The answer? A LOT! The Cretan mountain ranges are incredible, from the fertile Lasithi plateau with its many little windmills to the Ida Mountains with countless gorges, caves and tree-climbing goats. (I kid you not; I saw three of them standing on tiny little branches, reaching for the juicier leaves of a tree). The coasts are incredible with crystal-clear blue water and sandy beaches and I spent every driving minute hanging out of card windows in awe…
That is when I wasn’t enjoying the Cretan’s incredible hospitality… If you would have told me that by the end of the week I would find myself listening to a private Lyra-concert played by a Butcher, after having been graciously transported there in the back of a shepherd’s pick up truck, I would not have believed you.
This tour was anything but dull. Let me tell you the story.
It was the third day of the Land Rover Adventure tour and the plan was to take the highway west towards Heraklion and to then cut south, driving crazy winding roads all the way to the top of the highest Cretan mountain, Mount Psiloritis (2,456 m), to make camp in the south of the island on a private little beach.
It was an extremely hot day, so hot that I wondered whether short jeans or breezy lightweight linen pants were the better dressing option. I was glad to have been informed that the weather in southern Crete can be very different from the north, thanks to the Ida Mountains that create two different climatic zones. It was not actually that much cooler in the south on this particular day, except I had no idea I was going to be going there by helicopter. And that, my friends, can get very windy and cold, especially when you are flying without a door.
Picture by www.kaplun.de
On the night before, our host, Christos Tassakos, had overheard that flying a helicopter is a big dream of mine that I haven’t had the chance to fulfill yet. The next morning at breakfast he announced that there was an empty seat on the helicopter that he had booked to accompany our Land Rover fleet for some bird-eye video material. To say I was ecstatic was an understatement. I might or might not have startled other hotel guests by loudly cheering.
The helicopter landed on the Daios Cove’s private helipad and out jumped a pilot who began stowing our luggage in the many little helicopter compartments. It reminded me a little of getting settled in mobile home, except the little closets are all on the outside. We were strapped in and secured our seatbelts with some extra duct tape since the door had been dismounted (just sliiightly disconcerting). The propellers were fired up and off we went, flying for about half an hour, before we caught up with the Land Rovers, that were already winding their way up into pretty high altitudes.
Picture by www.kaplun.de
The higher we flew, the more apparent it became why aerial photography made sense on this particular day. I could not believe my eyes, when I saw that there was snow! I am not talking about a few patches of white here and there, but a glacial lobe that was nonchalantly fanning out across the road.
The cars drove through a swath that had been cut through the ice just a few days before, with 6-meter-high walls of ice on either side. I couldn’t help but smile at my “shorts or lightweight linen pants” thoughts that same morning.
Picture by www.kaplun.de
As we were circling above the Rover fleet and filling our memory cards with pictures, we were contacted by radio. Apparently the military was going to set up a no-fly zone. Our pilot had less than an hour to drop us off and then fly his baby back to Heraklion. Which is why he informed us, without further ado, that he was not going to be able to fly us all the way to the coast as planned, but would have to drop us off somewhere along the way.
“Somewhere along the way” turned out to be a field of knee-high thistle and wild oregano. It smelled absolutely divine as we descended, but as we climbed out, I found myself standing in this field, holding up expensive camera equipment and absolutely clueless as to where to place my next step without getting a thorn in my side. Literally.
It was then that we saw a shepherd and his family, staring at us (or rather at the helicopter) with open mouths from a field nearby. We waved them over, introduced ourselves and then took some family pictures with the helicopter in the background (not an every-shepherd motive). Manolis the shepherd beamingly offered us a lift in the family pick-up truck and was already ushering his wife and baby daughter into the back to offer us the seats in the front. We quickly declined the front seats and clumsily climbed onto the back of the truck with our camera equipment, settling down on sacks of grain.
We were escorted to a nearby village and got there a little ruffled and smelling faintly of goat, but in extremely high spirits. Even getting stranded in a thistle field in the middle of nowhere seems fun in Crete!
We sat down and were offered a drink while we waited for our Land Rover team to come and pick us up. In the meantime, the butcher (who was wearing a reasonably white apron) pulled out his Lyra and began playing a happy tune.
I felt completely at ease and among friends, although I did not understand a single word that was said or sung. I was almost sad when our team arrived and we were ushered into the cars… The butcher gave us two big bags of ice for our evening drinks as a departing gift.
I did not have much time to be sad, because off we went for another exciting two-hours of off-road driving down to the secret bay at which we were going to camp that night. I drove the car in the very front and felt smug to have gotten the best out of this incredible day.
Know before you go:
The helicopter tour is not part of the Land Rover Adventure Greece tour, but you’ll experience an incredible share of adventure without it. The tours can be booked as a package or separately and you are bound to find something that suits you – with varying of off-road driving. Most tours are day tours after which you get to retire to the comfort of your hotel. Just this one tour to the south includes a night glamping (glamorous camping) on the beach.
For more info check the Land Rover Adventure Greece page, currently exclusively in German. Your contact on-site is Christos Tassakos, from the Daios Cove Hotel (Tel: +30 2841 062600).
About the author:
Anaïs is a modern nomad. She has lived in 7 countries and has moved 15 times to date. She used to work in 5* hotels until she decided to become self-employed. Today she runs her own business, turning stiff service und fake marketing into hearty openness and personality-infused truths. Anaïs has a Bachelor in Hotel Management and a Master of Science in Organisational Behaviour. She loves working and writing in fluent German, English and Spanish.
