a Greek woman named Penelope. Before the end of our expedition, Penelope invited us to Greece to help her update a map and create a guidebook for the island of Naxos in the Cyclades. This was a very hard decision....get paid to hike in the Greek islands? Umm...it took us about 2 seconds to say 'yes' and all of a sudden our itinerary was to take us from Cape Town to Greece. She was the only female on our team of twenty-one and is a very strong climber. She reached a higher point on Ama Dablam than nearly anyone else on the team and nearly became the first Greek woman to summit. She is a cartographer in Greece, specializing in topographic hiking maps. She is also one of the kindest and most interesting people we have had the fortune of meeting. Penelope seems to always push herself to learn more about life. She has a wisdom beyond her years and we both learned enduring lessons from her. We shared many meals, trails and stories that we will not forget. Pene--thank you for everything--we look forward to seeing you in the US sooner than later.
Ellen, Kori's cousin joined us near the end of our 3 weeks in Naxos and we set out from there to the island of Santorini. It was great to see Ellen and great to have her come out and get a glimpse of our trip. As we are on quite a budget, she took it like a trooper. I think she had a good time and she discovered a hidden obsession with lemon Fanta, waffles and greek island shaped bottles. Ellen--thank you for making it out--it meant a lot to us.
Ellen/Kori/Penelope in Athens
Ferry in the Cyclades
One of many churches on Santorini
Naxos
Ellen and Kori on Naxos
Penelope had a party in Athens with the Greek members of the Ama Dablam expedition. Here are Tito and Stavros showing off their noses.
Sardines for dinner one night in Naxos
Naxos
Hilltop ruins on Naxos
Pene getting directions from a Greek woman on one of our hikes
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