Th pics from this morning, excluding the Turtle team who have yet to report back fully, are below. Meanwhile it was a steamy afternoon collecting the boat, checking and stocking up on food. It seems that the latter was not a pleasant experience given that the ladies were hot tired and grumpy ! Finally left at 16h45 and had to sail around to the Customs quay for a enlightening experience in bureaucracy. r

River trip from Dalyan village to the huge inland lake whose name I can’t spell. This is the view across from the village.

Then for a spell of mud bathing (as you do). Where was I ? Well someone had to take the photos

After the recent flights with Turkish Airlines, which are great with new planes, good food and all inclusive prices, we now flew with my (ex favourite) BA. Old plane, no food except sandwiches to purchase; drinks/tea or coffee to purchase and hold baggage extra. Makes Ryanair start to look attractive (ugh).

Rant over – we arrived in Dalyan, dropped everything and joined the family by the riverside. Was desperate for that Efes beer! Hot and windy to start with, so probably best we did not set off sailing today. The African delegation were exhausted. It’s 6:30pm and Olly has not yet surfaced so technically he should be bright eyed and busy tailed this evening.

Leisurely lunch to a backdrop of burial chambers carved into the opposite rock faces:

Towards sundown we take off on a riverboat inland across the lake to mud baths. Sounds like a photo opportunity to me; let’s see…..

The Cape Town delegation dressed for winter. Are they in for a pleasant surprise! Not sure where all that surplus clothing will live on the boat …

You will be pleased to know that I have a plan. Below is a chart of the area south of Turkey where surprisingly the islands are all Greek. Those little red house symbols indicate places we hope to visit but the order relies a bit on wind and weather.

The islands form a group known as the Dodecanese and lie in a crescent chain curving up from Crete. Actually the Turks were there since the 16th century until it fell to the Italians in 1912. It was then only after the 2nd World War that they were finally awarded to Greece.

Hard to imagine, because it looks like they have been there a longer time than that…..

Nearly there, half packed, made the South African phonecalls and we are all nearly set to go.. For once I am relaxed about our sailing trip, have been in Turkey some 3 weeks earlier. And it could not have come at a better time for Astrid.

So the daily blog will commence Friday 41th 😎. Watch this space!