Lavrio – Greece
Once the boat left the harbor in Haifa, a big relief fell from our shoulders. We had done it! We conquered and travelled around Africa, which according to many people was supposed to be impossible or completely insane. The latter is not completely wrong though, it was crazy but sure it was fun!
This was the last time we had to deal with tough border officials for customs, immigration, gendarmerie or whatnot. We were happy to be on the water where there was a nice breeze cooling us down from the burning heat in Israel. Right after we left port, lunch was served in the dining room. That’s when it really occurred to us that this is no normal passenger ferry. We were eating with a few truckers and the rest were all crew for the boat. We were the only ones with a private vehicle. The food was good though, proper meals were being cooked three times a day.
The cool breeze from the sea didn’t reach inside the boat though. Because the boat was a former Finnish (what a coincidence right?) ferry, the windows wouldn’t open and there was absolutely no air conditioning or fan. Our cabin was way above African standards, but it was way too hot to sleep in. Not only during the day would we stay around the deck, would we also sleep on the deck. We dragged our mattress out onto the deck and slept next to the life rafts. Not very comfortable or quiet, but at least it was possible to sleep. Overall we enjoyed the trip and it was great knowing that we would arrive at the other side safely. Almost all paperwork was processed by the shipping company and the things that still needed to be done, were explained well. An advice for other overlanders taking the same ship, take a fan or something, as there is 220v available in the cabin. Also pay in local currency as they ripped us off twice over bad currency exchange, as they converted the shekel back to euro even though the company is from Cyprus.
Once arrived in Greece, the shipping agent took care of all the clearance and customs paperwork. Except that they forgot to stamp our carnet. We needed the last stamp to prove we were back in Europe. After running up and down to different people, it became clear that no one really knows what they were doing. We then personally had to tell the customs manager what he had to do and for what reason, it was like he had never seen a carnet de passage before. Eventually after a lot of struggle they put a stamp and signature, we were done. It was like they were bored of their jobs and just needed a little fight to keep happy. Anyway we had made it all the way, no more paperwork bullshit! Hurray!
The first thing we did was visit a coffee shop as we had absolutely no food left and we were too hungry to go shopping. Lavrio itself isn’t a big tourist place, but it being Greece there were little coffee shops everywhere. And they had Wi-Fi too! We sat there for at least two hours enjoying the sweet pastries, coffee’s and sharing our victory with the internet.
I still remember when we visited the Lidl next. As all supermarkets were closed in Israel, we hadn’t seen a real proper supermarket since Zimbabwe. The fruits and vegetables were so big and fresh, the bread and pastries were all smelling so good and everything was fully stocked and available. Even the prices were affordable again! Never have we been so happy to be in a supermarket.
We stocked up and started making our way north. We visited the Acropolis in Athens, drove through the Olympic mountain range and made our way to Macedonia. We noted that it was hard to be impressed by these places in Greece, as we just came from Egypt and Israel. Everything there was bigger, better and cheaper.
Once the boat left the harbor in Haifa, a big relief fell from our shoulders. We had done it! We conquered and travelled around Africa, which according to many people was supposed to be impossible or completely insane. The latter is not completely wrong though, it was crazy but sure it was fun!
This was the last time we had to deal with tough border officials for customs, immigration, gendarmerie or whatnot. We were happy to be on the water where there was a nice breeze cooling us down from the burning heat in Israel. Right after we left port, lunch was served in the dining room. That’s when it really occurred to us that this is no normal passenger ferry. We were eating with a few truckers and the rest were all crew for the boat. We were the only ones with a private vehicle. The food was good though, proper meals were being cooked three times a day.
The cool breeze from the sea didn’t reach inside the boat though. Because the boat was a former Finnish (what a coincidence right?) ferry, the windows wouldn’t open and there was absolutely no air conditioning or fan. Our cabin was way above African standards, but it was way too hot to sleep in. Not only during the day would we stay around the deck, would we also sleep on the deck. We dragged our mattress out onto the deck and slept next to the life rafts. Not very comfortable or quiet, but at least it was possible to sleep. Overall we enjoyed the trip and it was great knowing that we would arrive at the other side safely. Almost all paperwork was processed by the shipping company and the things that still needed to be done, were explained well. An advice for other overlanders taking the same ship, take a fan or something, as there is 220v available in the cabin. Also pay in local currency as they ripped us off twice over bad currency exchange, as they converted the shekel back to euro even though the company is from Cyprus.
Once arrived in Greece, the shipping agent took care of all the clearance and customs paperwork. Except that they forgot to stamp our carnet. We needed the last stamp to prove we were back in Europe. After running up and down to different people, it became clear that no one really knows what they were doing. We then personally had to tell the customs manager what he had to do and for what reason, it was like he had never seen a carnet de passage before. Eventually after a lot of struggle they put a stamp and signature, we were done. It was like they were bored of their jobs and just needed a little fight to keep happy. Anyway we had made it all the way, no more paperwork bullshit! Hurray!
The first thing we did was visit a coffee shop as we had absolutely no food left and we were too hungry to go shopping. Lavrio itself isn’t a big tourist place, but it being Greece there were little coffee shops everywhere. And they had Wi-Fi too! We sat there for at least two hours enjoying the sweet pastries, coffee’s and sharing our victory with the internet.
I still remember when we visited the Lidl next. As all supermarkets were closed in Israel, we hadn’t seen a real proper supermarket since Zimbabwe. The fruits and vegetables were so big and fresh, the bread and pastries were all smelling so good and everything was fully stocked and available. Even the prices were affordable again! Never have we been so happy to be in a supermarket.
