During our last trip (workation for me, actually) to Thasos, we stayed in Potos for a week. The last few days of our stay there were very cloudy (with occasional rain), so we decided to go and visit a few famous waterfalls on the island.
Day 1 — The Maries Waterfall
On the first cloudy day, we decided to visit the Maries waterfall rather late (we arrived around 7PM local time, so it started to get dark). It’s located ~14 km from Limenaria.
Once you reach the Maries village (11th kilometer), you’ll encounter an unmaintained road. From there, the bumpy road leads uphill to the local honey store (left side). Park anywhere near, and follow the directions to the waterfall.
I was carrying our 3yo due to the steep terrain, so I couldn’t take as many photos as I wanted to. 🤷♂️
When we decided to head back, everything went hushed; you could only hear the insects and frogs.
The nearby lake (an artificial one, but stunning) was magical (the Golden Hour).
Day 2 — The Katarráktes (“Kefalogourna”) and The Apostolus Waterfalls
On the 2nd cloudy day, we looked for the other waterfalls around. We found two more:
- Katarráktes (“Kefalogourna Waterfall”), and
- Apostolus Waterfall
Katarráktes
This one was very close to Potos, in the Theologos village, just 15-min ride from us. We drove off, and found it easily. The road leading to it is drivable, but we decided to take a walk.
The smell of the surroundings triggered flashbacks from the childhood when we used to go to our old village house in Žbevac (South Serbia village).
Just above the waterfall, it looks like there was some kind of fortification from the looks of it. Or an old stone house.
No waterfall photos (still, carrying the little one + it got crowded) — I’ll have to ping my wife for some photos.
After visiting it, we decided to head for another one — the Apostolus. 👇
Apostolus Waterfall
The navigation suggested heading up to the hills from the Katarráktes waterfall, which suggested a short drive of approximately 16 km.
We entered the Leeroy Jenkins mode and started following the nav guidance. We missed a turn, headed back and went up the hill. The road was no bumpier than the one we took yesterday, so it was okay. For the first 10 minutes. Then, we got to the point where we drove at maximum speed of 10kmph, occasionally.
As a bonus, there were a few landslides, carrying over parts of the road along with it, so I had to “rebuild” it, filling in the holes with wood and stones (luckily available all around). The holes were up to 50 cm in depth.
Luckily, I drive a 2013 Nissan Qashqai j10 facelift, which has a decent ground clearance with a 4×4 drive, which helped in what’s to come.
After driving for around an hour, we ended up on top of the hill, where hunters have their chill out zone:
And, the car.
The navigation suggested we head down this narrow road. It looked naive.
Further down, we got to the “⬅ WATERFALL” sign, near these two ancient trees:
See the dirt road width for comparison. 🤩
Following this path, we drove to a stunning forest, where my wife wanted to be photographed 😀
😱 Getting stuck & the recovery
Furthermore, the signs indicated we were near the waterfall. We stumbled upon the “Y” junction—the left side went down, and the right side up the hill.
The waterfall was down the hill, obviously, so we started descending further and further. There were a few folks riding their quad bikes, looking at us as if we were crazy going down… in a car.
They were right—the route became narrower and eroded, angled up to (if my guts were not wrong) 20º, with some parts of it requiring me to go out and “calculate” whether we can go further or not.
Returning was not an option, as there was no space or place to rotate the car. After all, it’s a 4.33 m (14.22ft) long car, and the “road” was no more than 2.5 meters wide.
We didn’t take any photos during this part of our journey, as it was rather intense, and it required 110% of our focus.
During one crossing of the eroded section, I ended up being stuck. Trying to “escape”, I got stuck (front-part) even more. Too bad that Qashqai doesn’t have hi/low speed settings for the 4×4, so it’s either 4×4 or rear-wheel drive.
In case I couldn’t get it out of the trench, I was thinking about calling out for any help via the HAM radio bands; I’m a licensed HAM radio operator, and naturally, I equipped my car with a HAM radio 😌. If this wouldn’t help, the mobile phone signal was strong enough for internet and calls. We wouldn’t be lost either way 🎉
The girls went for a walk, while I tried digging and putting some stones & wood to try to get the traction, and after some time, I did it! Such relief, much wow. I drove in reverse for some 50-ish meters, where I could turn the car, and we went uphill. The more people we saw, the more WTF-ish looks we got.
The road to Kastro
After driving uphill, we were greeted by a gorgeous landscape.
On the last photo, you can see part of the old village “Kastro”, which is assumed to be the oldest permanent settlement on the island. No photos from there either, sorry.
But, check the aerial view & visitor-submitted photos: https://goo.gl/maps/PheNxBgZk99WecwX9.
P.S. Moving further, we discovered a well-maintained road, leading down to Limenaria.
TL;DR—I should buy a Defender.
Until next time! 👋🏼
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