A Hike From Volimes To Orthonies – Through My Lens
Since becoming our unintentional hiking group leader, my husband has been coming up with some fantastic hikes. Living on an island and having hiked so much of it already it really is a difficult task to come up with new and interesting walks. This hike from Volimes to the church in the cave at Orthonies was meant to be easy and not too exciting (scenery wise)… Mmmmmm, I’m not sure my husband knew what he was talking about.
The hike to the church in the cave near the Spiliotissa monastery is one we’ve done before. In the past, we’ve enjoyed a fun Clean Monday celebration there too!
This hike from Volimes took us there via a different route. At the time my husband described it as an easy 16km with not much to look at. Oh, how wrong he was on almost all counts… Apart from the 16km!
Enough of my waffling. I invite you to come and join us and see what we saw…
Through My Lens…
Starting At Upper Volimes…
Our meeting point was in the village of Upper Volimes on a rather chilly Sunday morning.
As in other old villages on Zakynthos, Volimes has a fair share of quirky old buildings.
It would be easy to assume that this photo was taken in the UK.
No far into the hike and we were away from Volimes and walking through a tree-lined trail.
We have been so lucky this winter with the weather on our Sunday hikes. It’s hard to believe that this photograph was taken in February! There is a desperate need of rain now though.
Who else thinks tractors have a personality? The headlights are their eyes and the front grill their smile.
Even after hiking so much of Zakynthos. The beauty of this island still takes my breath away!… If you look carefully into the distance it’s possible to just make out the monastery we are heading towards.
Towards The Church In The Cave We Head…
The last views of grassy hills before we enter the undergrowth that makes the trail to the church in the cave so exciting!
And the fun begins! Indiana Jones eat your heart out!
No matter how many times we’ve done this walk to the church in the cave we always have fun.
The trek to the cave is on a trail through 1km of undergrowth. I find the lack of bird song rather surprising as it’s not a place hunters roam.
And we arrive at our destination and it’s time for a picnic. Little did we realise just how much we would need the energy for the hike back to Volimes!
The inside of the church in the cave. The church isn’t up to much really, but the fact that it’s so old makes it special. Zakynthos has a number of old churches in caves to keep artefacts safe during times of occupation.
We did get permission from the nuns at the Spilliotissa Monastery before venturing down.
The area has beautiful orange rock begging to be climbed.
Luckily there are no wolves on Zakynthos. One of the hikers explores a cave with her lovely German shepherd.
Sometimes a girl just has to snooze!
With food eaten and energy levels restored it’s time for the hike back.
The oddest place to find a signpost to a church.
Daylight! Daylight! Yay!
At the time we thought that this was the last of the hard uphills… Little did we know.
The Trek Back…
Happy and relaxed we thought we had an easy 8km walk back to the cars.
The uphills start to take their toll. The monastery is far in the distance by this time… It is a beautiful view though.
Beautiful Zakynthos.
A bunch of tired, but happy hikers. The group leader is fearing a beating by this point, lucky for him we are too tired… Maybe there is a method in his madness!
The dropping sun gives the landscape a lovely glow.
One last hill before Volimes cames back into view.
The welcome sight of Volimes.
The hike was a much harder hike than expected and there were some tight muscles on Monday. Nothing that stopped us looking forward to an even harder hike the week after!…
Thank you for joining us on our hike. Where have you walked recently?
© 2020, Debbie. All rights reserved.
Tagged In...
exploring Zakynthos • hiking • Walking On Zakynthos • Zakynthos • Zante
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