Chernobyl Special Chernobyl Special
I found this old photo taken in the Bahia bar. My silly way of lightening the Chernobyl crisis. At the time fallout was threatening to radiate all of Eastern Europe. I remember there was run on NoyNoy tinned milk (there was no fresh milk to be had on the island bac ...
Chernobyl Special
Chernobyl Special
Donkeys Uber Alles Donkeys Uber Alles
Happy to be back in Greece after my first trip to the States since 2016. On Thanksgiving my sister in-law asked me what made the biggest impression of change in the ‘real’ world since my last visit … post-Covid etc. ! Quite shocking I can say: see ...
Donkeys Uber Alles
Donkeys Uber Alles
Hydra finishes the season on a high note! Hydra finishes the season on a high note!
Credit due, quite literally! When the world is facing an unprecedented energy crisis as 2022 draws to a close, our beloved Rock is now getting renewable energy. Hugely beneficial to the island in so many ways. Bravo, and thank you to those who made it possible! &nb ...
Hydra finishes the season on a high note!
Hydra finishes the season on a high note!
Inkaminicado! Inkaminicado!
Roger Green came up with a classic to describe the Rock’s permanent inmates when the summer swarms drive local denizens into hiding. Now into its third decade, the resident bard’s traditional Pirofani opening poem was spot on. We shall be blissfully Inka ...
Inkaminicado!
Inkaminicado!
A Lovely Tribute to Kamini’s Tassia A Lovely Tribute to Kamini’s Tassia
Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window) { "@con ...
A Lovely Tribute to Kamini's Tassia
A Lovely Tribute to Kamini’s Tassia
Kamini April Fool? Kamini April Fool?
Who wants to go for a walk? Unanimous yes. Quandary in the port: left to Vichos, right to Hydra town, or a dip in the harbor. Happy Spring all. Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in ne ...
Kamini April Fool?
Kamini April Fool?
Romantic August Kamini Sunset Romantic August Kamini Sunset
  But the flip side of our photographic flags a fluttering in the breeze is that with temperatures in the mid 30,s  hot wind can cause deadly wildfires. (As poor Greece has already experienced recently)Please be extra vigilant and always carry water on walks, ...
Romantic August Kamini Sunset
Romantic August Kamini Sunset
Hydra Revisited Hydra Revisited
Honoured to be included. Latest Hydra Book Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)Click to print (Opens in new window)Click to email a link to a friend ( ...
Hydra Revisited
Hydra Revisited
Okay who’s next ??? Okay who’s next ???
Easy livin’ August was fun, y’all come back soon y’hear. So that is August in Kamini is almost done and dusted, who’s up for September? We are going to win this season, albeit on marginal points. Happy Fall y’All, still standing KC staf ...
Okay who's next ???
Okay who’s next ???
Not Kamini’s Baby Beach Not Kamini’s Baby Beach
We have heard rumblings about August “Baby Beach” being a tad crowded. Try China for fun bathing then. Surfs Up Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Reddit (Opens in n ...
Not Kamini's Baby Beach
Not Kamini’s Baby Beach

The New Face of Baby Beach

Castello Beach, pretty packed even on an overcast late afternoon
Summer bathers coming and going from Kamini’s Baby, aka Castello, Beach

To be fair, Castello did a grand job restoring Kamini’s old armory to its former glory, and the initial worry about an excess of skoopethia (garbage) and sewage pollution in the little bay of what was known as “Baby Beach” has not materialised. In fact kudos to the Castello gang for setting an ecofriendly example when it comes to takeover bids and development projects.


A smattering of sun worshippers in mid-summer, 1984

Raw sewage is extracted from the cafe-restaurant’s vothros (septic tank) with the aid of a noninvasive, high-powered electric pump, sitting up the hill behind the establishment; the waste then passes through a series of sand filters, and then recycle water is used to irrigate the land behind the valley in which Castello is situated. It’s similar, our sources say, to the “grey-water” systems used throughout the Caribbean.


Subtle blue piping carries waste water away from the sea to be recycled for
irrigation in the valley behind Castello.

However, as local full-time residents (or “old timers,” that is, decades-long punters of the tranquil little pebble beach in Kamini), we were personally disappointed by this onward march of “progress” into our little village. It’s like a little piece of Mykonos has landed in our immediate vicinity.

Brollies and chaises, occupied by spectators and packed sardinelike all along the back of Baby Beach, make one feel like one is on-screen at a drive-in (lie-in) cinema. Once submerged in the water and off snorkelling though, one can ignore the sensation.

Still, one cannot help but feel a little sad. Even if we did sport a large holiday wallet, we would rather have gone to the Cyclades for such service. The music, too, is unintrusive—but why is it necessary? It’s certainly not our semideserted family beach anymore.

Optimistic waiters hover behind the umbrellas, hoping to bare trays of expensive cocktails … and, well, you know the syndrome. A step forward into luxury for some is still a step in the wrong direction for those of us who prefer the status quo.


Status quo ante.

<<–Comments–>>
I totally agree with your comments about Baby Beach, even though they are too light. Kamini’s Baby Beach is dead! It has been trasformed into a very poor-tasting Greek Salad. Children playing, mothers and grandmoms screaming at them to be careful, loud music in the background, nice women and middle-age Greeks pretending their are Onassis, teenagers peeping at the women’s bodies … ALL OF THEM crammed into 50 meters of beach!! I can’t imagine who is gonna prevail! It was the only beach in Hydra that could be accessed by parents with young kids and babies … too bad!! Anyway, the fact is that we have almost destroyed our country and now we are struggling to survive. Kamini beach is a minor example of what we have done to ourselves. —Nikos
Jennifer
Jennifer first arrived on the Rock at the age of 10, after her father, Michael, bought a house above Hydra’s port. While she lived in Virginia year-round with her mother, Jeanne, and stepfather, Steve, she visited Hydra with her father every summer for a month, in her younger years tripping along the port chasing kitties, then later tripping home from Cavos to make her curfew (father had threatened to call the “police” if she was even a minute late).

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