We visit the pretty harbor town Sarandë, where we had planned to take a ferry to Corfu. However, upon learning that taking us and our camper one way is already €210, so we give up on the plan. We console ourselves with pastries and a desert from a little bakery. Instead we drive into Greece, until the town Plataria. In the north-western region, called Epirus. The drive is nice, the blue sea, white houses and green coast gives us the feeling we really entered Greece. We camp on a basic camper lot, stroll around the town, go for a run along the beach and buy a new doormat. (RIP doormat in Zabljac.) We once again try to swim in the sea but the water is just too cold.
After a relaxed morning we move on to Sivota, a pretty coastal town a little further south. We hang out on a beach on a tiny island for which we need to wade through 50 meters of waste high water. And we get groceries and a giant ice cream later. Next we drive to the town of Parga, where we arrive at the end of the afternoon. It's a famous sight and for good reason. The coast has tiny islands in front, one with a mini church, and there is a big fortress overlooking it all. We drive a little bit further to something of a parking lot, overlooking a marsh away from the sea. Since January camping in nature is no longer allowed in Greece, but we think this site is okay. We're not disturbed fortunately.
By then we were out of gas for the stove, we forgot to keep a better eye on that. Official Campingaz dealers are nowhere close, so we visit 5 gas stations asking to swap the canister. Some have tanks that are supposedly the same, but without any label and completely covered in rust. No way we would get that swapped again anywhere else in Europe. Instead we get a little camping stove with tiny gas canister for tonight, and it'll be good to have as a backup anyway. After calling around a lot we get a recommendation from a local campsite. One particular gas station has the canister we need and it still has something of a label. We gladly take it, the wobbly single burner is not practical at all.
After Parga we move on, this time to the island Lefkada. It's the only (I think) island that is accessible simply by a bridge. We look around the main city there, also called Lefkada, and settle down on a real campsite by the beach. This is the first campsite that's actually full with campers. And to our surprise multiple are Dutch. We finally swim in the sea properly and do some mountain-biking / running. We think we'll stay here longer, to slow down a bit. The next day we take a ferry to another small island close by, to bike. Here I bust my rear tube not once but twice, and the second one I couldn't fix anymore. We up pushing our bikes a lot to get back to the ferry and then back to the site. At night we won't have to cook fortunately, we eat at the restaurant of the site. The carafe of chilled local white wine also does wonders.
In general we are very happy to be camping in Greece. The weather is amazing, a solid 25°C every day and just cool enough at night to sleep well. We've finally stopped checking the weather everyday dreading rain.
