The town of Masouri where we stayed as seen from one of the numerous caves:
Yet another gorgeous morning:
It was a confluence of events that made Kalymnos into what it is today. The main industry on the island used to be sponges that locals harvested in abundance from the sea and when that collapsed in mid-80's it left many of the local economies in ruins. Shortly after, a visiting climber noticed all the amazing cliffs and started developing them. As word spread about the area and climbers began flocking to the island, the locals realized that the crazy people who wanted to climb the rock could be a reliable money source and embraced the sport. Today, the thousands of people who come yearly to to test their mettle on the extraordinary limestone cliffs are now the economic mainstay of many communities on Kalymnos.
The famous Grande Grotto is an enormous cave filled with tufas:
Nathan on a climb inside the Grotto. It's only slightly overhung...:
Nathan giving it everything he's got:
Danny sweating it up another climb in the Grotto:
And streeeeetch!:
Danny in the money shot:
No, this picture is not in the wrong orientation -- it really is a roof and yes I am hanging almost upside down. I don't really know what possessed me to jump on this French 7b+ route, but it was incredibly fun:
Where's my next foothold again??!!:
Ah, forget it, I'm just going to hang here:
Wheee! The scenic loweroff:
Kalymnos climbers are probably the fittest tourist set on the planet and also likely the dorkiest. As sure as you can count on a gorgeous sunset,
Masouri at sunset:
you can also count on the distinctive two-stroke whine of fleets of scooters twice daily. In one of the more amusing daily migration patterns on Earth, scores of climbers outfitted with helmets and precariously balanced packs swarm out from the tiny towns dotting the coast every morning to the one road connecting the crags, maxing out the rpms on their rented scooters as they push their geek machines to the limit on the twisting, hilly road. Of course, Diana and I also rented a scooter one day and joined the dork parade. It had to be done, really, especially because of my new-found love for scooters.
Masouri in the far distance:
The world's smallest cabin boat. It couldn't have been more than 7 feet long:
Since we were in Greece, Diana and I figured that it was only appropriate to host a wine and cheese toga party on the pool deck of our guest house.
Uh, yeah, that's the view from the pool:
The scene before the soiree:
We tried to secretly slip anonymous invitations under everyone's doors, but failed miserably. I put an invite under one wrong door by mistake, Diana was spotted leaving another invite, and our tag team effort of making small talk while I surreptitously placed an invite on top of a room mini fridge was painfully transparent. Oh well. It was still loads of fun and the array of toga designs was pretty impressive.
L to R: George, Sam, Aidan, me, Danny, Hannah, Teresa, Angie
This was as close as we could get to approximate a column. Top down L to R: George, Danny, me, Hannah, Aidan, Teresa, Diana, Sam, Angie
Let's get a closeup on the incredible cheese happening on top, shall we? George doing his best to look beatific while Danny and I do our best to look like devoted acolytes. Or something like that:
Don't we look like a bunch of ridiculous statues:
Danny and Teresa kick it up a notch:
Tazzy and Angie discover they are both genetic freaks and can touch their nose with their tongues:
Aidan depressed about his arm? Or just a sympathy ploy?:
Ready to hit the town:
The one black mark against Kalymnos has to be the local custom of setting off explosives for celebrations. I'm not talking firecrackers here, I'm talking full on dynamite. As in hitting the deck when you hear the first explosion industrial strength dynamite. Birthdays, weddings, graduations, a youngster's first lost tooth -- all apparently are appropriate explanations for the massive excavation holes dotting the hillsides. Ok, maybe the holes aren't there, but they should be since the explosions are strong enough to be accompanied by shockwaves. I seriously thought about taping the windows in our room because they actually bulged with the shockwaves. Another reason to always travel with duct tape. Thankfully, the perpetrators seem to either lose steam or pass out by 1:30 a.m., so it is possible to get some sleep at night.
The positive marks for Kalymnos far outweigh the negatives of obnoxious random explosions, however, and I fully intend to be enjoying the months of November and possibly December eating my weight in feta cheese while knocking my head against the tufa filled caves of this awesome island.
Crutches or live for Another Day???:
Look me up if you happen to be there -- I'll be the dork on the scooter.
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