One of 5000: Albania and Greece

We were the only group that got to go to Albania on a ship tour. It’s a ship excursion and there were issues with the hydrofoil but apparently it was fixed. We – the 40 intrepid geocachers – met our guide Philip then went through Greek customs individually. Of note this means we got a Greek “arrive by boat” stamp in our passports which doubles the cruise-related passport stamps as Slovenia also did individual customs and passport stamping.

We then boarded the hydrofoil that would take us across the Ionian Sea from Korfu, Greece, to Sarande, Albania. Let us generously state that this vessel was not last year’s, or even last decade’s, model. Roy is seeking the best one-word descriptions of the seats which were uncomfortable lumpy airline-style seats complete with locking tray tables though lacking amenities such as seat belts. The hideous color of the seats might charitably be labeled “Harvest gold” or “refrigerator gold.” My contribution was to Roy’s descriptor was “Soviet-era” though I also heard “crime scene,” “incontinence,” and “that time of the month.” The cabins reeked of diesel fuel and the windows, which admittedly get splashed with sea water each journey, might have last been washed in the 1960s. 

This was my first hydrofoil, and the sensation was like the part of an airline flight taxiing before take-off where it’s starting to feel fast but the plane is still on the ground. The hydrofoil was rather loud, perhaps about 10 degrees from horizontal with the nose up, and according to a few samples with GPS moved at up to 58km/hour (about 35mph). The ride itself was about 30 minutes.

Sarande is an interesting city. Albania was perhaps the most repressive European communist regime, and the last to call for elections, in 1991. During communism all buildings were identical, no more than 5 stories (not sure if that’s counting the ground floor as the 0^th or 1^st floor), and strictly utilitarian. New buildings, all built in the 21^st century, have a bit of variety – shape, size, balconies, paint color – and most of the buildings are new. The country’s population is 3 million though there are up to 10 million Albanians in the world meaning there are more than twice as many in what our Albanian guide (Andriona) referred to as the “Albanian diaspora” than in Albania.

Neither Philip nor Andriona had ever experienced geocaching, but they were very accommodating and good sports. Before boarding our bus, we found the nearby geocache (with people in official uniforms wondering out loud what this group of 40 people was doing going up and around a building then quickly reversing course) and the collective relief was palpable. I haven’t yet logged my finds which include at least 3 traditional caches and perhaps an earthcache or two.

We went to Butrint which is a site with ruins from the Roman and Byzantine times. Not surprisingly some of the same themes as we heard in the Adriatic persisted – Roman empire, changing hands a few times, emergency of Christianity – though with some variations such as Turkish rule. There’s been so much amazing history in this part of the world it’s been difficult to absorb it; admittedly that part of history wasn’t one I learned much about as a student, and it hasn’t been something that I’ve sought to learn more on my own. I found myself much more intrigued by the architecture, view, flora and fauna than by the history.

The architecture was a mix of Roman and other civilizations, distinguishable because the Romans used large blocks of limestone and others used smaller blocks; neither used mortar. Several arches remain in Butrint’s marketplace and church areas, though few had an obvious keystone. There was an amphitheater that looks like it would fit maybe 500 people but apparently 20,000 routinely attended events there; in fairness some of the “benches” were falling apart or missing, but either there were far more missing than I inferred or people were much closer to their neighbors than would be ok today.

The views, especially of the nearby water (salt levels between freshwater and saltwater), were stunning and we could see several mussel farms. There were also views of topography – both Albania and Greece. I noticed 4 sets of hills to the east.

As for flora and fauna, I was amused that the plants, both visually and olfactorily, resembled Little Sycamore Canyon where I attended summer camp growing up: palm trees, junipers, eucalyptus (not native to either Europe or North America), prickly-pear cactus, ivy, bougainvillea, and a variety of conifers, etc. There was very little evidence of leaves turning in preparation for winter. I didn’t see many animals though a cacher from Ontario spotted an “ant highway” which was fun to watch. I was grateful that the mosquitoes that found Jana managed not to find me. Though not actively looking for birds, I don’t really remember seeing or hearing any though it seems unlikely there weren’t any there.

After Butrint we returned to Saranda for a rather curious lunch. There was a very salty salad with cabbage, lettuce, olives, and onions. The main course was a plate with two thin meat slices, presumably pork, in a red sauce and was accompanied by rice and fries. Dessert was a round iced object that seemed to want to taste like maple sugar but did not. Supposedly water and wine were both included but I was billed an entire €1 for my water and simply paid it.

We headed for the hydrofoil with a 5 minute detour to shop for souvenirs in a single store. The driver was impressed that we collectively beat the timeline with an entire 13 seconds to spare. We then returned to the hydrofoil which hadn’t changed except that “eau de diesel” scent had intensified. Roy shared at some point that fewer than 5000 people had ever logged a cache in Albania, meaning that our group of 40 represents nearly 1% of all finders of Albanian caches.

Philip did the nearly-impossible and managed to give us a brief tour – by bus then walking – of Corfu that included a stop for a geocache, souvenir shopping, a chance to grab a second cache, and a return to the ship with minutes to spare before the deadline. He even commented that he could see himself taking his 9 year old son caching. The first cache turned out to be in a small “square” between homes, complete with laundry-filled clotheslines. Someone suggested a group photo and there was a quick round of applause for finding caches in both Albania and Greece, bringing several residents to their windows to wonder what the commotion was all about.

This was hands-down one of the most memorable travel and caching days I’ve ever had! Fun adventures with a fantastic group of friends on a beautiful day. It doesn’t get better than that.