June 25, 2009 at 12:10 am · Filed under Group 6 Blog
On the last night we all sat down as a whole group for the last supper at our hotel. This was a brilliant ending to our trip as there was the company of our fellow students, staff, Greek food and unlimited Sfakian wine (which doesn’t taste good but still makes you rather merry!).
It was a good social ending as it showed how much we had all connected within the short time-frame of the trip and how well everyone had got on. After thanking the owners for a pleasent stay and a lovely meal we staggered to the beach to sample some more of the local spirit (raki!!!) and to gaze upwards towards the stars. Some say there were shooting starts and many wishes were made. After a few hours socialising on the beach and watching the waves roll in time after time … for the last time … we decided to retire to our rooms … for the last time, where Dave found the pleasant sound of Matt snoring and skillfully practiced the art of jumping into bed next to him without him noticing (this may come in use later on in life!)
Once again I would like to extend my thanks on behalf of all the students on the trip to Alan, Ken and Richard for a fantastic field class and being a great help to us all.
June 24, 2009 at 6:04 pm · Filed under Group 6 Blog
Unfortunatly we have not been able to upload our interactive map of Crete to Google maps so here is a non-interactive image of our path to Loutro and back along the coastal path to Chora Sfakion.
June 24, 2009 at 7:58 am · Filed under Group 6 Blog
Today was going home day. It was filled of mixed feelings of wanted to be home and not wanting to leave.
After the windy mountain road, which made me feel very travel sick, we arrived at Chania where we spent a couple of hours.
I have very many negative opinions towards Chania and these are shared between a lot of the group. After a week of peace and quiet Chania was a dramatic change we were not prepared for. Chania was busy, over-commercialised and very pushy. We had people coming out from their resturants and pushing menus into our faces trying to get us to eat there and convince us that we needed food. Once seated however more “sellers” came round the tables wanting to sell you knock-off DVDs and other goods. Although Chania was very beautiful we did not stay at the harbour for long. We discovered the ancient cobbled streets which where less commercialised but they where very reminiscent of Italy so it was hard to imagine you were still in Crete.
Chania
In my opinion I feel those that have just stuck to north Crete have missed out on what Crete is all about and the beauty that it has to offer.
We soon left Chania and flew home, arriving in Reading about 10pm.
June 22, 2009 at 11:46 am · Filed under Group 6 Blog
Today we spent the morning in Loutro collecting information for our human geography project. We spoke to tourists on the ferry going to Loutro and businesses and tourists in Loutro itself. We split the group into two groups of two to cover more ground, so we could get more work done! We managed to speak to a couple of businesses and several tourists. The area was fairly quiet but definitely had more youth than any of the other areas we have been to. coming off the boat when we arrived were 3 0-10 year olds and a total of 23 people disembarked. We managed to speak to a few English people, more than we have managed to find on other days!
In Loutro we noted that there were 2 phone boxes, 13 Tavernas which were mainly hotels, 1 supermarket and two shops. From the first to the last taverna we estimated that there was 800 meters between them. To rent one umbrella and two sunbeds for 7 Euros for one day and 4 Euros for half a day. We found that the people in the tavernas were not as friendly as in Chora Sfakion and they did not want to talk to us as much.
Katie and Laura had a spot of shopping in the most gorgeous clothes and accessory shop!! Laura bought a pretty bag and Katie got some sunglasses. We also enjoyed some ice cream! The last thing of the morning was the ferry back to Chora where we had lunch on the beach!
This afternoon we are catching up with all our work, as we have quite a lot to do before we leave tomorrow! We also want to finish the work before tonight as we have a group field photo at 6:30 and a group meal at 8! We can’t believe that the trip is nearly over!! It has gone so incredibly quickly but we have all had such a brilliant time and experience in Crete! It has been a time that none of us will forget for a long time to come!
