Day 5 (Wednesday) – We were underway before 7:00am and pulled into a harbor near the village of Gökçe a few minutes later. This was excursion day. Before we left on Saturday, we were offered a single excursion option: a jeep safari. Figuring it might be nice to break up the week with a day on land, we had signed up. In total, ten of our fourteen had signed up for the jeep safari.
It was a busy little harbor, with several dozen boats–gulets, sailboats, and yachts–tied up at the piers. After our usual breakfast, our jeep guide showed up and we were off on our excursion. We were joined by another jeep from an accompanying Blue Cruise, another ten mostly French-speaking passengers, whose boat had squeezed in next to ours just before breakfast. There are no “slips” in a Turkish harbor: if there is enough space, a boat will get put there.
Our jeep safari driver was named Juju. That wasn’t his real name, but he courteously offered it since his real name wasn’t particularly friendly to our Euro-American tongues. For 30 minutes we enjoyed the comfort of paved roads from our seat on the last row of the open-topped jeep. It was a beautifully clear morning, warm and comfortable in the sun, but chilly in the shade. Then we turned off the paved road for 20 minutes or so of “off-road” travel between jagged green granite peaks. Along the tops of the peaks and the higher switchbacks, where the sun shone, it was comfortable, but in the valleys, particularly down low where the sun only reached the minimum amount during the day, it was downright cold. Lori had to use our beach towels for blankets.
Despite the cold and the bumpy road, it was a beautiful and pleasant trip through the native pine forests dotted with clusters of fragrant eucalyptus trees with wild heather ground cover, remarkably thick in places. We stopped once so Juju could confer with his fellow driver and so he could hand us a few eucalyptus leaves to sniff. He explained that eucalyptus trees had been brought to Turkey in the early 1920’s from Australia to help with irrigation control. The non-native trees seemingly like the Turkish climate, as they can be seen and smelled nearly everywhere now.
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| Turkish Toilet – Notice the “Garden Hose Bidet” to the Right |
We stopped in the village of Kizilyaka for coffee. It was the sort of very rural Turkish village you might imagine, a simple t-junction at which an outdoor cafe (of sorts) could be found serving Coca-Cola, Nescafe, Turkish Coffee, and sporting a Turkish flag. While we were there, a local farmer herded a few of his cows past us, and much of our group admired the turkeys and chickens next door and the ears of corn being dried across the street. But the biggest “attraction” of the stop seemed to be the “traditional Turkish toilet”, a small outdoor room on the side of the cafe with a porcelain squat-toilet mounted in the concrete floor. It wasn’t a problem for Chuck, but Lori had to work up the nerve to utilize it. It’s surprising how much nerve you can work up when you have to go.
From the cafe we continued down a bumpy Turkish country road, past orange, lemon, and pomegranate groves to an overlook offering views of the town and lake of Köycegiz (I’ll let you guess at the pronunciation of that one). We continued through the backroads, spotting beehives all along the way, the source of that wonderful Turkish honey. It turns out that Turkey is the 4th largest honey-producing nation, and the largest producer of tasty piney-honey. In case you’re wondering, China is the world’s largest producer of honey, with the USA coming in second. It did not appear to us that Turkey was suffering from Colony Collapse Disorder, the mysterious disappearance of honey bees plaguing the states and other parts of the world.
From the lake overlook we proceeded around the perimeter to a spa on the south side of the lake. Most of our jeep safari would be skirting the edge of this lake and cruising the wetlands to its south that reach all the way to the Mediterranean. After we parked at the spa, some of our group enjoyed the thermal baths, some enjoyed the mud bath. Lori and I, never ones to “get all icky-dirty”, took pictures for our mud-bathing friends. We did, however, try out the “fish treat”, where you sit with your feet in the water and dozens of little fish nibble away the dead skin on your feet. There’s only one word to describe this: ticklish. But we did come away with nice, supple feet.
After an hour or so at the spa and some beer and ice cream (I know, great combination, but we had no complaints) we piled back into our jeeps for a short ride to a river boat dock. We were headed down the river toward the beach. Our boat pulled up at a riverside restaurant for lunch, but not before pausing to see ancient, pre-Roman tombs cut into the sheer mountainside. Such tombs dot the area, and they’re reminiscent of some of the cliff-side ruins in neighboring Syria that we’ve seen pictures of. Lunch was good, actually a buffet of Turkish mezes (sauces), vegetables, meat, and fish. Sufficiently nourished, we were back in our boat and headed toward the sea.
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| Courtesy Brian Yates |
Turtle Beach was billed as a turtle nesting sanctuary. The word “sanctuary” conjured up images of remote, peaceful, solitude, but what we found at Turtle Beach was a bustling, developed resort area, complete with chairs and umbrellas for rent as well as two snacks-for-sale areas. Still, it was a nice beach, and Lori and I set out to the east, but only a few minutes into our walk Lori stepped on one of the billions of bees that we’ve discovered common in Turkey. She tried to continue on, but decided to turn back.
At 4:00 our river boat headed back up river as our safari wound down. As we passed the river town of Dalyan, Juju had our boat driver pull to the side and surreptitiously pick up a package. It turned out to be a pair of Twinkie-like confections which he discretely stuck candles in for the birthday benefit of Jan and Jeansa. Tired, we admired the resort town of Dalyan, which maybe one day we’ll return to.
Back in our jeeps, we rode an hour or so before stopping at a BP station for a bathroom break and for snacks, then we were on to meet a bus to return us to the Halilaga at just past 7:00pm. Over dinner we regaled the four who had stayed on the boat of our jeep safari adventure, and they regaled us of their more relaxing day in harbor. After dinner, ?m?r outdid himself with two birthday cakes this evening. We stayed in the harbor that night, Lori turning in early. I stayed up talking with my Scottish friend Brian about sights to see in Africa. It will take some convincing, but I’ll get Lori to Namibia–maybe Botswana–one day.
