Today I am going to give you some walking and hiking safety tips to consider when you are in Crete, because of it’s mountains and fresh air plus the beautiful views, Crete is a favorite for people who like walking and hiking, but there are some safety measures you need to take in order for you to have a pleasant experience.

Most of Crete landscape is dominantly Olive groves and Orange groves, so it’s a good idea not to take the trails that via from the main road, because if something happens to you, even if you make a phone call for someone to come get you, they will not be able to find you because, all you can say is that you are in Olive groves, in which case, you could be anywhere.

Always have A fully Charged Phone With You

Tip number one, always have a phone with you and make sure it’s fully charged, because if you walk too far and maybe you feel like you can not make it back, you can always call someone or a taxi to come and get you and that is why I said you need to stay on the main road. Always have a few taxi phone numbers on your phone and also on a notebook, in case your phone dies, you could ask to borrow someone’s phone and call for help, Greek people are very helpful so If you ask they will help you.

When describing where you are never used a church as a way to point where you are because there are many churches on the Island so if you tell someone to find you by the church, it could get complicated, and the same goes for bridges, just try to find something else to describe where you are. Or if it’s a church then try and find a distinct mark, or try to find out the name of the church if you tell a taxi driver the name of the church, they should be able to find you.

More Walking And Hiking Safety Tips, Never Go Hiking Alone

if you must go hiking in the mountains, never go alone, go with a group of people, we’ve had cases here in Crete where a tourist goes hiking alone and the police have to go searching for them and some cases have not turned out so well, so I say always go hiking with a group of people.

Of course, this goes without saying but I will say it, always take lots of water with you, when you are going for a walk or a hike, the sun can get quite hot even in months of April and May which is when most people like going for long walks and hikes. It’s also a good idea to take some snacks with you.

Always make sure to wear the proper shoes for walking or hiking, the paths could get quite rough so it’s a good idea to have a good pair of shoes, and also don’t go walking in Cretan sun without sunblock, a hat, and sunglasses. I would also suggest a walking stick especially when you go hiking, so you can support yourself the mountains can be unforgiving, with rocks and very rough paths.

If you meet up with a loose dog when you are on your walk, take precaution because it could be a wild dog and it could attack you so, don’t try to pet the dog, just keep your distance, and let it be on its way. And as I mentioned having a walking stick could help you scare the wild dog if indeed it tries to attack you.

In Crete, there are no dangerous animals although there are some snakes and scorpions, so again strong walking shoes and if possible long trousers like a nice pair of jeans especially when going up the mountains.

Taking Care Of Our Environment

Always make sure not to throw your garbage on the trail especially plastic, bring your empty water bottles, sandwich wrappers, or any other kind of waste you might have back with you so you can dispose of it the right way. Although we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to recycling, we are working on it and now we have different garbage beans for different kinds of waste.

We have yellow bins that are for glass, the blue bins for plastic, the Grey bins are for other recyclable material, and we have the green bins for perishables. some of the measures that have been taken include the supermarkets have stopped giving out free plastic bags which has encouraged the locals and the tourists to bring a shopping bag with them when they go shopping, also the increase of recycling garbage bins I think this is a great move to combat plastic waste and to encourage more recycling which I think is the best way to save our environment.

Don’t start a fire

you are a smoker, be very careful when disposing your cigarette butts, it’s very easy for fire to start from a cigarette butt that’s not completely put off, and a fire in Crete means lots of families will lose their livelihood, because the olive trees can burn very quickly and lots of families depend on the olive trees, so a loss of olive trees is devastating to the Cretan people, so bear that in mind when disposing your cigaret butts.

When preparing to go for a long walk, remember you might not have access to a bathroom for quite some time so make sure you take care of your business before embarking on a long walk 🙂

Of course when traveling to Crete make sure you have good insurance that covers ambulance and other emergencies, and if you are coming to Crete to do cycling, which has become very popular these days, then I suggest you be alert at all times, because, there could be cats or dogs crossing the roads, and also the older people tend to not notice cars or bicycles especially if they are talking to a friend across the road.

Conclusion

Crete is a wonderful place to go for a trek or a hike, but you have to always remember that safety comes first so make sure, your safety is taken care of. Then enjoy the fresh air and the views and the sweet smell of herbs and wildflowers.

I hope you have found this article helpful, please drop me a line or two down below and tell me, have you been to Crete? Did go for a hike or a walk? how was it?

Thank you for your time

Rose

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