Quote of the day: “Excuseeeee me” (Emma gets blanked) …… “Oh sod it I can’t be bothered”
Highlight of the day: Ice Cream and shopping in Loutro
Lowlight of the day: the prospect of undertaking the task of the Mannings N equation.
June 21, 2009 at 6:09 pm · Filed under Group 6 Blog
We began the day again on the 10.30am ferry which cost an arm and a leg (16 Euros). On the way to Agia Romeuli, which is where the Samaria Gorge is located, we stopped off at Loutro and 41 passengers got off along with the usual supplies. We left Loutro at 10.53am and along the way to the Gorge we saw a beautiful backdrop of the White Mountains with the excitement of an alluvial fan located on the side of the hill slope.
Upon arrive at Agia Romeuli (E023.96019 N35.22911) we missioned straight through the village, which is purely created for tourism, and headed towards the Gorge. In the village there was;
14 Tavernas
2 Phone Boxes
2 Houses
1 Medical Centre
1 Ruin of a chapel
A supermarket….. And a sleeping cat. Awww!
The Samaria Gorge is the longest in Europe spanning 18km. In 1981 it was declared by UNESCO as a biosphere reserve due to the great interest in its natural resources (Spanos 2008)
In comparison to Illingas Gorge there was a natural looking path which took us all the way through the Samaria Gorge to the Iron Gates and beyond (for Dave). Following the path was a beautiful babbling brooke. We saw lots of tourists coming down the Gorge from where their coaches dropped them off at the top. The tourists were mainly middle age and older due to it being out of season (children are still at school) in most European countries. There were a vast number of bins in the Gorge and no litter. With research from asking questions later on in Agia Romeuli and on the ferry it became apparent that the tour operators encourage the tourists to be environmentally friendly. Whilst in the Gorge we crossed many bridges. Dave became paparazzi for the afternoon by filming us girls as we descended from the Gorge, a video of his efforts will be uploaded soon.
On the return ferry trip Dave and Emma utilised their language skills again to little effect as most of the tourists they tried to talk to where very tired after their long walk in the Gorge. Also on the return Laura and Katie noticed some storm clouds out at sea, which are now approaching us as we eat our dinner in the Three Brothers Taverna. The waves are a lot higher than normal and we are waiting on our first storm of the week.
Our GPS is now expired as the battery has run out. We are counting on not needing it tomorrow as we are taking a trip to Loutro to talk to tourists and businesses about their experiences, we already have a recording of the GPS reference for Loutro.
Interestingly when we left the ferry 14 tourists actually stayed in Chora Sfakion.
Our quote of the day today is from Emma: “Is that another bin? Oh yeah we are still here!”
We all agree that we had an overall good day today and our highlight was reaching the Iron Gates in the Samaria Gorge. The lowlight of the day was someone on the ferry flicking cigarette ash on Laura’s trousers.
June 20, 2009 at 7:11 pm · Filed under Group 6 Blog
Today we had a free day to do what ever we wished. First we had a late and lazy breakfast due to the late night activities of the previous evening. During the late night activities we went to the beach and watched the stars coming out after discovering Kenzo’s bar. We later came back to partake in some dancing.
the first order of the day was a little trip up the road to see a monument to the Cretan people who harbours some allied troops during the battle of Crete in 1941. The monument encased skulls of those who died. It was a poignant moment for us all.
Later in the day we went to the beach and stayed to eat lunch. After a couple more hours of sunbathing we headed over to the Ilingus beach and had a swim in the sea. Next we went for dinner in the taverna with the main intention of asking him some questions about the 2000 flood, which proved successful.
There was a bit of drama in the village at lunchtime as there was a large fire in Delpini Taverna. We saw smoke rising from the building and customers running to get away! Apparently the fire was caused by a gas explosion and caused over 20,000 Euros worth of damage. The taverna did not have a fire extinguisher so other business’ in the village had to come to the rescue with modes to control the fire! The mood in the village is slightly more sombre tonight and it was upsetting to watch the fire as it was also the taverna owners home.
