Poliegos & Sifnos Islands, Greece
Poliegos is known for being mostly uninhabited and the name means the “island of many goats.” After breakfast we went ashore at this lovely island to explore. Naturalist Linda Burback led a hike that focused on the botany of the island while Assistant Expedition Leader Linnea Sjoberg took a brave group of guests on an adventure hike in search of more distance and elevation. All of the hikers found a fine bloom of colorful heather along the way but the “many goats” were not to be seen.
Late in the morning both groups returned and we relocated our landing just to the north to a more intimate cove with better protection. It offered a pumice beach with some attractive tuff formations that were a nice backdrop for swimming, snorkeling or to just sit and watch the world go by.
After lunch we got underway for Sifnos Island. We arrived into the port of Kamares in the middle of siesta so things were pretty quiet on the waterfront. Shortly after docking we boarded our coaches to journey across the island to the village of Kastro. Our Greek guides Elli Charalambous and Effie Perperi guided us through the maze of streets and alleys and provided us with great insight into the layers of history associated with Kastro. It is built high on the island and afforded us some great views out into the Aegean.
A short journey to the southeast side of Sifnos brought us to the beautiful church of Chryssopigi. This is an Orthodox church located in Faros (Lighthouse) Bay and was our last stop prior to returning to Kamares port and the Panorama.
Once back at Kamares we found that the local shops and restaurants had begun to open and the port was showing some signs of life. The evening was at our leisure and some guests chose to dine ashore while others returned to the ship for dinner and then explored the waterfront afterwards. It was a delightful end to a great day.
