Tour to see bulbs in the wild during 2009

[mark smyth]

If you are interested in going to see bulbs in the wild in Turkey or Greece during 2009 please reply below. I have emailed Green Tours to find out if they would be interested in putting on a tour for us. They will obviously need a minimum of people. When I get more details I'll post them here

[Carlo]

Let me know Mark...although England and Sicily were the real plans this year...

[mark smyth]

oops - either spring or autumn 2009

[Heather Smith]

Interested, Mark, for 2009

[tonyg]

I would be interested - but these things dont come cheap!

[mark smyth]

Tony I think this is the only way for us to see a maxmimum of species

[mark smyth]

Here is the reply from Green Tours

"Dear Mark
Certainly we can arrange such a trip. Turkey (which I would favour) or Greece would be very good for all these genera, perhaps best in late Feb or early March with Crocuses particularly varied then. November would be good too but with less Crocus and many more Colchicum. Weather is generally good at either time but with the odd day of rain or snow. Leading by us is no problem, in fact, as far as we are concerned, essential (otherwise we wouldn't know you are going to see target species) Approx cost of a 2 week trip to Turkey between £1695 & £2000 depending on itinerary, hotel requirements this includes flights from London. Now I guess most members would travel from Scotland so we'd need
to discuss preferred departure airport."

[fermi de Sousa]

Sounds interesting, Mark.
I'll put in an "Expression of Interest" but it'll be dependent on a lot of factors whether or not I could get there!
cheers
fermi

[tonyg]

Ouch - That is about what I expected for the cost.   As a comparison 4 of us had 8 days in Switzerland for £1200 this year - I'm a family man with all the associated costs so £2000 for a one-man trip (no girls allowed!) is a lot.  Perhaps I should take a leaf out of Stellans' book and get on my bike ... I'm sure Thomas would join me (although he's so fit he'd soon leave me behind!)

[mark smyth]

I agree it's a lot of money but how else could we target a long of plants in a short time. Who will drive, who knows the best areas ...

[Maggi Young]

£2000 for a one-man trip (no girls allowed!)

Tony! I heard that!

[Thomas Huber]

Tony, me and Chris are with you on your bike-trip.
We could push you up the mountains 

[Andrew]

Tony, me and Chris are with you on your bike-trip.
We could push you up the mountains 

And I could tow you when it was really steep .

[David Shaw]

On our trips we either go independantly or take a package holiday to a suitable resort from where we do our own thing. We see lots of plants and miss seeing many more. Does it really matter? Enjoying the holiday is the first priority and then we appreciate the wonders that we discover by using our own initiative. This is much less expensive than the tours and leaves us more cash for wine and bulb purchases

[mark smyth]

I have 1/4 or 1/3 saved towards such a trip depending on the end price