Corfu’s Tiny Islets – Mouse and Vido

I’d had an idea that today I would visit Mouse and Vido Islands. It would be lovely I thought. I could start the day by going to Cafe Moreno for breakfast and then head into town before the buses get too busy. (Believe me, the No 7 bus gets busy!) After visiting the islands I could have a leisurely stroll around Corfu Town and get a bite to eat. Maybe I could visit the Museum of Asian Art. It all sounded like a doable plan which I roughly hatched out in my head before going to bed.

I woke up the following morning exhausted. Following two back-to-back excursions (10 hours each) over the previous two days I was pooped. However, I did manage to get ready and over to the bus stop just after 8am. I amaze myself sometimes. The bus was busy with mainly locals going to work. God they must hate it during peak season (which thankfully I haven’t witnessed) but even in late September Corfu has been busy.

Once at San Rocco Square, I asked at the ticket booth which was the nearest bus stop to Mouse Island. The lady told me Kanoni. The departure bus stop is adjacent to Cafe Porto Real and the ticket cost 1.20€. It was a nice journey that took us through Spiniada Square, past Mon Repo and finally up to Kanoni. It took about 30 minutes including time for the driver to stop for a coffee and a smoke.

Kanoni sits up above the airport runway and Chalikiopoulou Lagoon and is said to have got its name from two French canons that used to be situated on top of the hill, one of which still survives. Here you will find spectacular viewing points from terraces in front of the Royal Grand and at Cafe Kanoni – a real plane spotter’s paradise. You also get great views of the Monastery of Vlacherna and Mouse Island which from here, really does look like a mouse! I wonder if someone regularly prunes the trees so that they look like mice ears?

Who doesn’t love the thrill of watching a plane coming in to land right above your head! I’m almost as fascinated by planes as I am with ships. They remind me of all the travel possibilities there are out there in the world.

To see the planes close up the best place to be is in the middle of the causeway that connects Kanoni Harbour with Pontikonisi Beach. I take the 50 steps from Kanoni village to the causeway which is about 1 metre wide. It can be a bit perturbing when you hear the rumbling of a motorbike coming up from behind you. This is a well-used shortcut by the locals. Just make sure you take refuge on the side with the low wall!

Anyway, enough about the plane spotting, I’m here to visit Mouse Island or in Greek, Pontikonisi (Pontiki = Mouse, Nisi= Island). At the boat dock, I purchased a ticket for 3€ and I have just 8 minutes to wait before it departs. I’m the only person on the boat so I have unbridled views on both sides. Once on the island, I can see a set of stone steps surrounded by Cyprus trees leading up to the little Church of Pankrator. Once at the top of the steps I could see a tour group from one of the cruise liners – gosh they must get them up early! I manage to squeeze my way past the group to have a quick peek inside. The church is Byzantine and dates back to the 11th century. Until the 1960’s the island had several small buildings inhabited by the monks but they fell into disrepair and no longer exist.

Mouse Island also has a bit of a legend attached to it. It is said that Odysseus, the hero of Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey, was making his way back home to Ithaka when during a terrible storm, his ship was wrecked on a small islet. Poseidon who to be honest could be a bit of a git, bore his wrath upon Odysseus and turned his ship into stone which created the island of Pontikonisi. Yep – totally believable!

I take the steps back down and circumnavigate the island in about 5 minutes flat, just enough time before a boat arrives to take me (and the cruisers) back.

You can’t come to Kanoni without paying a visit to the Holy Monastery of Vlacherna, one of Corfu’s most iconic landmarks. It is accessed by a small pedestrian bridge at the Kanoni end of the causeway. It was built in the 17th century and until 1980 served as a nunnery. It still conducts regular weddings and baptisms and its annual celebration takes place on the 2nd July.

It’s very difficult to take the classic shot of both the monastery and the connecting bridge without lots of people litter so I didn’t bother. There’s always the cats!

Right, that’s the first mission accomplished. Now onto Vido Island. I climbed back up the 50 steps and walked to the Kanoni bus stop. You can buy a ticket on the bus or from the supermarket around the corner. I opted for the supermarket but wish I hadn’t bothered as it wasn’t as close as I’d thought. The No 2a is right on time and heads back to San Rocco Square. As the bus passes Mon Repo I did consider getting off here to visit, but that will have to wait until another time.

The tour boats to Vido Island depart from a small marina close to the port. The ladies selling the tickets try to talk me into doing the trip along the coast of Corfu on the Black Rose pirate ship but I decline and stick to my guns. The ticket costs 5€ and the boat will depart at 1300 so I have time to go into the nearby cafe and have breakfast – better late than never! Cafe Allegria is very good value – a slice of bougatsa and a cup of black tea for 5€ and the service was great. They have a row of tables and chairs right next to where the Vido Island boat will dock.

