So far, everything on my dolphin journey to Vonitsa has gone according to plan, but with some very pleasant added surprises. The Mare Nostrum Hotel Thalasso was filled with French vacationers and not Greek, which gave me a slice of everyday French culture and language. I am hoping the Greek mythical magic continues!
Early the next morning after my second night, the hotel arranged for a taxi to pick me up at 5:30 a.m. to take me to the bus station in Athens where I was to pick up a bus to Vonitsa. The grey haired taxi driver arrived early, 5:15 a.m. and, thankfully, spoke English. He told me his one brother lived in Joliet, not far from my town of Downers Grove, and his other brother lived somewhere in Indiana. We had a nice chat on the way about America.
When the sun finally rose, I could see vast countryside along the road we were taking. Little white homes with clay tile roofs scattered here and there, abandoned buildings and structures half built and left standing unused, and lots of olive and date trees, also scattered randomly. It was a very enjoyable and scenic 20 minute drive.
As we approached Athens, we entered a modern highway where the signs were in both Greek and English and they had modern tollgates with through passes. When we arrived at the bus station, which was in a very dingy area, the taxi driver walked me into the station and took me to the ticket booth (there were about 15) that sold the ticket for the bus I needed to ride. I really appreciated it because everything was written in Greek, and no one seemed to speak English.
However, the ticket agent was late, so a group of people were there waiting impatiently. A very kind, older woman and her husband were very nice to me sensing I was a confused tourist. The woman allowed me ahead of her to purchase my ticket. Even though she or her husband didn’t speak English, they waved to me to follow them into a snack bar area where we waited for our bus. Soon beggar women were coming up to everyone, including me, and the kind couple shooed them away from me.
When the time neared for our bus to arrive, they again beaconed me to follow them and showed me which bus, of the 10 or 15 in the holding area, was ours. These Greek buses are beautiful with huge picture windows to view the scenery, and had a place underneath them to hold luggage. These are not tourist buses, but for the locals to get from town to town through the mountains.
Since our assigned seat numbers were across from each other, as we drove through the countryside, the couple would point out interesting places for me to take pictures. Greece is totally mountainous, with people living along the flat lands on the seashores. Some a half mile deep, and other areas several miles. Each town had its own Greek Orthodox Church that dominated. It seemed, the poorer the town, the smaller the church!
Six hours into our bus ride, the kind couple arrived at their destination and made a point to tell the bus driver to let me know when to get off the bus at Vonitsa.
Two hours later, with few people left on the bus, the bus driver stopped at a town and noded to me. I naturally assumed this was my stop. He unloaded my two suitcases and left.
I took out the map I was given from the research group to locate the destination meeting place to take place at 3:00 p.m. It was now 2:30pm. Hauling two suitcases behind me, a backpack and a large purse, I walked on cobblestone streets through town to the marina, about six blocks. I didn’t see anyone there. When I tried to find the phone number of the research facility, I realized I had left it at home! How could I be so organized and not take the phone number of my destination!! A six letter word for that: st - - - -!!
Finally, two young couples were walking past. I asked them if they spoke English. One of the young men did, slightly. After I explained my situation, he told me this wasn’t Vonitsa. It was 45 minutes back the other way. I had passed it up!
He was kind enough to use his cell phone to call the bus station to find out what time the next bus came through town back to Vonitsa. That would be 5 pm. This was a small marina with a few seaside cafes. I bought a cold bottle of water and sat in the shade the rest of the time waiting for the bus. This was not a bus station, but a bus stop. There was a plastic chair to sit in under a few shaded trees. It was about 95 degrees in the sun, but pleasant in the shade with a sea breeze!
Finally, I arrived in Vonitsa and remembered seeing the city sign….Bonitea. It was the Greek spelling with English letters. I was pronouncing the name wrong. And, Greeks did’t know the English version. They didn’t know what I was saying, and they didn’t recognize the spelling!
When I finally arrived, Juan, (Shwan, he is from Barcelona, Spain) the lead scientist was waiting for me. They were all worried when I didn’t show up. He finally phoned the bus station and they told him someone called and said a woman had missed her stop.
He asked why I didn’t phone to tell him. I told him I didn’t have his phone number and why I didn’t. He gave me a look that said the six letter word in any language!
The two-story house we arrived at can only be explained as completely IKEA. There are two IKEA stores in Athens according to my taxi driver. Bunk beds for us volunteers, an IKEA type kitchen and surroundings. I’ll show pictures later.
Tomorrow at 8 a.m., we start our dolphin research on the waters on the Gulf of AM brak ki kos, that is phonetic. Don’t have English spelling yet!
Arley Harriman (Written August 17, 2014)