Saturday, March 30, 2013

Slow Down - Save a Turtle! (Updated)

Herewith, my official first Greek Turtle Save.  It was made very clear while I was at Lotho's place that whenever one sees a turtle on the road, one must Save the Turtle.  However, be wary of the ones with a ridged shell as they're snapping turtles and their necks are easily long enough to reach around to your hand plus their beaks are easily strong enough to take off a finger.  Move those ones with your foot, if you please, or give up your dreams of becoming a concert pianist!


Even after rescuing him, he obviously still didn't trust me but that's ok.  He was gone when I came back past later on so for sure he got moving toward his turtle destination.

He didn't have a ridged back so it was ok to pick him up.  Even so, I was still watching his neck to see if he did anything strange when I collected him.  I don't know if Greece has snapping turtles but they're no joke.  There was a large pond near where Lotho lived and people were forbidden from swimming in it because there were so many snapping turtles!  When even one is capable of removing body parts, that's really all I need to know!

Update:  Although I was told there are no snapping turtles in Europe, that's only partially accurate.  There are no snapping turtles native to Europe but some clever person released one or more pet turtles in Italy and the Common Snapping Turtle (native to North America) has been turning up in waterways there.  A snapping turtle is quite a ridiculous choice as a pet because in captivity they can grow up to thirty-eight kilos / eighty-five pounds!  (Wiki:  Common Snapping Turtle)


I did not find the place I was seeking.  I had scoped it thoroughly in Google Maps but no luck this time.  It's ok as I'm just happy to be able to find my way back to the highway when I get off the path.

(Ed:  You're in a country you don't know, where they speak a language you don't understand, and you're exploring the backstreets without a map?)

Um, yeah (laughs)

Here's what I found:  (I super-saturated it to make it all touristy)


That's Katakolon way off on the point and the beach goes all the way around.  It's at least ten kilometers and the curve probably makes it quite a bit longer.

If you think driving on wet sand is a thrill, try it on dry sand as that will definitely make you tingle!

I told Cat I'd take her to the beach today so here it is!  It's the same beach but way past anywhere I've gone on it before.  There are cafes and restaurants here and there along it and my purpose is to find them so I can add them to the Katakolon News Map.

(Ed:  Still doing those slutty links to pump it up Google Search?)

Of course, my brother!  This isn't the half of slutty, tho.  I've been out to TravelGuide.com and answered questions about Katakolon along with a link back to Katakolon News.  If you search 'katakolon news' in Google, the site already comes up on the first page and my objective, with all humility of course, is to put it on the top (laughs).  I figure it's a reasonable objective as it's already got the best map available.  I also figure if it's a high-quality travel resource then businesses will want to be on it and that will make Harry smile.

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