Octopus and Shark attacks

To the North of Gallipoli there’s a nature reserve (or naturist reserve as the sign says) with walks through the pine forests, pre-historic caves, spectacular flowers and herbs, and sheltered coves for swimming.

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There are a few more Northern Europeans here now, so we’re generally not on our own if we go for a swim.

On Sunday May 1 Carys and Lydia arrived at Brindisi, after a 4 am start from London, but not in the slightest bit subdued by that early start or all that travelling with Ryan Air entails.  We went to the sandy beach (Baia Verde) and had a swim in big waves.  On the Monday we walked out to Pizzo cape.

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Sadly the little cove we’d earmarked as the swimming hole was full of washed up seaweed, so we looked for somewhere to swim off the rocks.  I managed to climb in, very undignified and accompanied by much grunting and uttering, followed by Lydia.  Lydia got one foot in and then her and Carys let out a blood curdling scream and she was back on the rocks faster than the eye could follow.  I wasn’t overly concerned, there are lots of innocuous things that can upset Lydia, holes in rocks, roots coming out of leaves, etc, so even though I was up to my neck in what suddenly seemed a less friendly sea, I thought it was probably something that may not cause the same reaction in me.  However it turns out that a large Octopus lived under the rock we were using as a stepping stone, and whilst it tolerated one uninvited guest to it’s kingdom, it decided to take action on the second.  It reached out grabbed her ankle and looked her in the eyes with a fishy, but unmistakably stern expression.  It must have been very pleased with the effect these actions had.

The sovereignty of the Octopus’ rock was respected for the rest of the day.  Alternative, less convenient entry and exit points to the sea had to be employed.

After the swim, but before our nerves had completely settled, Bunty innocently said “what’s that black thing out there?”  By her tone we expected to see some interesting but unthreatening marine life, we did not expect to see a massive fin, that appeared to be attached to an even more massive creature, thrashing about a hundred yards away.  Opinions ranged from “2 small friendly bottle nosed dolphins frolicking in the sunshine” (me) to “1 massive great white shark devouring a fishing boat along with it’s occupants” (Lydia).  That was the end of swimming for that day.

The next day, we braved the sea and had a swim, before we went to Lecce to look at a bit of Baroque, and found something with a name on we recognised.

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Thursday it was sunny but very windy, we went back to the sheltered beach the other side of Gallipoli and had lunch out. 

We’re still tormented by affectionate local strays, Sheila (well known by the locals as a successful scrounger) is the latest.  She adopted us a week ago, and appears to now be entirely dependent on out charity.

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The next day a bloke turned up in his car, opened the door and the dog jumped in, gave us the equivalent of two fingers, before being driven off.