At 1245, the Black Rose ii, sister of the Black Rose sailed into the marina. Soon we were able to board and at 1300 the boat headed out. Over towards the main port is the magnificent Golden Horizon a five-masted tall ship or clipper. Above her are some rather ominous-looking clouds which had better behave themselves as this is the only day that I haven’t brought my waterproof with me. I’ve put my faith in Accuweather whose strapline is “Proven Superior Accuracy”. Accuweather tells me that there is 17% chance of rain today so I’ve dressed rather optimistically!

Firstly a bit of history. In a previous post, I mentioned the monument on Gouvia Beach that marked the arrival of Serbian soldiers who landed on the shores of Corfu after fleeing their country. On Vido Island, there are additional monuments that relate to the same episode in history.

The First Balkan War did little to resolve peace between the neighbouring countries of the Balkan League. When the Second Balkan War began, the Serbs began to evacuate their country via the Albanian mountains, a very treacherous journey in the midst of winter. About 150,000 soldiers and some citizens were housed in makeshift camps in Corfu. Conditions were appalling and dysentery and typhoid fever became rife. The soldiers began to die en masse sometimes over 100 per day. The dead were buried in shallow graves around the shores of Vido Island and others were buried at sea.

Concerned that the soldiers would be a source of infection to the Corfiot citizens, the Allied forces set up a disinfection centre on the tiny island of Lazaretto, close to Vido Island and the port of Corfu. Hospitals were eventually set up and aid was sent from Russia but for many, this was too late.

Vido island has another dubious past as in 1926, rural prisons were set up and in more recent history, from 1948 – 1976 a juvenile reformatory programme was established there. Now Vido Island is a place for leisure. A short hop from Corfu town, locals and visitors can spend several hours on the island observing the wildlife and walking around the established paths that crisscross the island.

I set off to explore in the opposite direction to the others that had arrived on the boat. Going anticlockwise from the port, I come to a monument remembering the Serbian soldiers. A path then leads me around the edge of the island past rocky coves with crystal clear water. I also get little vistas of Corfu Town between the trunks of the Cyprus trees.

About 500 metres around from the port I arrive at the Serbian Soldiers Mausoleum. Below is a seating area to accommodate visitors to the remembrance service that takes place every year here.

I become completely engrossed in the flora and fauna that’s in abundance here. Brightly coloured cyclamen have formed a pink carpet on the forest floor – so lovely to see at this time of year. I go all David Attenborough-like and ended up chasing pheasants into the island’s interior, trying to capture just one decent photo but those little blighters are fast! The forest floor is like a sponge, thick with layers of pine needles. It’s like walking on a mattress and the heady aroma fills my nostrils. It isn’t long before I can feel myself getting bitten on my legs. The little buggers are actually biting me through my clothes! Every time one landed and stuck its needle-like appendage into me, foul language spewed from my mouth. I hopped around on one leg trying to boot off a mossie on the other whilst simultaneously windmilling my arms whilst spraying repellent in all directions. The hope was that the fast movement would deter them but these are persistent little so and so’s. I was so distracted by my battle against the blood-suckers that I’d lost track of time. I soon realised that I was on the furthest side of the island to the boat dock. I needed to get my bearings and get the hell out of Mosquito Central as soon as possible.

I don’t know how, but I’d become completely disorientated. I no longer had the coastline in sight to guide me along the island’s perimeter. Google Maps kept losing the signal so I found myself just taking any random path in the hope that I could find civilisation. Since leaving the port I haven’t seen anyone!

In doing this I stumble across a scout camp. Further along, there are a cluster of cabins, a church and an old house surrounded by pine trees. I assume that this is also associated with the scout camp – though the old house I’m not so sure. I think I can see a path but when I get to it I see that there is a wire fence preventing me from getting through. I eventually find my way onto it and head in the direction of the port. I pass a small beach where four people are sunbathing and swimming. Now why couldn’t I have just come for a leisurely trip out like this?

I’m still not at the port and after walking the length of the beach, I follow a path up past the remains of an old Venetian wall. Apparently, when the Venetians ruled Corfu, they planted Vido Island with olive trees and the island was rich and verdant. Years later it became barren with hardly any vegetation until the municipality implemented a programme to plant the island up again. Anyway, it has now started spitting so I need to get a move on.

