab. Its shell was the size of my fist and he raised up with his pincers ready to defend himself; what against my foot. I watch it and take a photo............are they edible I wonder. Continuing on the path zigzags uphil through lush vegetation; I see a birds nestfallen from a tree, and reaches a road and soon I'm in the village of Valanio. Through the village and past the cemetary going uphil until the concrete road runs out, passing some smallholdings where chickens, turkeys and ducks are kept. Now we enter the olive groves with wide paths edged by the nets; these are full of small lizards scuttling about. It is very pleasant walk, lots of birdsong even if you cannot see many of them, the usual butterlies plus some I hadn't seen before, much darker almost black and smaller in size. You come to another wooden sign this time saying you are at the historical place Queen's Leap - but no indication as to what the history is. I've tried to find out and also see reference to a Mule's Leap (is it one and the same place?). Sure there is a 100ft plus drop here off the side of the track so the mind guesses at an ancient suicide. Down in the valley bottom you can see some ruins of buildings now overgrown with climbing plants. Continuing on for a long way in the olive groves with the light constantly changing depending how much sun was coming through it was a nice walk for some 40 minutes just me and nature no sign of other walkers or anyone tending to their olives. A bridge and then you turn onto an uphill cobbled path ascending gently through thicker olive groves and dense woodland. Eventually it reaches and skirts some cultivated plots and here the grass was long and every step was greeted by dozens of small crickets leaping away. Then there was a snake or large lizard in the undergrowth; heard rushing away but never seen. Now there was donkey droppings on the path suggesting the locals had been out working here in the cool of the morning. Shortly I exit the trees climb a small concrete track and meet the village road of Sokraki. The trail goes left but I go right a few yards to the main of two village squares; well this one is more triangular shaped. There are too small kafenions opposite each other. I stop at Emily's and sit outside; about 2 hours 20 walking so far and refreshment is needed. Sokraki is known for selling the local ginger beer to the same recipe as introduced by the British in the firsthalf of the 19th Centuary. Made from local ginger and lemon it is very refreshing but also was a little sweet for my taste. However much better than Cola. I then have a beer which is delivered with a small meze. On entering the kafenion to pay I notice they have some small bottles of ouzo and kumquat ( a small orange like fruit originating from Asia that grows here and from which alcoholic drinks and preserves are made) at very good prices. Only 90 minutes walking left so a bit of added weight wil be ok. I buy some and water for my onward walk and return to the Trail.
Been a really good walk so far and I'm hoping the uphill walk to Spartyllas will be the same. Along the downhill road out of the village there is a dead snake; a local is looking at it and tells me there are hundreds of such snakes around here. Off the road I start ascending and the terraces around here are overgrown but hint at cultivation in the not too distant past. On this track I see hillsides with nothing but trees, 200 shades of green in the afternoon sunshine, mainly olives and ceders but also other deciduous trees. Soon it is 201 greens as there is a dumped van, no front wheels but the front is raised onto two tree stumps. It is light green in colour and obviously been there a good few years as there is a Trail marker painted on the door! The track is now left on a path into low forest until a clearing and then down to a bottom of a shallow terraced valley. You climb away over the low terrace walls past a hut and well head and descend the other side of the valley into more forest paths. The path is clear and and you clamber or jump down several old crumbles terrace walls. It is quiet as you walk on soil just birds and insect noice and the odd lizard runnig away. Lots of holly oaks and other low trees that I must duck under branches.
Then suddenly I turn a corner and wow.................what a shock............walking towards me was a Pine Marten!!!!!!!!!!! (see my photos, I now think it may be a Beech Marten). The Marten also froze in shock and we stared at each other. I quickly composed myself and got two pictures, one on maximum zoom. Despite the poor light of the forest and my only having a digital it is clear what I saw. This is almost ubelievable; they are usually nocturnal and hunt in small groups but this one was alone at 2pm in the afternoon. As soon as I moved it ran off into the forest. What a thrill that was and so unexpected and rare a sight. The adrenalin was pumping and I was elated; this had been so much more than I had hoped to see on the Trail (I was walking solo so was it 'the Trail of the lonesome Pine' (Marten)!!!!). It now explained the droppings I had seen on the forest paths; I had wondered what they were as I doubted there had been walkers with dogs; I had thought foxes even though I have never seen a fox on Corfu. How wrong I was.
I now had a spring in my step such was the thrill and continued happily through the forest into olive groves before reaching tarmac in a wide valley. This is the agricultural valley of Spartyllas and all the villagers own a plot, growing vegetables, vines, fruit, melons. All have water pipes and storage places; rarely huts like on UK plots, here they use old cars, vans and even frides and freezers! Lots of villages about working as I pass. Over the hillside beyong I can see a honey buzzard circling the thermals and rising high above but out of range for my camera. I watch it for some 10 minutes before moving on. At the end of plots there was a small lake. Now I turn the corner and enter the village of Spartyllas and Asteras Bar is the first place you come to.
This is where I stay tonight. It is 3pm. It is a very large bar with good views down to the Corfu Straight, Barbati is tucked out of sight. I have a few beers sitting outside while eating my lunch of a small loaf with a packet of local olives. Delicious and so nice in the sun. I meet a chap who has a business in Norway (was working via his mobiles) but whose wife/children live in Corfu all time and he has 2 fostered Donkeys from CDR. I also chat with the younger of the workers at the bar and he shows me to my room. This is the only room available in the village and sleeps 2 (it has a double bed). Very nice room and it has nice full length mozzie net type shutters over the balcony door and bathroom window. Excellent, I have a shower and change. So this is my base camp before the ascent of Pantkrator tomorrow (weather permitting). Spartyllas is situated on the steep slopes of Pantkrator and the road from here to the coastal road has some 27 hairpin bends. I'm asked to have dinner at 7pm as I'll be only one eating and they all wish to watch football later (Paraguay V Greece, world cup warm up from Switzerland). Sounded good to me. Dinner was a starter of Kalimari (looks like onion rings but is squid) with lettuce and tomato. For my main I have a pork chop with salad and fries. The Greeks like pork chops and they certainly don't come small. It was very well cooked. I sat on the small balcony looking out towards the Corfu Straight with Albania across the waters and it was a great view and nice meal. As the football began I return to the bar to watch with the locals. Greece were poor to say the least and lost 2-0; I heard a lot of the word 'malacca' this evening! After the game most head away disappointed and moaning. The beers were nice and I had a couple of ouzo with the old man who worked behind the bar; I arrange a packed breakfast at 7:30am so I can get an early start as tomorrow is my longest day. Interstingly Greece also has a smoking ban like we do but nobody enforces it like many things in Greece. The counter of the bar is lined with ashtrays, some big and at the end of the bar was the wall mounted tv (although the football had been shown on a big screen). Under the tv on the wall was a sign saying 'no smoking area'! I guess you had to stand under the tv if you didn't smoke..........why didn't they tell me!!
Tomorrow......woken at 4;30 by thunder! Would the walk go ahead?

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Comments

[Daveyh]

Auction of Shrek for Corfu DonkeyRescue
I now have a bid from Germany of £35 for Shrek. All money to go directly to CDR. Shrek will be posted to the highest bidder with his feathers and photos of him on the Trail. Still time to bid...........4 days to go.

[Annabel]

Awww!
That Beech Marten! Those photos are so cool. I wish I could have seen him in real life. Was he furry?

[Daveyh]

Beech Marten
Yes it was furry. It was a real thrill to have seen one for real; that was the real bonus of walking solo; it would never have happened if I'd have been in a group. I have large prints of pictures in my longe at home and still feel a tingle of excitment when I look at them.