Kas, Kastellorizo, Kekova, & Kale Koy....whew!

We moved on from Kas, and all it's charms, and on down the coast. Rachel and I were able to squeeze in a date night! We wandered the streets for a while as the sun was setting, having fun listening to the presentations from the different restaurants. They usually have a 'salesman' on the street to pull you in, go over the menu with you, then show you the mezes (appetizers), then the fresh fish, calamari, shrimp, and go through the whole pitch about the "free" bread, salad, chips, tea, etc. After two or three of those, you're starving! Our technique is to find the most crowded restaurant and the one with the most locals, and the price is better if you're a couple streets from the waterfront. We had a great meal and it was fun catching up without being surrounded by little ears.

There is a unique little  island just 4 nm off the coast from Kas: It's actually a Greek island, the last in the string of the Dodacanese islands. It only has 200 full time residents and the law apparently states, that if the population drops below 100 full time residents, it automatically becomes the property of Turkey!
We, of course, had to see it so we sailed over there in an hour or so and after lunch in a bay, went in town to scout it out. It felt abandonded except for the main harbor, which is lined with fish restaurants and coffee bars. It has a very relaxed feeling to the place, and we decided to keep moving before we got sucked in and added to the population!


We sailed on to a long bay called Kekova Roads. It is littered with anchorages in it's craggy coast all tucked behind a four mile island just opposite. It is the ancient site of and just around the corner from Myra, where Paul the Apostle spent some time. The winds picked up over the afternoon and we had a steady sail getting the 20 or so nm. We anchored in 'Woodhouse Bay' and it was calm considering the 20+ knots out in the open.


The next day we sailed just down the bay to Kale Koy, a small hamlet in the shadow of a very intact mideveal castle. Levi and I took the girls, Lily Emma, & Zoe up to explore in the afternoon, and we able to see 360 degrees into the valley on the other side and the whole bay, pretty spectacular! The castle also had a small amphiteater cut, not built, into the rock and the girls took turns doing skits and shows. We met a family in a restaurant where we tied up who were raised here and it looks like the summer is busy with boats and people from all over the world. Pictures and flags from every corner of the globe are hanging all over the restaurant. Their high school daughter rides a fishing boat at 6:00 am with 10 other kids from the village to another village near here, where she rides a bus another 1/2 hour just to get to school! Definately a unique way to get to school.

On our way on to Finike, our last stop for Turkey, we stopped at a cave inside an island. It's a hangout for the local fishermen to cool off and hide out in the heat of the day, but here in spring, we had it to ourselves. It was amazing! We took our dinghy in.....it's a small entrance, and it opens up inside to a couple of huge rooms with ceilings soaring 50 feet above our heads. We felt like looking for the treasure from 'Count of Monte Cristo' and I can't imagine pirates haven't used it at some point. The only locals in the cave were a cluster of bats squeaking at us for intruding while we were there. We left amazed at God's diverse creation.......again!