Sherrie's Cruising Blog (Sailing Catamaran Element): Albania part 1

June 20 - 24 Saranda

We left Corfu and headed the short distance to the port of Saranda. On a cruising website called Noonsite there was a recommendation for an agent with Saranda Summer Tours (http://www.sarandasummertours.com/contact), Jelja Serani. We contacted her and had a very quick reply back letting us know that she would be waiting for us when we arrived. We highly recommend this company. She and her co-worker were very pleasant and extremely helpful.

She took the documents that were required and filled out all of the documentation and brought everything back once the check in was complete. The cost was 50 euros. Our berth was approximately 25 euro per night. We were safe and in a fairly quiet place.

We took a walk along the waterfront which offered many tavernas, play parks and beaches. There are older buildings interspersed with modern ones.As we were walking both Shaun and I agreed that Albania is where Turkey was 5-10 years ago. We both feel that it is an up and coming tourist destination. You can have a full meal with drinks for 4 people for between 20-30 euros. We ate out most of the time as it was so reasonable.

One one of our days we took a walk through the back streets to find the plethora of shops and to find the grocery store. They were well stocked with all of the items that we would need. We also came across some ruins in the middle of the town.

ruins in the middle of the town

On the second day that we were in Saranda we noticed our new Australian/New Zealand friends that we had met in Corfu were moored right next to where the ferries dock. We caught up with them over beverages and joined them for dinner at a traditional Albanian restaurant. They were leaving the following day as they had to make tracks to get to Gibraltar.

our Australian/New Zealand friends at dinner

We had noticed on a previous walk a restaurant just near the beach that offered bumper cars and of course Jordan wanted to go on them. We had promised her at some point that she could go so off Shaun went with her for some bumping around.

an action shot of Shaun and Jordan on the bumper cars

moon rising up over the hills

Our agent had recommended that we see several spots while we were in Saranda, the Blue Eye (a natural water spring - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Eye,_Albania), the old town of Girokastra and Butrint. We decided it would be best to rent a car to visit them. Saranda tours arranged a car for us and off we went.

Our first stop was to the Blue Eye (this was a highlight of our visit). We drove along a dirt road with a river running beside us. We came upon a small shack and paid the entrance fee. Further along we finally came across a parking area where we were able to walk the 30 m to the phenomena.We crossed a small bridge over a crystal clear river and along another path with a ton of vegetation, blue dragon flies and frogs. All of a sudden the river ended and there was a mountain. We looked down and saw a large spring bubbling with 750 cubic meters of water coming from under the ground. It was magnificent. I have never experienced anything quite like it until that moment. The water was ice cold and stunning. The girls were especially interested in the critters and spent time looking/finding them all.

the small bridge

blue dragon flies that have wings like the horses in the move Avatar

another dragonfly on a leaf

crystal clear water

the beautiful vegetation surrounding the river

the Blue Eye from the ground

the Blue Eye from up above

did I mention crystal clear?

looking down while Paige was searching for frogs

selfie looking down

one of many frogs near the waters edge

Jordan testing the icy waters

Once we had fininished at the Blue Eye we decided to make our way to the old city of Girokastra. Along the way we snapped some pictures of the countryside. We were surprised by the contrast of landscapes that we saw.

a valley that we drove by

a drier area that we drove by on our way to Gjirokastra

another shot of the drier area we drove through

looking down into the valley

farmlands nestled in the valley

We made our way into the old town and were pleasantly surprised. The town is located on top of the hill. We found a parking spot and started our walk up to the fort at the very top. The streets are stone along with all of the buildings. All the streets are narrow with very little walking space when cars drive by. It offers stunning views of the surrounding areas.

narrow stone streets

walk up to the fortress

largest stink bug ever

very cool table

peek-a-boo view

a stone carver hard at work

the entrance

interior arsenal

this gives you and idea the size of the walls

the ticket lady photo bombed

the view

yes that is a plane

a T33 (50's era fighter plane)

the clock tower

on our drive back to the boat

We arrived back at the boat and noticed another catamaran. We happened to notice a family walk by. The kids automatically flew together. I got to chatting with the parent (Zoe and Guy from Australia). It turns out that they are fellow live aboard cruisers and we hit it off. Once they returned from dinner we had them over for beverages and let the kids play. We also have another connection through another Australian family Karen and Toby. What a small world. It was a welcome opportunity for all of us.

from left to right - Paige, Max, Jordan and Cameron

from left to right - Shaun, Sherrie, Zoe and Guy

We had planned to only have the car for one day but decided to keep it for a second day as we wanted to visit Butrint an ancient city (http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/570). It is situated very close to a riverbank.

turtles in the ponds

writing in a wall

an amphitheater

ruins of heated floors

mosaic tile

large cricket - yes our girls love the critters

looking for turtles

ruins of the Baptistery

more writing in a wall

resting our weary feet in the heat

the river

this is a skeleton of an unknown insect

resting in the shade

arches and more arches

they don't make walls like this anymore

a spontaneous hug

of course Paige is the lion eating the poor ram (Jordan)

nearing the end

the famous triangle fort

For a job well done we stopped at a beach on the way back and let Jordan swim (oops we had no swim suit)....... She swam in her undies..... but didn't care one bit.