That's how it goes

I heard the other day about a Norwegian lady in her seventies, that has visited 54 Greek islands. An impressive number for a foreigner that got me in the mood to count the number of the ones that I have visited myself. The result was a bit disappointing. I have been to 44 islands, ten less than the Norwegian lady and if we consider that I have been to most of them for work, with very limited time and a very tight schedule, I am sure that the lady in question has enjoyed them much more than I did!

The truth is that the Greek islands are gradually transforming from places to live and visit for the locals, to summer resorts for the foreigners. It reminds me the people that harvest cocoa in Africa and have never tasted chocolate or the ones cultivating coffee in South America and have never enjoyed a descent coffee. The only way for most young Greeks to go to the islands, is to find a badly paid, exhausting job, serving the tourists that are having their holidays. It wasn't always like that but it is now and every year it is getting worst.

I was lucky to visit so many places as a photographer for a travel magazine. It wasn't vacation but it was an interesting job that allowed me moments of pleasure. And that's way more than what the thousands of young fellows working in the tourist industry can expect. Statistics on that matter are hard to be found but I am sure that most of my fellow citizens have visited less that 10 islands during their life time and this number is about to decrease for the next generations.

Of course this model of tourism development is totally wrong. Stripping the islands from the locals is like removing the soul of the place. Travellers used to come to Greece to blend with the locals, see the way they live and apart from the sea and the sun, return at their homes richer in experiences and memories. That's exactly what made Greece famous and popular. We shouldn't forget that the sun is shinning equally bright to many countries around the Mediterranean sea and there are more than enough impersonal resorts for the tourists to visit, not to mention much cheaper too.

I strongly feel that this model will eventually fail but until then the damage to the islands might be irreversible. Regarding both the social degradation as well as the huge environmental impact on the fragile ecosystems of those arid but unique landscapes.

But that's how it goes for the whole planet, doesn't it?

The pictures were taken in July 2012 and July 2013 at the island "Pano Koufonisi", one of my favourite small islands of the Aegean sea. If you are interested to read more about it, I have written this post with many more pictures and info.