We had a leisurely walk back to Chora Sfakion and saw some very cute baby goats on the way back! We went and visited an Orthodox church of St Anthony it was very interesting and educational.
We all feel the general vibe of the village has changed tonight, with the fire, last nights events and the discovery of the rivalry between all the taverna owners! All in all today has been very relaxing but there are definitely some underlying issues in the village!
The highlight today was our afternoon trip to Illinagas Beach and the lowlight was the fire in our favourite restaurant.
June 19, 2009 at 2:52 pm · Filed under Group 6 Blog
It is unbelievably Friday already and we have spent the day talking to tourists and businesses in Chora Sfakion. We would like to share a summary of what we have found out with you here.
Laura and Katie spent the morning talking to the business people of Chora Sfakion including the lady in the bakery, Yeti at one of the Tavernas and one of the waiters from the hotel Aibykon/Samaria that we are staying in.
We had three main questions that we asked the businesses:
How do you feel about tourists in Chora Sfakia?
Are you feeling the effects of the economic downturn?
How do you feel about Eco-tourism?
We received varied and interesting answers for the above questions. All the businesses said that tourism is good for Chora Sfakia as it is a main source of income. The majority of tourists who visit are European however we have spoken to a number of people from New Zealand. The two Taverna workers we spoke to said that in regards to the economic downturn numbers of tourists have decreased.
“This time last year the hotels and tavernas were full, now there is no one” – Yeti.
Some say the numbers of tourists have not decreased but they are just spending less due to the current economic crisis.
The lady in the Bakery was extremely useful to our study. She said that it is generally the same people that come to Chora Sfakion each year, and sometimes twice a year. This is normally in April and September as this is a good time for hiking due to the climate being favourable. She keeps to a traditional way of working by going to other villages to trade her goods but she agrees that tourists are the largest income bringers to this village. “Only 135 people live in this village so we totally rely on the tourists”.
Whilst Laura and Katie completed their task, Dave and Emma were off talking to tourists about their experiences. To begin with it was hard to approach the people and start asking them questions but we soon got into the swing of things. Some people did not speak very good English and we had to converse in French or German. Dave took the lead with the Germans whilst Emma tackled the French with a poor French accent. Unfortunately some people could not be communicated with at all and we had to abandon trying. This meant that our sample was not as random as we would have liked. However we got a good sample size of over 40 individuals in 24 groups.
Our main questions were -
Why did you come to Chora Sfakion?
What are your views on eco-tourism ?
Do you know much about the local language or customs?
How often have you come here, if at all?
What do you plan on doing in Chora Sfakion?
What is your nationality?
Most people were older between the ages of 49-60 with only a few families and young people. The main influx was from the boats which come regularly during the day. Also these people were all from Europe apart from the New Zealanders which we saw at the dive centre. This couple were the most interesting that we spoke to and they came here due to the ladies father was in the battle of Crete and he had to be evacuated when the Germans won the battle. From that day the Cretan island has had a strong affiliation with Europe, New Zealand and Austrailia. There is a memorial to this where Laura took a photo.
War Memorial E024.13657 N35.20029
A further point is that 95% of the tourists we spoke to thought that eco-tourism was a good idea and a Greek man said that they should be doing more here to preserve the environment.
We completed our day by walking around Chora Sfakia taking photos of the main tourists attractions, these photos will be available to view on our flickr link soon.
