Tour to see bulbs in the wild during 2009

[tonyg]

Looks like its a 'two wheels on my wagon' kind of trip then.  Thanks for the offer of help guys, maybe I should invest in a 'Mobylette' ... you know, one of those push-bikes with a little motor

Maggi - girls are more than welcome if they can come up with the cash - but no-one is pushing you around

Jacinta has offered to dust down her old wheelchair if I need a push!

On a serious note, I do have friends who have experience of DIY crocus trips.  It seems you fly to a suitable holiday resort and hire a car.   If the weather/season is good you can see many bulbs in the mountains without spending a fortune.  (If the season is wrong but the weather good you stay on the beach )  Perhaps those of us who are too poor can organise our own trip?

[Diane Whitehead]

Joyce Carruthers and Zdenek Zvolanek arranged a Turkish tour for our
rock garden club.  They used regular long-distance buses (the equivalent
of Greyhound) and stayed in modestly-priced guesthouses.  They had
already done many seed-collecting trips so had the necessary experience.

Joyce is currently in Victoria so I could find out more information.

[Kees Jan]

I'm certainly interested to participate in a DIY autumn bulb trip to Turkey in autumn 2008. Although organised tours do have their advantages, arranging your own trip and reading in the local floras etc. is half the fun. Indeed it is also much  cheaper.

It is very easy to organise a trip as long as a group is reasonably small (and participants are reasonably flexible and not too demanding). With a small group you really just need to arrange your own air travel and agree on when and where you meet at the airport of destination.

You can arrange car rental at the airport and accomadation in autumn is usually very easy to find. And of course you should have a general idea of which parts of the country to target, which can be decided quite easily when you have acces to the Flora of Turkey.

[Maggi Young]

Kees Jan, what you say sounds very sensible andyou have used some of my favourite words..... "MUCH cheaper" !!

[Diane Whitehead]

Yes, a country where local people enjoy travelling is well set-up for
foreign visitors also.

Not like the plant-hunting trip that the Czech rock garden club took in
Kamchatka where they rented a truck big enough to carry a barrel of
fuel as there were no filling stations where they were going. 

[Heather Smith]

I think a local guide and a botanist would be an advantage.

[mark smyth]

I'm easy either way provided a trip is organised but if it's for 2008 I cant go as all my holidays are now booked

[mark smyth]

I've had an email from Green Tours. Is the notion dead and buried?

[mark smyth]

OK here goes again ..

Have you looked at the web site belonging to new member Klaas? Anyone fancy going on one of his trips to the Peloponnese?

[Maggi Young]

I'm told the SRGC celebratory trip to Cyprus (for the SRGC 75th Anniversary... any excuse for a holiday, eh?!!) is fully booked.

[art600]

Maggi

I have been on DIY holidays in Turkey and Greece every year since 1997.  I speak neither Turkish nor Greek, although a few key phrases are helpful to ensure hot water for example.

They are much cheaper.  Generally the best time to see Crocus, for example, is out of season for holidaymakers.  A trip to the Peloponnese is best last week October/first week November.  Fly Easyjet, book a car and be flexible by not booking hotels ahead as they are always grateful for customers at this time of year.  N.B. Be aware of Greek holidays as they can give a problem.

Even the trips to Iran are DIY.  Here it is necessary to use a Company to book hotels, arrange transport etc, but the itinerary is planned by us after extensive reading of literature.

Go on everybody "Live dangerously" - that does not sound quite right, but you know what I mean.

Happy to give anyone info for trips to the Peloponnese, and certain ares of Turkey.  As a pensioner one has to watch the pennies.

[Maggi Young]

I am sure you will get lots of requests for info, Arthur... it is so useful to find someone with the relevant experience .

[mark smyth]

I heard from Green Tours today

"Dear Mark, just to let you know that we are defnitely running a
crocus based tour for two weeks to the Taurus mountains next
late Feb for the Alpine Garden Society so if you were still interested
in us organising a separate one for you then we'd have to think about
how to accommodate both trips? Best wishes, Ian"

[tonyg]

I have no doubt the tour will be excellent .... now where did I put that lottery ticket.   (Oh and 2 weeks away from the family ......  )

[Tony Willis]

Reading Arthurs post above I could not agree more with him.

I have been on my own to Greece and Turkey twice a year for the last 17 years and last year to Chile. Little planning is needed other than getting a flight and hiring a car. Booking hotels is not necessary,there is always some where to stay and if you do not find the flowers you can move on. Sometimes it is good and the flowers are abundant and others times no use. It depends on the season,thats life.