We stocked up and started making our way north. We visited the Acropolis in Athens, drove through the Olympic mountain range and made our way to Macedonia. We noted that it was hard to be impressed by these places in Greece, as we just came from Egypt and Israel. Everything there was bigger, better and cheaper.
When we had left Greece into Macedonia, we had a few rainy days already. We were kind of hoping to escape the bad weather in Greece, but boy we were wrong. I think the raincloud followed us for about a week. Everywhere where we went, there was rain. This meant that every little road to find a wildcamp was full of mud. This is the first time we really got stuck in our trip and had to use the winch. As there isn’t much to do when it’s raining we decided to keep driving. We drove through Macedonia to Bulgaria where we visited the Rila monastery. Beautiful place even though it was raining hard.
The next country was Romania where we camped next to the Donau river. Still raining we kept driving towards Serbia. We visited a few monasteries here and there, but all were not really noteworthy anymore. Kosovo was our next stop and this is where the really nice mountain roads started. We camped next to a waterfall and headed towards Albania. This is where the clouds vanished, the sun dried our souls again and we could really enjoy the mountain roads going down to the coast. The roads were amazing, truly some place to go back to, but then with a motorbike.
Once reunited with the Mediterranean Sea, we took all the small coastal roads we could find going northwards. The weather was great, the view was stunning and food was in abundance. Wild camping wasn’t a problem at all, as the tourism industry hadn’t been built up yet. Not yet. Visit Montenegro and Albania before it is too late!
The more northwards we came, the more everything was set up for mass tourism. Some of the campings had more than 2000 spots for campers and caravanners. You can imagine what they do to make wild camping impossible. We still enjoyed every bit of it, but to pay for waiting in the morning to have your 5 minute shower or to stand in a queue to take a dump is just not my idea of relaxing. We kept pushing northwards where we by surprise drove past a massive amphitheater in Pula. What a nice surprise to see some history while battling for a camping spot.
Next we drove to Slovenia, where I wanted to introduce Jasmin to some wild water rafting. According to the Lonely Planet this was the place to do it and it was very affordable too. Naturally the river was way up in the mountains so it was rainy, cloudy and cold again. It took quite some effort to get Jasmin in the boat but once into the wetsuit and the adrenaline pumping, we were warm again. Together with another couple, we were ready to hit some rapids and have some fun. What was supposed to be a rough ride was just a nice and gentle outing on the water. The views were great but not a great introduction to white water rafting. This isn’t what white water rafting is about, better do some more research next time.
The rain had returned and we were a bit disappointed by the ride on the river, so we made our way to München to bring our carnet back. We made an appointment with the right people and met up with them at the ADAC headquarters to safely bring the holy document back. We also had some insurance claims of a few visits to the dentist and all would be worked out well. Now one month later we are still trying to get it back and cancel our insurance and membership. They make up any reason to stall the process as they like taking money but not giving it back. I wonder how that would have gone during a real emergency. The carnet department was amazing though, everything worked out great and received our deposit back after two weeks.
When we left Europe last year we kind of regretted not visiting one of the most famous castles in the world, the Nueschawnstein Castle in Germany, so we decided to go there now. Boy that was miserable. There is actually a little town in front of the castle to receive and accommodate all the visitors. We didn’t expect it to be this busy so we didn’t have any tickets booked. The next tour available in English would be in 3 hours. It was raining and even then you would end up between a mass of tourists. We were kind of shocked by the tourism created for this castle and left towards Switzerland to complete our loop around Africa.
When we left Europe last year we kind of regretted not visiting one of the most famous castles in the world, the Nueschawnstein Castle in Germany, so we decided to go there now. Boy that was miserable. There is actually a little town in front of the castle to receive and accommodate all the visitors. We didn’t expect it to be this busy so we didn’t have any tickets booked. The next tour available in English would be in 3 hours. It was raining and even then you would end up between a mass of tourists. We were kind of shocked by the tourism created for this castle and left towards Switzerland to complete our loop around Africa.
Arriving in the little town of where my mom lives nowadays, was a great moment for our trip. We had left this place 10 months earlier with no idea how Africa would be like. Coming back, not nearly as much as us has changed. What an experience.
Now we go to the supermarkets and expect everything to be there, go home and have water, electricity, normal toilets and internet waiting for us. The public transport actually shows up more than once a week and the roads do not contain potholes and corrupt police officials. Things like these are so easy to get used to, but what else should we complain about?
Now we go to the supermarkets and expect everything to be there, go home and have water, electricity, normal toilets and internet waiting for us. The public transport actually shows up more than once a week and the roads do not contain potholes and corrupt police officials. Things like these are so easy to get used to, but what else should we complain about?
Thank you all for following our stories. The experience has been one of a kind and a great eye opener for the both of us. Even though we got our laptop robbed, met all the corrupt police officials and had a few hard times, it was all so very much worth it. I cannot motivate other people like you enough to just go out of your comfort zone and see the world. The majority of the people in this world are just curious like you and me, are happy to tell a story and share a good laugh. Don’t worry and get out of that safety shell! I really liked meeting the local people, but the best times for us were with other overlanders sharing a passion for travel.
Our trip has come to an end and it is time for us to become a slave of the modern world again. We will be applying for jobs all around Europe, so if you know something suitable or have questions about our trip, please let us know!
Happy Travels!
Our trip has come to an end and it is time for us to become a slave of the modern world again. We will be applying for jobs all around Europe, so if you know something suitable or have questions about our trip, please let us know!
Happy Travels!