Day 9- Santorini

We have just gotten back from our 10 hour excursion and I think we are both about ready to die. I know this might sound shocking since we are such adventurous mountain women but all the climbing today has rendered us useless (more so than usual). We started with a bus tour all over the island which was nice- we got to see most of the major towns. Then we went down the cliffs on the bus to the port- these drivers are insane. The road is about 4 feet wide swirling down the cliff and these drivers are passing each other. It was very very scary. Then we got on our wooden sail boat and sailed across the caldera to the volcanic island. The last eruption was in 1950 so not long ago. We climbed all the way to the top and took pics...it was sooo hot!! We didn't see lava or anything but it was smoking and smelled like sulphur. Plus there is a heat wave that has come over from Africa so it was very very hot. We then sailed to the other volcanic island and swam over to the hot springs. We had to jump off the boat and swim over- I don't think mom was terribly impressed since the water was quite cold before you got the hot springs and the ground was all rocks and covered in slimy crap- we think they were fish eggs because those kept floating to the top. Then we went over to another island for lunch- that wasn't terribly exciting. But the next part will make a lot of your days- it was officially donkey day as Cathie said! That's right- we rode donkeys!! On the boat over to Oia the guide told us it was a 270 step steep climb up the cliff to the town from the port- and by this time we were dying. And it was only 4:45 so still ridiculously hot. A girl on the boat had done it before so convinced mom that it was ok. Oh.my.god. It was so traumatic!! The guys kept yelling at us to hurry but I did manage to get a pic of Debra Ann McGill need Wilberforce riding a donkey- I will sell the pics to the highest bidder. Anyways, the donkeys start going up these steps and are veering VERY close to the edge- and there was only like a 1 foot ledge on the side before the drop off. Then behind the two of us there was a man SCREAMING at the donkeys to go faster- my god it was scary! Near the end my donkey started bucking but I got off. Then moms turned around to go back down and went near the ledge. So she panicked...now most people would throw themselves forward to grad the donkey. She threw herself backwards/sideways to get away from the cliff and looked like she was going to fall off. Top notch instincts as always. Regardless we were both really really traumatized- I had a beer to heal. But now it is kind of funny. Mom hopes that poor Francis didn't get yelled at for turning around- the men were quite mean

We then saw the gorgeous sunset at Oia- amazing! Tomorrow we are off to Crete