29th September - 3rd October 2020: Kerkini (Greece)

Last stop in Greece is finally the Kerkini Lake National Park right on the Bulgarian border: This was created by an artificial dam and with its shallow water, the many wet meadows are breeding and resting places for various bird species and at the same time offer nutritious meadows for the largest water buffalo herds in Greece.

Already on the approach we can see herons and pelicans on the huge lake and the village of Kerkini has adjusted to its winged visitors with various stork nests on lampposts.

After the excitement in Thessaloniki, this country life is just right for us: in the morning the rooster or the dogs wake us up and in the afternoon we go on smaller adventures to get to know the area even better: First we sail across the lake in a boat: through binoculars we can observe pelicans, flamingos and water buffaloes in the wet meadows. This exciting nature observation is surpassed only by the fact that the children are then allowed to steer the boat at full speed while a flock of seagulls behind us chase small fish in the churned up water.

The next day we have booked a horse ride: The children consider their amusement park riding experience to be completely sufficient to plan wild gallops. My riding lessons are 25 years ago and I feel a bit uneasy at the sight of these big animals. But fortunately, together with other tourists and our guards, we start off very comfortably at walking pace and when we all have groove in with the animals, it's just fantastic: We ride directly over the wet meadows past flocks of sheep, even a few meters into the lake, and behind the mountains the sun slowly sets, bathing the landscape in golden light and pink sky - the joy of the earth....

After the boat and horse, we go uphill for the last two days: From the small village of Ano Poroia we have fantastic views over the entire lake. In hidden cafes we strengthen ourselves with homemade cakes and then discover new hiking trails: Cross-country we go, over small streams and roots, and once again we are all thrilled by nature and country life, so that there is nothing better for the city kids in the evenings than to hop around on haystacks.

As much as we would have liked to stay here longer, after five weeks it is now Bye Bye Greece - on to Bulgaria!