November 5th, 2025

Yesterday was almost perfect. We drove the long road to a town on the other side of the island called Vathy/Vathus/Rita. In town we walked the strip (this took all of 30 seconds), saw ships in the little secluded harbor, and saw the touristy but notorious “pirate boat” put to land for the season. I had a Greek nescafe coffee – some sugar and instant coffee on ice.

A hustling older lady at Poppy’s Restaurant asked if we needed a boat…sure! The chef of the restaurant drove us over to “Little Eden,” a tiny and picturesque cove with a beach for swimming, rocks to jump off of, and climbing.

We each sent our hardest pitches yet, a 5C and 6C! Pretty good for a rest day! Then we swam in the cove, just missing the dolphins that some kayakers had seen on their way in, and hiked to the top of the rock outcropping for views of some other small islands and the west coast of Turkey. J’s phone even displayed Turkey’s time zone!

When we were done at our hidden paradise, we called our captain and asked him to come back. Since he can’t charge us a taxi fee since he’s not licensed, the boat ride is free…as long as you eat in his restaurant! I had an excellent salad with the bread rusks and caper berries (a new food for me!), plus fresh OJ.

On the drive in we saw the valley filled with farms and groves – so many oranges! Plus little churches, small stone huts and houses, and absolute quiet (except maybe the chickens).

We got some more produce, swam a bit in the pool, and I drove to Masouri to get bottled water and a pool floaty. The guy at the tiny store even shook my hand and gave me a discount on the floaty so it was only 9 euro. We had a snacky dinner and finally finished Hill House.

Today we finally went to the Grande Grotto, which has a steep uphill approach, and climbed a 6A called “Happy Girlfriend.” I was pumped and sweaty, and the climb felt like I was wrestling a bear – my arms hurt thinking about it. Jordan climbed another route after and we had fun jumping around the cave taking photos on belay and feeling like Peter Pan.

We chatted with a kind Canadian couple who gave us good climbing advice and beta. Unfortunately, I accidentally dropped Jordan’s phone down part of the incline after a stranger had borrowed it for pictures of beta. 😦 After, we saw people climbing the huge, long routes up to the top of the gigantic cave, so overhung that the draws stay in place.

Once done climbing, we walked in town, bought chalk, stickers, a t-shirt, and lemon soda, then came to swim at our little private shore with our new floaty. The water and weather was a tad bit chilly, but it was still idyllic. We hopped in our pool to warm up and then went to see Skalia Cave, which was a 10 minute hike to the base of the rock band and then a spooky but gigantic cave filled with tufa (a type of porous rock all over the climbs here), stalactites, and HUGE spiders Jordan claims were as big as my palm. I tried not to look for them. It was very neat down there, but sweaty, humid, and dark. We descended 2 ladders and held onto a piece of rope to descend more, but it still kept going after we declared ourselves done. Yipes!

We cooked here at the villa, watched Hercules, and now my eyes are drooping even though it’s only about 9 pm.