June 18, 2009 at 7:49 pm · Filed under Group 6 Blog
We started the day on the ferry crossing from Chora Sfakion to loutro (co-ordinate E-024.13562 N-35.19959). On the journey we saw scree slopes, clast on the cliffs, caves and Dave’s favourite word, gullies. At Loutro Emma saw the men unloading supplies, mainly for the tourist influx to the area, this included nectarines, tomatoes and coca-cola. Also along with the internet cafe it is evidnece of globalisation and shows that they are not completley cut off from the rest of world, they are only secluded by the transport as the only link is by ferry.
men unloading supplies E-024.08328 N-35.19906
Before the walk we stopped for a drink at a cafe (co-ordinates are E- 024.07948 N- 35.20027). Here we took a group photo (17 ) before setting offon our challenging journey back to Chora Sfakion. next we walked up some steep steps and saw a sign for kayaking, which was in English, showing that this was aimed to tourists.
Between here and sweetwater we encountered the gullies and scree slopes that were viewed form the boat. The vegetation was very diverse and included cacti, olive groves, heather and a vegetation that is to be confirmed later with use of photos. The fauna included lizards, bees and butterflies and many others. We met a tourist walking, from New Zealand and she was very friendly. On the coast we spotted some rubbish, a sewage outlet and are unsure how it got there, due to the difficulty to reach the shoreline. The path in places had a man-made edge to them to mark it where it was passing scree and gullies and is likely to be washed away every storm. In some places there were red soils – indicative of iron oxides. At 2.14 we stopped for a break in the first shade we found in half an hour of walking.
Sweetwater is located at E-024.10634 N-35.19893. It was a well sorted stony beach with fresh water springs and nudists. After a paddle we went to the taverna and got a drink. This is the most popular and largest beach in the are with boat taxis going to and from. On the far end there were very active large scree slopes with large boulders on the shoreline. The vegetation here was sparsely distributed with only small shrubs. we left at 3.40pm.
The next leg of the trip was to Chora Sfakion. This area had a very narrow windy path where the swallows “whooshed” past. On the GPS it is called “Crazy” (co-ordinates of E-024.11468 N-35.20167). Near the end of the E4 coastal path we were filmed by Ken which put pressure on trying to avoid falling over and embarass ourselves. At the end of the path the landscape from here to Chora sfakion is highly influenced by man made surfaces e.g crash barriers, roads, storm drains, concrete sides and re-constructed much of the landscape to suit modern needs (the road from Chora Sfakion to Anoplois).
Quote of the day
1.Everyone – Yamas!
Emma – “Mussel toes” (apparently cheers in Russian?)
2. Emma – “this wines like Ribena” (she was a wee bit drunk from Raki)
Highlight – Conquering the E4 coastal path.
Lowlight – Sunburn for the grils and scary nudists.
June 18, 2009 at 6:45 pm · Filed under Group 6 Blog
The temperature is 28 degree Celsius on the Illingas gorge beach at E 024.12 and N35.2. This stone beach has tiny waves which are therefore constructive. Most of the beach is man-made in order to protect the area from future gorge floods after the December 2000 devastating flood. The pebbles are consistent sizes which is not in keeping with natural beaches so this is evidence for the beach being man-made. This beach is a 20minute walk from our base in Chora Sfakia on a long road. We then walked up the beach and 3.3km up the gorge.
E024.12904 N35.21328 – this is the reference for our first measurement site 3.3km up the Illingas Gorge. Here there is evidence of the December 2000 flooding in the form of a rock stuck half way up a tree. A picture of this can be found on our flickr link titled picture three.
E024.12907 N35.21224 – this is site two. Here we measured two flows, a main flow and a peak flow. The problem with this site was that it had a smaller channel to the side which would of added to the main and peak flow that we did not measure.
At site three we were unable to get a GPS signal due to the narrow gorge affecting our ability to receive satellite signal. There was little vegetation at this site as the narrow gorge would have funnelled the water and washed away all the vegetation. Due to the narrow channel flow, it was only 3.7m wide, the water would have been concentrated into a smaller space and would have fasted flow speeds compared to the rest of the gorge. Due to this it is likely that there was a higher erosion rate at this site.
Further on down from site three we encountered a wind tunnel effect. The humidity was reduce to 18.5%.
