There are a few ways to leave Kos. Airplanes and ferries are the most readily available means of transportation.
If you can swing it, I highly recommend leaving Kos the way I did: By sailboat.
The entire reason I picked Kos as a destination to begin with was that it was the joining place for the sailing tour I'd booked. Now, you can charter your own sailboat most anyplace in the Med and sail yourself around if you're an experienced sailor. If you aren't and still want to sail, you can either hire a boat with a skipper, or do what I did - join a G Adventures tour. (G Adventures in no way sponsored this post or this blog, wouldn't it be nice if they had?)
I have to say, sailing around the Greek Isles on a sailboat is THE way to see Greece. Think about it - Greece is a land of seafaring people, so what better way to see those ancient islands than from the sea?
G Adventures did NOT disappoint. I'm actually thinking of going on their sailing tours in the Maldives and in Indonesia... eventually, because seriously, this sailing tour was THE BEST thing I've ever done while traveling. EVER.
But more on that later.
Back to leaving Kos. The afternoon before leaving I met the skipper of my boat, Robin, and my two boat mates, Kerry and Melanie. We had dinner together, snagged some groceries for the boat and then spent one last night on the island.
This time I didn't sleep in an air conditioned room in a lush bed in a room overlooking the sea. This time, I slept in a teeny-tiny v-berth on a 50ft sailboat meant for two people (I had it all to myself because my charter, meant for ten people, only ended up with four- including skipper). No air conditioning, so it was BAKING hot. No screens on the hatches, so the swarms of mozzies on the island of Kos all feasted on me all night long. No hot water in the standing head (bathroom/shower) because the engine hadn't been run that evening.
And it was no big deal.
All night long, between mosquito bites, I lay in my v-berth, happy as a clam, being rocked to sleep by the sea.
And I felt as though, at long last, I'd come home.
If you can swing it, I highly recommend leaving Kos the way I did: By sailboat.
The entire reason I picked Kos as a destination to begin with was that it was the joining place for the sailing tour I'd booked. Now, you can charter your own sailboat most anyplace in the Med and sail yourself around if you're an experienced sailor. If you aren't and still want to sail, you can either hire a boat with a skipper, or do what I did - join a G Adventures tour. (G Adventures in no way sponsored this post or this blog, wouldn't it be nice if they had?)
I have to say, sailing around the Greek Isles on a sailboat is THE way to see Greece. Think about it - Greece is a land of seafaring people, so what better way to see those ancient islands than from the sea?
G Adventures did NOT disappoint. I'm actually thinking of going on their sailing tours in the Maldives and in Indonesia... eventually, because seriously, this sailing tour was THE BEST thing I've ever done while traveling. EVER.
But more on that later.
Back to leaving Kos. The afternoon before leaving I met the skipper of my boat, Robin, and my two boat mates, Kerry and Melanie. We had dinner together, snagged some groceries for the boat and then spent one last night on the island.
This time I didn't sleep in an air conditioned room in a lush bed in a room overlooking the sea. This time, I slept in a teeny-tiny v-berth on a 50ft sailboat meant for two people (I had it all to myself because my charter, meant for ten people, only ended up with four- including skipper). No air conditioning, so it was BAKING hot. No screens on the hatches, so the swarms of mozzies on the island of Kos all feasted on me all night long. No hot water in the standing head (bathroom/shower) because the engine hadn't been run that evening.
And it was no big deal.
All night long, between mosquito bites, I lay in my v-berth, happy as a clam, being rocked to sleep by the sea.
And I felt as though, at long last, I'd come home.
Tour the boat with me, in pictures:
One of the two bunk rooms... (NOT where I slept... thankfully!)
The parlor
My own, private head. Yup. This little cupboard of convenience is both a toilet and shower...
My V-berth. Cozy!
Melanie and Kerrie, settling in.
Skipper Robin Kersten (Fantastic Skipper. He runs his own charter company out of the Azores called Similie Sailing. Look him up!)
Ekavi - my home away from home while sailing the Greek Isles
That trip looks amazing! I would love to do something like that!
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