Kefalonia

According to mythology, caves have always been associated with the divine due to their enclosed beauty with the result that they were the most suitable places for religious ceremonies. Melissani has its own myths; the locals believe it is named after a shepherdess called Melisanthe who was looking for her lost sheep and fell into the lake and drowned. Another myth refers to the nymph Melissani who committed suicide in the Lake because Pan would not reciprocate her love. The dolphins are also associated with this myth, having been used by the nymph to carry messages to her beloved; they turned into stone in the cave after her demise. You can quite clearly see the shapes of dolphins in the stalactites within the cave.

The lake water is brackish, a mixture of sea water and sweet water. The cave is about 500m from the sea, and the water level is a meter higher than sea level, and the brackish water rises from a 30m deep cave system on one side of the cave and flows silently to the other end of the cave, flowing through narrow crevices into the sea. Here the water from Katavothres on the other side of the island reappears. This was discovered by dye tracing experiments in 1959.

The cavern, once two big chambers, caved in several thousand years ago. Today the cave has the shape of a B, with two big water filled halls and an island in the middle. The first hall has a big oval opening to the surface, where the sunlight shines in. When the sun is directly overhead, its rays strike the ultramarine water, lighting the cave with blue light.

Drogarati Cave was discovered 300 years ago, when a part of it was destroyed because of a strong earthquake, and so the entrance was created. The cave’s depth is 60 meters from the ground level, the temperature is 18 C and the humidity is 90%. Initially, the cave was developed and used by the community of Haliotata, under the supervision of the speleologist Mrs. Petrocheilos. It is open for the public since 1963.

Speleologists have confirmed that the cave has an extension that is not approachable. That means that the cave is probably connected with other caves in the area. It’s got many stalactites and stalagmites created from the rain, which comes through the rocky level of the cave. A stalactite grows one cm every 100 years.

Mount Ainos is the highest mountain in Kefalonia, with an altitude that surpasses 1,600 m. It is well known not only for its altitude but also due to its dense forest of Kefalonian fir trees (Abies cephalonica), which dominate at the upper altitudes.

This species is endemic to Greece and was described for the first time in the same region. In the area three different habitats can be discerned: the fir tree forest, the rocky or pebbly slopes which are characterized by more sparse vegetation and on which one can often come across interesting floral elements and the rocky peaks and the non-forested upper regions of Mount Ainos, on which several endemic plants of Kefalonia or the Ionian Islands can be found. The area has been designated as a National Park.

If you are lucky, you see the horses of the area that live freely in the mountain. These horses are descendants of domesticated horses that were released during the war. The lack of shelter and food, the high altitude, the water scarcity, combined with the reproduction in nature, led to the creation of this special breed.

Starting from high up in the National Park of the mountain, we climb to the highest point of Kefalonia (1628m). We continue following the trail across the ridgeline to reach the ”Balcony” of Mount Ainos and the beautiful cave Nifi which was used as a shelter by the soldiers of the Greek Resistance. The route offers spectacular 360′ views and you can see the whole island, Zakynthos, Ithaca and even parts of mainland Greece. The terrain difficulty and slope angles vary from Easy to Moderate and the trail is mostly rocky. Duration: 6,5 hours approximately.

Take off 300m above Myrtos beach and fly near the surrounding cliffs and edges. You can try either a nice and smooth flight or if you feel more adventurous you can try tricks and maneuvers. All participants fly with an experienced and certified instructor on a tandem parachute. You land on Myrtos beach.

We drive on the most beautiful and interesting dirt roads of Kefalonia with amazing views. During this mountain trip we try to spot the wild horses of Mt. Ainos and cross the entire National Park in well prepared vehicles. We stop for about 1 hour to walk to the top of the mountain. Next stop is a village destroyed by the 1953’s earthquake where you can walk between the ruins of the houses. After this, we stop to admire the amazing blue lakes of Zervati cave. The brave ones can swim in the cold water!

In Kefalonia exists a unique speleological park with numerous caves for every taste and skills level. You can go extreme hang above free depth and abseil down to the deepest caves of the island or take it easy and just try abseiling and other caving techniques in a smaller cave and explore the underground world of the island. In all caves we use ropes and caving gear. Most of the caves are wide open and there’s plenty of sunlight but there are also some where you will have to pass through some narrow dark parts. Almost every cave has one or two lakes at their bottom where you can swim in the crystal-clear waters. Depths vary from 24m to 75m.

This activity is perfect, if you want to try abseiling with ropes. Ii is all about having an adventure in a canyon where you will have to overcome different obstacles and jump, climb down drops and abseil. All the canyons and gorges of Kefalonia are dry in the summer.

There are two options here: The first option is Vouva Canyon which is a short but very impressive canyon. It requires 2 short abseils only. The second option is Zoodochos Canyon which is much longer and requires 10 abseils.