Samos: Leading from Behind
Not without some trepidation did we agree to lead walking holidays on the Greek island of Samos. We know the island well enough for we had spent many months there but how would we manage shepherding a group?
Well, one by one they found us in the hustle and bustle of Athens airport as they filtered off the London flight. Take any group of unknown people and somehow they manage to look like a motley crew and our group was no exception. There were the long,
the short, the thin and the fat, the well equipped and the ill equipped along with some very firm chins that worried us more than a little. It was soon clear that we had some very strong characters who by the force of their own personalities were threatening to take over the running of the group. Best waste no time, we decided, in getting them into unfamiliar territory where they would need to place their reliance on us.
How things change when you get down to basics. The first day was planned to give the group an easy introduction to their holiday so we simply headed over the hills to spend time on an away-from-it-all beach.
Walking is a good way of mixing people and the party soon welded into a unity. When footpaths are wide it is possible to walk in groups but next minute it's back to single file so that people are constantly changing around you. Conversation follows easily under these conditions and it does not take long for the characters to emerge.
'Snap it Harry' was perhaps first. Undeterred by all else, taking a photograph had to been done properly which meant opening his case, changing endless lenses to get the right one, passing a variety of gadgets to his wife to hold in case he might need them and finally putting all away with an air of frustration because the donkey and rider had passed clean out of sight.
The twitchers too created similar problems, and there were several in the group. A moving branch would bring them all to a halt and stimulate the binocular arms to action. Identifications usually started more in hope and expectation than realism. Opening suggestions included something like Bee-eaters then declined through more common species like Goldfinches before arriving at a consensus, usually agreeing on a Chaffinch or similar.
Group dynamics became a fascinating aspect of the holiday for us and worthy of scientific study in its own right. The critical point comes at the end of the walk when it is vital to arrive at some remote bus stop in time for the one and only bus back to base, like the walk to Drakei. A good, crisp start to such days is essential. In the relatively peaceful atmosphere of breakfast, the leaders thoughts are far away ... working out timings for the planned outing, usually. 'Excuse me leader' slowly penetrated my thoughts just as it was time to get started. 'Excuse me leader, I've swallowed some washing powder.' So we had a delayed start with little hope of recovering the time.
One
of the artists in the group produced this wonderful cartoon on the last
evening as a farewell gift. It depicts each member of the group by
a particular characteristic. Eileen is at the front whipping us on,
Brian is at the back photographing flowers and getting bitten by insects
(unfortunately true), the lady who swallowed washing powder is shown
carrying a sack of Persil on so on. A wonderful momento which was later
copied for everbody.On occasions like this it was necessary to jolly along the photographers, the twitchers and the botanists without them realising that they were being hurried. We favour the carrot technique of promising greater riches just ahead.
Blister clinics were totally unpredictable and could arise anytime. 'Stop!' 'Can't go any further, I have a blister.' Blisters seem to be of particular group interest and they would all gather around to inspect. Everybody has a referred solution to the problem so it does require lengthy discussion.
Lunch has to be taken somewhere, often as a picnic, but where possible we planned to arrive at some quiet taverna in a remote hill village. These taverna stops made the holiday into something special for many of our group but they can be a nightmare for the leaders. To the charming and friendly people of the taverna, tourists are a novelty they simply want to stand and beam at. This is where we quietly take over and arrange the tables and go around and collect the orders. Since the group was unexpected in the first place then the taverna owner is totally unprepared to cope with eighteen mouths to feed. He has to go to his garden to pull the lettuce, send his daughter to buy eggs and yoghurt and the time ticks away. At least it leaves time for pre-lunch drink. At one such taverna the group discovering the delights of the home made retsina and were extremely reluctant to move at all. We learnt later that water bottles were emptied in favour of the retsina, at least it probably averted a rebellion. In sheer desperation we devised a last resort. When time was running out and catching the bus became a matter of life and death, the two leaders would move to the front and set a cracking pace. It was a case of keeping up or getting lost but it usually worked.
Although it was only May, the heat started to be something of a problem. Fortunately, we had doctors in the group as well as very experienced old salts with many years walking experience. They were the worst. One such genial gentleman had arrived with alpine walking gear, including woollen vest and long johns. Perspire he did but would he part with his warm underwear or carry extra water to drink? No! At least the subject of the hot weather brought forth riveting after dinner conversation. Our advice had been to drink plenty of water and take extra salt with meals whilst it remained hot. One of the old salts boldly challenged this view through the alcoholic haze after the meal one evening. 'I prefer to suck a stone when I'm dry', he said 'that way you don't sweat and then you don't need water or extra salt.' The two doctors present fairly bristled and suddenly the group fell silent to hear the reply. One of them took up the challenge and, casually swirling the pudding wine around the bowl of his glass by twisting the stem between his fingers, he replied in a measured tone calculated to give more weight to his words. 'What you should really do' he explained 'is drink enough water on a hot day to ensure that your pee stays just about clear.' The silence that followed was broken when some wag enquired if we should all carry sample bottles.
Eventually, everybody came to terms with the heat in their own way. One of the ladies developed perhaps the most spectacular technique. On arriving at water she would dampen her clothes a little so that they cooled her as they dried off. Damping her clothes was soon not enough and they got wetter and wetter until finally she almost totally immersed herself given the opportunity! It spawned a new phrase for the phrase book, 'please excuse my aunt, she has wet her drawers to keep herself cool.'
Time for farewells arrived, almost, it seemed, before we had settled into our stride. The motley crew we first greeted now looked totally different. They were a group of real people, each recognisable in very different terms by their character and personalities. With hugs, kisses and more than a few tears, leave was taken. With genuine sadness we waved our goodbyes as they disappeared into the departure lounge. 'Hope the next group are as good' we commented to each other as we waited on tenterhooks. 'Oh no', came the inner groans as the new group slowly assembled, 'what an amorphous mass this lot look!'
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