dantheman
Bah humbug
Having read of some of the avian delights of the Caucasian region sometime last year here on BF, and a mate saying he intended to visit the region this May, it came about that I booked a cheap flight to the region back in November 2010. As it was, I ended up going alone, rather cleverly*, I thought, having booked my flight to Turkey with one of the budget airlines. The intention then to travel overland to the Caucasus, quite possibly knocking some hundreds of pounds off the standard airline price. Of course I paid for it elsewhere somewhat in terms of damage to the nerve endings in my backside and legs …
*(And I think I thought of the idea independently to others, at least I booked my flights before I really became aware of a recent trip report detailing a similar money-saving ploy).
So, 3 weeks what to do in it? Bird of course! I had visited Turkey before, back in September 1997, but was even more of a dude back then (!), and lots of the good birds had already left for the south, so still had almost all the classic specialities of the region to catch up with. So the plan - spend the first week or so in travelling to, and birding in, Georgia and Armenia, followed by the remaining 2 weeks in Turkey. As usual, I left all the actual planning, once I’d sussed it was basically do-able, to the last minute. I left it too late to get a map of the relevant countries (I had one of Western Turkey already, which was some use), and of course I was up the night before I had to travel, frantically printing out trip reports, packing and attempting to sort my life out. At 5:30am I felt I was doing ok. By 7:30am all was panic, but somehow it came together, and I seemingly left the house safely by about half eight in good time for the girlfriend to walk me down to Falmouth High Street to catch the bus to Luton airport, where I was to spend the night before my flight early the next morning. Got to the top of the hill and thought I’d check the time properly … aaahh, my mobile was still plugged in, charging in the hallway, run back and grab it.
Made it to the bus, and successfully arrived in Istanbul as planned a day or two later ...
Three weeks is of course quite a long time. I hoped that, given that I would be using public transport/hitching, I could compensate for the reduced mobility in not having a hire car and put me on a par with the more conventional method of getting to and within sites, and getting a good species list/potentially cleaning up. Reports have stated that at least 2 weeks are required to do the region any justice at all. As it was, a couple of extra days, or at least better planning on my behalf, would have been of benefit. But I think it went well enough overall. Certainly enjoyed the experience, and at no point (other than the long, arduous journey home itself) wished myself back home. Some great days birding and top birds and other wildlife. Highlights and birds recorded to follow …
(I plan to post a more complete trip report up elsewhere on the net later, with full species lists and other useful information, but for now, and hopefully with photos, this is it … )
*(And I think I thought of the idea independently to others, at least I booked my flights before I really became aware of a recent trip report detailing a similar money-saving ploy).
So, 3 weeks what to do in it? Bird of course! I had visited Turkey before, back in September 1997, but was even more of a dude back then (!), and lots of the good birds had already left for the south, so still had almost all the classic specialities of the region to catch up with. So the plan - spend the first week or so in travelling to, and birding in, Georgia and Armenia, followed by the remaining 2 weeks in Turkey. As usual, I left all the actual planning, once I’d sussed it was basically do-able, to the last minute. I left it too late to get a map of the relevant countries (I had one of Western Turkey already, which was some use), and of course I was up the night before I had to travel, frantically printing out trip reports, packing and attempting to sort my life out. At 5:30am I felt I was doing ok. By 7:30am all was panic, but somehow it came together, and I seemingly left the house safely by about half eight in good time for the girlfriend to walk me down to Falmouth High Street to catch the bus to Luton airport, where I was to spend the night before my flight early the next morning. Got to the top of the hill and thought I’d check the time properly … aaahh, my mobile was still plugged in, charging in the hallway, run back and grab it.
Made it to the bus, and successfully arrived in Istanbul as planned a day or two later ...
Three weeks is of course quite a long time. I hoped that, given that I would be using public transport/hitching, I could compensate for the reduced mobility in not having a hire car and put me on a par with the more conventional method of getting to and within sites, and getting a good species list/potentially cleaning up. Reports have stated that at least 2 weeks are required to do the region any justice at all. As it was, a couple of extra days, or at least better planning on my behalf, would have been of benefit. But I think it went well enough overall. Certainly enjoyed the experience, and at no point (other than the long, arduous journey home itself) wished myself back home. Some great days birding and top birds and other wildlife. Highlights and birds recorded to follow …
(I plan to post a more complete trip report up elsewhere on the net later, with full species lists and other useful information, but for now, and hopefully with photos, this is it … )
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