Today was donkey day! Carissa and her dad left early in the morning for Crete and I had an afternoon flight so I had the whole day on Santorini to myself. The one thing I knew I absolutely wanted to do was the donkey ride where they take you from the old port up to the town. Amina had also told me it was a must. I asked the concierge for other recommendations and she advised I should also take the public bus to Kamari beach.
I walked down the zig zag path that led to the base of the cliffs where the old port was. The road was rather steep and very slick. I found myself slipping a little bit occasionally. It took nearly an hour to get to the bottom and I eagerly handed the man my 10 euros ready for my donkey ride. I made sure that he would ride up with me so he made me wait about 30 minutes until two French girls around my age showed up so he could take us together.
The donkeys were much larger than I expected and closer to the size of a horse. They were very well behaved and I like to joke they speak Greek since they listen to the commands of the man in charge. The ride was very fun as we climbed up the hill. The road was indeed slick as occasionally the donkey's hoof would slip a little bit. It was about a 30 minute ride to the top and I could look out and see the ocean the whole time.
When I returned to the top of the hill I caught the bus going to Kamari. Kamari is a beach and small town on the opposite side of the island. Given how many cliffs are present in Santorini, the beaches are not suitable for swimming. This one was considered a black sand beach but there was no actual sand, just rocks that were twice the size of pebbles. There was no one swimming in it for a reason. I laid down in one of the beach chairs fending off all of the people who kept coming around asking if I wanted a massage.
The town of Kamari is tiny and mainly has little souvenir shops and restaurants. I walked around looking at all the little trinkets then found a place to enjoy a haloumi gyro at. The gyro was only 5 euros and the waiter kept trying to convince me to order something else as well but I wanted to catch my bus to be in time for my taxi to the airport.
The concierge at Hotel Aressana had arranged one of the members of the hotel staff to take me to the airport. The driver was a primary school teacher on a different island who spends his summer at the hotel. They receive free housing and food but only make 1000 euros for the summer. He was joking with me how the hot springs were a complete lie to lure tourists in.
Santorini was beautiful and I am grateful that I got to finally see one of the most romanticized cities in the world. It really is a small city though and besides seeing the iconic blue domes and taking the boat, there was not a whole lot to do.
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