Samaria Experience: The Programme
by katerinavigli
The Samaria Experience – back to the roots of Cretan traditions
The “Samaria Experience” is a unique programme of activities created and run by a prominent family from the villages of Samaria and Agia Roumeli.
For many years Roussos Viglis has been dreaming of conveying his intimate knowledge and deep love of one of the most remote and wildest places in Europe. Finally the time is ripe and the “Samaria Experience” started running from spring 2014.
In 4 days of activities centered around the village of Agia Roumeli and the gorge of Samaria you will get an understanding of what it was like to live in this beautiful but harsh place: how people lived and how they survived in almost complete isolation, what they ate, how they cooked.
You will also discover the gorge of Samaria as very few see it: away from crowds and through the eyes of people who were born and grew up there.
samariaexperience 
A trip to Crete and crossing the Samaria Gorge is at the top of my list for this summer. I love Greece, I been to Athens and to Rhodes, these were the best holidays that I had so far.
A good friend of mine did the Samaria Gorge last summer and wrote an article about her trip to Crete on a UK Travel website see here http://hotels-fairy.com/autumn-days-crete
I am planing to do the same soon!! See you all on Crete!!!
Love
Clair
We look forward to seeing you in Crete!
Thank you for sharing this article, it is lovely. It has both an accurate description of some of the most important places in Crete to visit but also an interesting personal take on the whole adventure. Bare in mind Crete is such a big island and with great variety in it’s landscape so there are countless places one could visit that will lead to very different experiences!
Do keep in touch, especially if you have any questions about your trip that we can help you with!
Cheers from Crete,
Katerina
a few days staying in Agia Roumei / Artemis were refreshing me and gave me power. The excellent cooking, the friendlyness of the people, the clear sea, the special place between mountains and sea, the walking along the sea, the wonderful colours, the stillness, the healthy air, the special energy of this old and powerful area.
The beauty of Agia Roumeli you can find only by staying a few days or better for a week. After the hiking through the gorge the most people are really tired and can´t have eyes for the beauty around.
Here I found contact to myself, to the language of nature again. I learned special ways of cooking and using herbs, which I continue at home now.
The wonderful colours of the sea and the pines, the white stones and the wood (figured from the water), the sound of nature without cars, the smell of herbs and pines, – I need a long time for my walkes, because I stopped very often to enjoy……
thank you very much Agia Roumeli – especially the viglis-family
Heidi
Dear Heidi!
It makes us all really happy that you enjoyed your stay in Agia Roumeli. You are right that the nature here is worth a few days of exploring. Time also allows the atmosphere slowly to slip in. It was a lot of fun getting to know you and sharing knowledge of this place. We hope to see you again soon!
Signed
Katerina, Roussos, Stavros, Giannis
Danke liebe Katerina,
jetzt habe ich auch entdeckt, daß ich hier deutsch schreiben kann. Mein Engllsch war doch etwas komisch. Ich freue mich sehr über die Antwort. Und in meinem Herzen lebt die Tiefe der Erfahrung weiter. Es ist etwas Besonderes, einen so erdigen, starken Ort zu fühlen und diese Vereinigung der Elemente (Erde, Wasser, Luft, Feuer) so intensiv zu erfahren. Diese Energie kann man nur spüren, wenn man verweilt und den Austausch mit der Natur pflegt. Menschen, die das lieben, werden sehr genießen, sich von Euch in diese Welt entführen zu lassen.
Auch ich werde gerne wieder kommen.
Mögen die Engel mithelfen, diesen schönen Ort und seine liebenswerten Menschen zu bewahren und zu schützen
Liebe Grüße
Heidi