At this point, the boat announced its arrival with three loud toots on its horn. I began to run in what I hoped was the direction of the dock. Once I saw the set of stone steps I knew that I’d made it. I practically threw myself down the steps, as desperate as I was to get off Vido – or should it be Mosvido Island! I just made it as the last person climbed aboard. By now the spitting has turned into a bout of heavy rain. Every seat under the boat’s canopy has been taken. I’m so hot and bothered that I plant myself front and centre on the wooden bench on the deck of the boat. Like a very much older and less elegant Jennifer Beale I let the water pour down over me, washing away the stress of the experience and cooling my very itchy legs. The sun lotion I’d applied earlier with the expectation of a sunny day, washed into my eyes making them sting. But I didn’t care. I just wiped my eyes with my now-drenched dress. Sometimes you just have to surrender to the force of nature.

Once back in Corfu Town, I decided to go straight to the bus station. The plan I’d had to swish around Corfu Town doing a bit of window shopping didn’t quite work out. I look like the proverbial drowned rat so shopping and visiting museums is definitely off the cards. My jersey dress is now being weighted down by the amount of water in it. But the day doesn’t get much easier.

So who thought that marble paving stones were a good idea? I bet it was those Venetians. Let me tell you that marble pavements, torrential rain and Birkenstock sliders are not a good combination. I couldn’t even take five steps forward without slipping. I tried several methods of getting from A to B all taken from the handbook of the Ministry of Silly Walks. I tried sliding my feet along as if it was my first day on Dancing on Ice. I attempted to lift my feet and plant them flat down as if I were wearing snow shoes. I clutched onto railings, walls, tree trunks – anything that would give me a bit of stability. At one point I took my sliders off and attempted to walk barefooted – then I began to think of all the potential diseases I could pick up through the soles of my feet. Just as I approached the main street I could see that the main road was made of a different material and tried to inch my way along to get to it. Just as I did my sandals skidded on the marble blocks but thankfully I was able to grab a lampost before I hit the deck.

A Greek lady asked if I was OK which I was – only just! She helped guide me to the grippier surface of the road whilst telling me that even in her trainers she’d been slipping on the marble too. Finally, I made it to the bus station and didn’t have to wait too long for the next No 7. As soon as the driver opened the doors everyone made a charge for it including me. It really was every man for themselves and I’m in no mood to be pushed out of the way. Hey – I survived Vido Island – I’m not to be messed with! Amazingly I was able to get a seat.

A group of 3 £nglish ladies got on the bus together and the one who came to sit next to me told me she would take off her rain poncho so as not to make me wet. I told her that I was beyond saving from ‘wet’! By the time I got off the bus, the rain had stopped. Zeus you could have timed that one better! God, the only day that I didn’t take my raincoat with me! As Jim Royal would say “Accuweather, my arse!”

When I arrived back at the hotel I had to finish packing before leaving for my next destination in the morning. I hadn’t envisaged having to dry more clothes plus my rucksack and small canvas bag. My new passport was damp and curling at the edges. Unfortunately, my balcony and washing line are in the shade in the late afternoon but I’ve noticed that the shared walkway and entrance to the apartments were getting the sun. I tried to figure something out but there wasn’t anything to rig up my portable washing line to. Instead, I took the plastic hooks for the clothes dryer and hooked them over the top of my bathroom window. I suspended my rucksack and canvas bag first and then put my dress and bra onto coat hangers and attached them onto loops on the rucksack. As a budget traveller, being resourceful is probably the best asset you can have. Thankfully they dried and I didn’t have to pack wet clothes but the Birkies went straight in the bin!

In all, I had a lovely day up until the point when I was attacked by the mosquitoes. Even now several days later, my bites have become big, liquid-filled blisters and are giving me a lot of jip. As a solo traveller, apart from being resourceful, you also need to be resilient and tenacious. Travelling isn’t like how it is often portrayed on Instagram. If travel was all sunsets and lapping shores then it’s not my type of holiday. Sometimes travel can be very trying. The mosquitoes have been a real challenge for me and have left me feeling utterly miserable. Before I arrived in Gouvia, I already had one bite on my forehead that resembled the beginnings of a unicorn horn. Another bite on my cheek made me look as though I’d been in a brawl and to top it all, a cold sore appeared on my mouth at the same time. I looked like a bag of horrors! Hmmm, I’m not sure how others manage to travel and constantly look glamourous. That’s definitely not me! Thank God I don’t take many selfies – I’d much rather focus on the scenery!

Little lights along the way are always a blessing and I want to say a very big thank you to Cindy who I met on the Albania trip for your company and your humour. Save travels back to Aus!