Landing on a Butterfly

We chart our course to the out of the way island of Astypalea, a butterfly shaped Greek island that sits alone bridging the Dodecanese and the Cyclades. Brightly blooming Bougainville and whitewashed houses wind up the hills and steep cliffs of this butterfly’s wings. We tied up to the quay and spent the day climbing to the top of the hills to the old fortified village that crowns the mountaintop where the walls of the outer houses protected its inhabitants for centuries. This small village was able to withstand sieges by pirates and invading armies since the 15th century, but the castle fortress was no match for a powerful earthquake in 1956. Now mostly crumbling rock walls of this historic village quietly tell the story of its once great past.

We follow the wind to a couple of more islands, Amorgos and Donoussa where our anchor digs deep into the sandy bottoms of pristine bays with few signs of civilization. We are surrounded by sapphire blue water and fish swimming around this intrusion into their sanctuary. A herd of goats gather at the edge of the island as if they are expecting a ferry to aid in their escape to greener pastures. But no ferry comes. The water is warm and I like to snorkel naked through it looking at the richness of the ocean floor. I spot a beautiful large shell, but it is just deep enough to escape becoming a souvenir. Maybe it is fortunate that we sometimes are content enough to just look at the beauty of nature from a distance.