Let’s get the important news out of the way first – Melek’s poorly paw isn’t so poorly any more. When Sarah took the dogs out for their morning walk the little lad seemed to be limp free. Sarah has had a couple of tiny thorn like things in her foot today. They seem to come from one of the many seed pods which are lying on the ground. Perhaps that is what was afflicting Melek. The thorns are so small that it would not be possible to see them in a dog’s paw. Here’s hoping.
The Poorly Paw which is not so poorly any more is his left one
Everything is also back to normal on the weather front. The sun has got his hat on and there has hardly been a cloud in the sky. I guess the temperature is about 20º<C, but this far south it feels warmer. Yesterday’s precipitation has also resulted in new snow falls on Profitis Ilias, the big mountain inland.
Profitis Ilias with a new covering of snow
As the day wore on a stiff breeze picked up and all of a sudden windsurfers started crawling out of the woodwork. It turns out that at least four of the campers on site are keen windsurfers. I took my birding lens down to the beach to get some photos and found there were even more windsurfers out at sea. I don’t know whether this beach is particularly well known for windsurfing. No kitesurfers though and I would have thought the long beach would have been equally good for them.
I’ve had a bit of a shock about wildcamping in Greece. The English couple we met a couple of days ago told me that one of the German campers on site had received a “ticket” from the Greek police for wildcamping. I went to speak to them and they confirmed that three years ago they were wildcamping with a number of other people on a 4km long deserted beach and got a ticket from the police, along with everyone else, but were not required to pay an on the spot fine. About 3 months later a letter arrived from a Greek court informing them that if they were caught wildcamping in Greece again they would have to attend court and could be subject to a fine or up to 3 months in prison!!
he German couple’s English was not brilliant (much better than my German!) so I only got the gist and couldn’t ask too many questions. So, as one does in the modern age, I have spent some time researching the issue on the internet. Apparently wildcamping in Greece is illegal, which I knew, but in 2012 it was reduced from a criminal to a civil offence. Furthermore a Greek motorhomer wrote to various institutions in Greece for clarification of what constituted wildcamping in the context of a motorhome. The response he got from the police, which he published and a copy of which I now have for emergencies, was that simply parking ones motorhome in a public place and sleeping in it would not constitute an offence. It would require more, such as having chairs, table and/or awning out to be classified as illegal wild camping.
I have read literally hundreds of accounts of wildcamping in Greece (as you will see from my map of wildcamping places, all of which have come from blogs) and the German couple are the first people I have heard of being ticketed. I have read of many incidences of police actually talking to motorhomers and usually saying it was OK. Occasionally, especially in the high season, they many move people on. On that basis team Basil will continue wildcamping, but will be sensible. We will not get out our furniture, nor wildcamp near official campsites, where the owners might, quite reasonably in my opinion, ask the police to move people on.
It has given me pause for thought though regarding our next stop at Sparta and Mistras. I know that there are two campsites in or near Sparta which are open at this time of year, although they are both over €20 a night. I’m in two minds therefore whether to wildcamp or pay, slightly through the nose, for a campsite. I’m sure you will be waiting with baited breath to find out what we do in tomorrow’s exciting blog!