Day 1 – At last we arrive!

Given that Claire and Richard are both a little OCD, we ended up setting 3 alarms for the morning – we were due to arrive at Igoumenitsa at 6am so we set 2 watch alarms and our mobile phone alarm for 5:30 am (after having checked with the purser that there was a one hour time difference). Since the mobile phone was still set to UK time, Richard set the alarm for 3:30 am. Unfortunately, the mobile phone subsequently adjusted itself for the time difference, so we were woken at 3:30 am Greek time!!!

Luckily we all got back to sleep, and woke up at 5:30 as planned. We heard the announcement that we were just about to arrive somewhere (we couldn’t actually understand the announcement…) so we put all our bags together and started to leave the room. Luckily (again) the purser pointed out that we had actually just arrived at Corfu….

So, after a quick granola bar for breakfast (the restaurant was, of course, closed…) we arrived in Igoumentisa shortly after 7am – and confirmed with the purser that this was definitely Igoumentisa!!! Only one stage of the journey left…

Our original plan was to get the bus from Igoumentisa to Lefkada, then taxi from Lefkada to Vonitsa (as we knew that the bus times from Lefkada wouldn’t get us to the rendezvous on time). We managed to find the bus station (turn left outside the ferry port and watch for the somewhat hidden sign for the bus station on the right about 500 metres further along), but once we’d confirmed the bus times we decided that the 4 hour wait for the bus wasn’t worth it and that a taxi was a reasonable compromise. We then had the struggle of explaining where we wanted to go – the locals couldn’t understand our pronunciation of “Vonitsa” but managed to work it out from the Earthwatch briefing! We’d just negotiated the fee (€75 for the 3 of us) when another person walked up and said she wanted to go to Vonitsa as well – it turned out to be Eliza, one of the staff members on the project, so she joined up with us (4 people in a taxi must be a fair environmental compromise!). The taxi was a little cramped, but less so than the train from Paris!

One scary journey later (we both closed our eyes for most of the journey, but Claire and Eliza both seemed a little shaken…) we arrived in Vonitsa (in one piece!) – only 44 hours after leaving home! Was it worth it – yes, we think so, we definitely feel much more relaxed and rested than on any previous project! However, we could perhaps have eaten slightly more healthily…..

So, our first priority on reaching Vonitsa was to get some proper food!!! Luckily, the meeting point is a taverna on the sea front. Unluckily, it didn’t open for what seemed like a lifetime!!!!! But eventually we were served with a great greek salad, chips, pita and tzatsiki – our first proper meal since breakfast on Sunday!

At about 1 o’clock the other 2 volunteers – Taran and Lauren, both American – reached the rendezvous, then at 2 o’clock Joan and Malvina (the lead scientist and another staff member) turned up and showed us to the house. Joan proudly showed off the improvements to the house since June – a mirror in the volunteers’ loft, screens for the sleeping area, both fridges now working, a new cooker (donated by another volunteer), a handle on the door to the main room (so no need to keep track of the keys any more) – definite improvements to what was already a very nice home.

For the rest of the day we had introductions, briefing, tour of the town (including of course the police station and health centre!), quick visit to Remezzos (no chocolate milkshakes again!!!!!) then dinner – pasta a la Joan, very tasty. Then, early to bed in preparation for an early start in the morning.