They are young and active, they like nature and activities in nature, they collaborate harmoniously, and they share a vision for their area. We met them in the shadow of the Meteora rocks, where history meets the present, and where religious perspective meets the need to explore and be in essential contact with nature and its uniqueness.
We’re talking about Giorgos Kouleris from Visit Meteora, Vasilis Tsiantikos and Jenny Zahou from Meteora Electric Bike and Christos Karagelis and Konstantina Tsiami from Meteora Photo Tour. With their help we managed to see the area’s authentic side. We went to places that not too many visitors go to, we explored the area on bike, we found the places for snapping the perfect photos. It’s was a nice experience that combined many things, and at the end of the day we felt content. Each of these people has their own approach, but they work in harmony promoting the best image of an area that still has a lot to offer.
The first meeting
We had set our meeting in the centre of Kalambaka. Giorgos Kouleris, the owner of Visit Meteora, was expecting us with a schedule full of meaningful activities. “Each year, we welcome hundreds of tourists from all over the world, and take them on tours in the area, trying to show them the most interesting places while at the same time keeping them away from the too touristy places,” Giorgos tells us. Together with his partners, they aim to give visitors an authentic, meaningful experience. We meet the rest of the group who will join us on this day trip and we’re off.
Cycling in Hasia
We’re headed to a gorgeous place in Hasia, in Meteora, where we will get the chance to leave our cars and cycle on a beautiful route. At one of our stops, we chatted with Vasilis and Jenny, the owners of Meteora Electric Bike. Vasilis was born and raised in Kalambaka and studied civil engineering in Athens. His first contact with cycling was with BMX bikes in the early ‘90s, something that evolved into a true love of mountain-biking, and he has participated in many national races. Upon his return to Kalambaka, he continued cycling and mountain-biking, and in 2015 he won the award for best race organizer in the downhill national series.
Returning from Australia
Jenny was born in the village Ritini, on the slopes of Mount Olympus, but when she was still little, her family moved to Darwin, Australia. She studied Business Tourism while always enjoying her artistic side, doing yoga, and also extreme sports. When she returned to Greece, she decided to study wood carving, which brought her to the school in Kalambaka. “Seeing this place, I decided to make it my home. And so, I did.” Today she is the office manager of Meteora E-bike making sure everything runs smoothly. It’s not a coincidence that both Jenny and Vasilis share hobbies and like to do activities in nature. “Both Jenny and I have hobbies that we do in nature, I like BMX and mountain biking, and Jenny likes to snowboard, wakeboard and skydive, plus we live in a place that in two minutes from home we can be in the woods. So, contact with nature and our love for it is constant and intense,” Vasilis tells us. In terms of the office operations, Jenny notes “Our business activities focus on cycling tourism. We offer cycling tours of Meteora, with electric or plain bicycles, mountain biking in the gorgeous local forests and trails, we rent bicycles, and we also organize mountain bike trips around Thessaly.”
Photograph excursion
Christos Karagelis and Konstantina Tsiami are together with us on this trip. They organize specialised photo tours together with excursions in nature. Meteora Photo Tour is their creation. Christos tells us that a major factor in him deciding to embark on this project was his contact with nature through the years: “What brought me close to nature, perhaps first and foremost, is the fact that I grew up in nature. My parents were born and raised in a village, Megali Kerasia, with the beautiful Profitis Ilias chapel atop a hill, from where you can see almost everything. The river is just a few kilometres from our house, and every day you see the view of the mountaintops of the Pindos mountain range, towards Pertouli and Aspropotamos, as well as the tops of Tringia.” He remembers going fishing on the river as a child, as well as going on trips often, “on the mountain, somewhere in the Katara-Metsovo area, where you feel like nature is yours, and it makes you love it and want to spend as much time as you can outdoors.”
Things the two have in common is hiking, but also cycling in the mountain, as well as enduro. “It allows us to see and explore parts that would be very hard to take guests to, but if it’s a spot really worth it, we’ll find a way to include it in our itinerary.”
Regarding his love of photography, Christos says “Our love of capturing on film the new places, the unique spots, we explored in the area,, so that we could remember them years later, or we could show it to others, was what inspired us to offer this new activity that is linked to nature.”
How will they take photographs?
But what is the Meteora Photo Tour? Konstantina tells us: “our main activity is walking around aiming to take landscape photos. Our hikes take place in Meteora, but also in the Plastira lake, in the Zagori area, and soon in the Kerkini lake. Our aim is to capture the area’s beauty at the best time of day, from the best locations, from the best angle. A crucial part of our work, apart from guiding the walks, is showing visitors how to take the photograph. There are many visitors who like taking photographs and are interested in photography but don’t know how to adjust their camera. We are here to take care of every detail of the photo tour and to lead our guests to the best spots, at the best time, and, if need be, show them landscape or portrait photography techniques in natural light.”
Read also:
The Athenian couple who left the city to live at 1,250 m altitude
Ιnside a silversmith’s workshop in Ioannina, Greece
Greece: Elatochori Ski Centre welcomes downhill mountain biking enthusiasts
