DEEP in the forest, I’m watching tiny, rare frogs swimming and croaking (more of a weird squeak, really) in a flooded chamber at ancient Roman city, Bouthroton.
This is not what I expected in “the Maldives of Europe”.
Apparently someone, somewhere posted online a couple of years ago that Albania has some fabulous beaches with turquoise water like the Indian Ocean paradise islands, and the nickname stuck.
I’d long been intrigued by what was a communist totalitarian state until the mid-Nineties and had thought of it more as “the North Korea of Europe”!
So when I was on holiday in nearby Corfu, and discovered full-day tours operated, I jumped at the chance to see for myself.
The good-value trips are run by Tui-owned Musement and mine started at 7.30am with a 30-minute coach transfer from the hotel to the port, then a 75-minute ferry across to beach resort Sarandë in Albania, a coach pick-up there and a few hours of guided sightseeing.
After a coffee pitstop, the coach headed south to the uncrowded, unspoilt Butrint archaeological site and its surrounding national park.
I’d heard of Butrint’s large lake but was not aware of its history, with human habitation here dating back thousands of years.
However, this visit took my group back to a “mere” 800 BC and the Unesco-listed ruins of Bouthroton founded by Greeks and taken over by Romans.
There’s a lot of walking on rough tracks in the forest and a fair few steps, so trainers are best.
Enthusiastic guide Lindita was a mine of information about the ancient forum, amphitheatre, public baths, aqueduct and almost 3,200ft of encircling walls, up to 23ft high.
A 4th-century earthquake affected sea levels, and the city was finally abandoned in the Middle Ages, with high tides causing flooding – but creating a habitat for those noisy little Greek water frogs and cute terrapins.
On to the adjacent national park, with Lindita explaining about the lake (actually a lagoon), which is linked to the sea by a 1.6-mile channel.
The rich birdlife includes the magnificently-named short-toed snake eagle while the mussels in the lake are hailed as Europe’s best.
Before the ferry back to Corfu, we had a brief photo stop at Sarandë’s Lëkurësi Castle – on an 800ft hill with outstanding views – and time for a chilled Albanian beer at a seafront bar.
The downside? It’s a 12 hour-plus day, with an agonising 2hr 10min journey back from the port to my hotel as other guests were dropped off. Still, I saw a lot of Corfu.
And while my included lunch was OK, I’ve never been on any excursion where water is not provided.
On the bus back to Sarandë – and from the ferry – I did spot some lovely beaches, but is Albania “the Maldives of Europe”? Hmm, not atoll. And there is a huge amount of unsightly hotel construction around Sarande and nearby Ksamil.
But the trip is an enjoyable, insightful taste of Albania and I’d definitely think about a holiday there. Maybe I’d even get to see a short-toed snake eagle.
Albania day trip from Crete, from £67pp plus port tax of 20Euros pp.