Santorini, and the sweet smell of…..donkey dung

Coming into Santorini at sunrise by boat is spectacular. It’s a beautiful island with steep cliffs topped by the iconic white Greek homes.

There are four ways to get from the waterside up to the city of Fira:

Hike the 600 steps up cliff side, free

Hire a donkey for €10

Take the cable car for €17 waaaay too long of a line

Take an excursion bus …..too much $€£

We opted for the hike, of course, but what the brochure didn’t mention was that these steps are the same ones that the donkeys take, crap on and pee on!

This made the walking of the granite steps a real challenge because of the beautiful views, the multiple piles of donkey dung, the occasional donkey pee puddle and the aroma…..indescribable!

There were very few of us who took this adventurous path and we soon befriended another couple lamenting but loving this hike. Joe and Suzanne were from Canada, loved hiking and (I think) we all enjoyed having someone new to talk to about hiking.

After the 600 plus steps and 700+ feet of elevation gain, we were in the city of Fira. We had already discovered that Joe & Suzanne were not of the “shopper” type, so like us there plan was a hike to the next “big” town on Santorini, Oia.

Fira to Oia is about 6.5 miles along a mostly improved trail. The main issue is a lack of places for Terri to relieve herself. Having left our ship fully caffeinated and fed it wasn’t long before Terri made it clear that a pit-stop was needed. The first likely candidate was a cliff side hotel that was only too happy to let us use their facilities if we purchased breakfast first for €43 each! Terri replied “no thanks, we’ve had breakfast.”

It was another hour before a new prospect appeared, Hotel Nobu. At this point cost went out the window and they did offer coffee and tea. The bathroom was quite nice. Tea and coffee was €17 and, everything considered, quite worth it.😂

As the day and hike progressed, it got cold and windy. A few times where the trail was totally open to the elements, Terri thought she might be blown-off the cliff. We finally made it to Oia and found a place for lunch, The Hungry Donkey.

After lunch, we took the public bus back to Fira, 2€ each and well worth it.

On the bus back to Fira we met Pam and Jeff, semi-retirees from Tennessee, she has now started a cruise travel agency, mostly for friends and family, hmmm.

Pam and Jeff had initially opted for the bus excursion and were going to have to wait 2 hours for their return trip to the ship. We explained that there was no waiting if you chose to do the trip down the stairs with the donkeys……..they made the trip with us and we became fast friends.