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The Lycian Coast

Friday 28th and Saturday 29th March

Map of the whole holiday will enlarge to 1571 x 800 enough to read the names

We got up at 4.00 am for a taxi to Heathrow Terminal 3 at 5.00. We had an easy 40 minute journey with a car enthusiast who had had nearly as many cars as my brother. We checked in and had an hour’s wait before boarding the plane which left at 8.00. We arrived at Istanbul and had to fight our way to get a passport check. There were crowds of people all pushing with very few organisers and it could have got nasty. We made our way eventually to the internal departure area and met up with the rest of the gang. The trip on to Dalaman was less stressful though I had to talk to a Turkish lady in bad German for most of the flight. The sunset was spectacular. The early apricot and grey blue colours, underpinning a Pavlova of clouds was stunning. We met Seda and the driver of the minibus at the airport and drove to our hotel in Dalyan.

We had soup and koftas with chips and spaghetti for dinner. The table was decorated with spectacular floral vegetables and the cats of the place helped with the leftovers.

We have air conditioning which is in heating mode and hope we will be warm enough. There is only a sheet on the bed and one blanket in the wardrobe. We were rather cold, but had another blanket on the following night and all was well. The sheets are more like bedspreads with a relief pattern which is rather scratchy. We looked round the town before breakfast.

Our minivan

An interesting house

Front view

Oranges

We had a breakfast of bread, cheese and jam, then off in a pleasure boat down the river past the tombs in the cliffs and the boats moored along the bank to Lake Sũlũngũr.

Marsh Harrier over the reeds

The light on the lake was exquisite

Seda and the boatman

PJ, Michelle and Heather

Egrets on a shapely tree

Pleasure boat

Reeds

Terrapin area

We saw white damselflies and a red spider. Festoons were about but they did not pose for me.

Campanula

Ornithogalum narbonense

Cynoglossum creticum

White damselfly

There were intriguing bubbles on the edge of the wake

Red spider

Scrophularia peregrina

Astragalus?

Tasteful lifebelts

Bellevalia trifoliata

Anemone coronaria

Hairy outside to the petals

Giant Peacock Moth about 10cms wingspan

Looking at the moth

Sarapias bergonii

Allium neapolitanum

Mini meadow with poppies and daisies

Coronilla varia

Phlomis lycia

This grasshopper landed on my trousers

Onosma frutescens

Campanula lyrata

Daddy long legs mating

Writing up the notebook

Phil saw a Nile river turtle as big as a dustbin lid in the area on the right.

Boatbuilding

The lifebelt is possibly not in the best position...

We had lunch back at the hotel - yeasty pancakes with meat or cheese and sour cherry juice to drink.

Afterwards to Kapuz in the minivan to find more birds and flowers. I managed to bend my foot in the wrong direction, thank goodness for flexible ankles. It has stiffened up, but can be walked on.