Sarakiniko

(This post may be a bit long for some email software, so if you don’t see “Next stop: Kleftiko” at the bottom of your email, you’ll need to click on the title to go to the website and see the full post).

We had heard about these “interesting geological features” on the northern shore of Milos and we caught a glimpse of the white, smoothly shaped cliffs and rocks when we cruised past in the boat, so we decided to hop on a bus and check out Sarakiniko via land. It’s a spot where the tourists go to bake in the sun (both direct and reflected) and to jump off undercut cliffs into the water.

It’s a bleak, white landscape that greets you when you get off the bus, but as you wander down the hill to the sea it gets weirder and more surreal. It’s “landscapes by Dr Seuss” material really.

White, wind-eroded rocks, weird formations, undercut cliffs and loads of loopy tourists leaping into the water.

There’s a deeply incised gut that leads to a very small beach and the gully that continues behind this beach had several shafts that have obviously been the result of mining activity. The shaft network is fairly extensive and runs back into the cliff quite a way. Of course we had to check it out and we found it was pleasantly cool after the scorching heat and light from the reflective white rocks.

One rock, two rock, all rocks are white rocks …

Instagram poses are optional.

Strata and wind erosion to produce Dr Seuss landscape features.

A bit jobbly as an anchorage today.

Landscapes by Dr Seuss.

People chilling on the rock or floating and soaking.

There’s a deeply incised gut with a patch of sand, but otherwise it is all rock. This area was quite sane and sedate.

Some of the anchored boats brought in their dinghies.

The more sedate area where people were content to paddle and soak rather than leap to your death from the soaring cliffs of doom.

Beach on the Moon, or moons on the beach …. you decide.

Leap off the cliff into the water, swim through the arch, climb out on the rocks, rinse and repeat.

Readying themselves to leap to their certain deaths … and recording it all for posterity … or maybe Instagram.

Volcanic tuff eroded by wind to make these interesting forms.

Layers of rock formed from volcanic ash deposits laid down from multiple volcanic events.

These extensive shafts were left as evidence of the mining activity here.

And here’s the evidence that the shafts were dug by ……. Aliens! 👽 🤣

Very reminiscent of Cappadocia in Turkey … or the moon? 🌝

Next stop: Kleftiko