When we got to site four our GPS was still not working so we don’t have a reference for this site. The erosion from the flood was evident here in the form of the bark being stripped from the tree, there are photos of this on our flickr link. This part of the gorge was really wide, this would mean that the flood energy would have been dissipated around the whole area causing less damage to the vegetation present.
At site five we were blessed with satellite signal E024.125 and N35.207. This site was interesting as it had well defined banks. These had been eroded as a result of the December 2000 flood. There was dense vegetation above the peak flow which showed where the flood came up to.
Site six was the man-made road bridge which also acts as a flood relief to channel the waters towards the sea so that the road is not destroyed again. It is made from concrete and reinforced with steal.
Our quote of the day comes from Laura “if you sit down you get stones in your knickers”. The highlight of the day was Emma panicking at a butterfly landing on our, the lowlight would be our clinometer breaking half way down. The temperature is 28 degree Celsius on the Illingas gorge beach at E 024.12 and N35.2. This stone beach has tiny waves which are therefore constructive. Most of the beach is man-made in order to protect the area from future gorge floods after the December 2000 devastating flood. The pebbles are consistent sizes which is not in keeping with natural beaches so this is evidence for the beach being man-made. This beach is a 20minute walk from our base in Chora Sfakia on a long road. We then walked up the beach and 3.3km up the gorge.
The temperature is 28 degree Celsius on the Illingas gorge beach at E 024.12 and N35.2. This stone beach has tiny waves which are therefore constructive. Most of the beach is man-made in order to protect the area from future gorge floods after the December 2000 devastating flood. The pebbles are consistent sizes which is not in keeping with natural beaches so this is evidence for the beach being man-made. This beach is a 20minute walk from our base in Chora Sfakia on a long road. We then walked up the beach and 3.3km up the gorge.
E024.12904 N35.21328 – this is the reference for our first measurement site 3.3km up the Illingas Gorge. Here there is evidence of the December 2000 flooding in the form of a rock stuck half way up a tree. A picture of this can be found on our flickr link titled picture three -
E024.12907 N35.21224 – this is site two. Here we measured two flows, a main flow and a peak flow. The problem with this site was that it had a smaller channel to the side which would of added to the main and peak flow that we did not measure.
At site three we were unable to get a GPS signal due to the narrow gorge affecting our ability to receive satellite signal. There was little vegetation at this site as the narrow gorge would have funnelled the water and washed away all the vegetation. Due to the narrow channel flow, it was only 3.7m wide, the water would have been concentrated into a smaller space and would have fasted flow speeds compared to the rest of the gorge. Due to this it is likely that there was a higher erosion rate at this site.
Further on down from site three we encountered a wind tunnel effect. The humidity was reduce to 18.5%. Then, when we got to site four our GPS was still not working so we don’t have a reference for this site. The erosion from the flood was evident here in the form of the bark being stripped from the tree, there are photos of this on our flickr link. This part of the gorge was really wide, this would mean that the flood energy would have been dissipated around the whole area causing less damage to the vegetation present.
At site five we were blessed with satellite signal E024.125 and N35.207. This site was interesting as it had well defined banks. These had been eroded as a result of the December 2000 flood. There was dense vegetation above the peak flow which showed where the flood came up to. Next Site six was the man-made road bridge which also acts as a flood relief to channel the waters towards the sea so that the road is not destroyed again. It is made from concrete and reinforced with steal.
Our quote of the day comes from Laura “if you sit down you get stones in your knickers”. The highlight of the day was Emma panicking at a butterfly landing on our, the lowlight would be our clinometer breaking half way down.
We would like to thank everyone in Chora Sfakion for welcoming us on our visit in June 2009 and all the businesses who gave us free access to wireless Internet which meant everything you read and watch here was produced 'in the field'. Our field trip included three staff (Dr Alan Howard, Ken Beard and Richard Tegg) and 28 students registered for the degree in Human and Physical Geography at the University of Reading.
