Sunday 15 May 2011

The Turtle Beach of Dalyan



In April we spent a week in Turkey.
One highlight was a boat trip to the Turtle Beach of Dalyan.



Dalyan (follow link to Wikipedia) is a town in Muğla Province located between the districts of Marmaris and Fethiye on the south-west coast of Turkey.


Life in Dalyan revolves around the Dalyan Çayı River which flows past the town.


The boats that ply up and down the river, navigating the maze of reeds, are the preferred means of transport to all the local sites.


Above the river's sheer cliffs are the weathered façades of Lycian tombs cut from rock, circa 400 BC. The ruins of the ancient trading city of Kaunos are a short boat trip across the river.



Dalyan achieved international fame in 1986 when developers wanted to build a luxury hotel on the nearby İztuzu Beach, a breeding ground for the endangered loggerhead sea turtle species.


The incident created major international storm when David Bellamy championed the cause of the conservationists. The development project was stopped and the beach is now a protected area.




On our boat trip to the Dalyan Beach we were offered fresh blue crabs. The crabs were served with Rakı on the boat on our way back to Dalyan.
What a delicious meal!
Some glasses of Raki intensified the relaxed atmosphere on the boat!

5 comments:

ayamlin said...

Hi Maria!
I wanna see your pictures in Turkey,too.
this weekend I slept a lot but I can't get rid of the tiredness still now.
have a lovely sunday!

ayamlin said...

Hi Maria!
thank you for your sweet two comments!
I'm so happy to read that.
and I wanted to write a comment " I wanna see your pictures in Turkey more!." thank you for understanding my meaning!
if you post pictures more on your blog or facebook, I can see them:)
so I'm looking forward to seeing them:)
by the way haven't you caught a cold?
when you're tired, you catch a cold easily. so please take a rest and have a good meal:)
your husband is so sweet to cook for you! I'm jealous of you!

Lady Di Tn said...

Maria
Neat photos and info about Turkey. Thanks for sharing as I will probably never get there but I did enjoy seeing it through your eyes.Peace

Marina said...

It seems you had a wonderful time there! Did you also visited Thessaloniki, Greece? You were so close to Greece....

Andrea said...

Oh it could be a lot different when you are on a boat, wonderful. I went also to that area in Lycia but by road, i didnt notice the sea as in your photo, seemingly very close to the burial cliff. However, i know that the sea is just nearby. That stretch of beach is so lovely, just like our Boracay in the Philippines. However, that one is more beautiful because there are not much tourists.