2017 AGS "Galanthus of the Black Sea" Tour

[ian mcenery]

Very interesting report Alan. Thanks

[Alan_b]

When we got down to the bottom of the footpath we had a picnic lunch by the side of the river - and discovered more woronowii growing on the banks beside a stream that was coming down the hillside.  So if you're not feeling energetic there is no need to climb in order to see the snowdrops.



Look above Carolyn's head, just to the right.



Snowdrops...



... phototgraphed.



Here Andy gets hugely excited about a dull piece of grass (okay, sedge) because it had not been reported as growing in Turkey hitherto.  A specimen was collected to be taken to a herbarium in Istanbul.

[Alan_b]

On the way back down we stopped the minibus to photograph a footbridge.  This style was popular in this part of Turkey.

[Yann]

Alan it looks like you all have fun and enjoyed this plants kingdom!

[Alan_b]

Because our schedule was curtailed the previous day, we were now ahead and had some uncommitted time in the afternoon.  So we went off on what proved to be a vain search for crocuses.  But we did find some more snowdrops and we could not really identify what species they were.  We found them growing in a graveyard.

Big receptacle, greenish leaves, not very wide







Although the flowers were beginning to go over, there were many leaves and not many scapes so this snowdrop was not behaving like a good garden plant in this situation. 

[Alan_b]

There were lots of other flowers growing there.  Most of these were also on the hill behind the graveyard but not the snowdrops.  Could somebody have planted them in the graveyard in the same way that snowdrops are often planted on or by graves in the UK?









 

[Alan_b]

We were now, I think, in Artvin Province.  We branched off the main road up into the hills. 



It seemed drier here than in other parts we had visited



We saw some muscari



This Euphorbia resembles the Euphorbia myrsinites grown in gardens; I'm not sure if it is exactly the same.  I'm sure my mother used to call this an "Ice Plant" although that name does not seem to be in common usage.

[Alan_b]

I forget the name of either of these plants although they both look familiar and Andy would have told me at the time.





 Hopa!  We then retraced our route and drove on to our next hotel in the coastal town of Hopa, not far from the Georgian border. We stayed in the Paluri Hotel.  This was nice enough inside but the situation on a busy main road made for quite a lot of traffic noise in some of the rooms.  The noise from the river at the Ridos Hotel had been very loud but somehow that's a sort of 'white noise' that didn't keep me awake.   

[Alan_b]

At the Georgian Border we bid a fond farewell to Sema and our minibus driver (Mehmet?).  It was very crowded and we hired the services of a guide and a porter.  All our luggage was loaded onto a cart and as the porter disappeared off with the cart I could not help thinking what a good way this would be to rob naive tourists.  We then joined a thronging and disorderly queue with our guide indicating which line to join.  Fortunately as non-locals our line was not too busy.

Having been let out of Turkey we then had a 300 m walk through no-mans land to be let into Georgia.  We had been promised "As we cross the border offshore we’ll see the rare Black Sea race of Porpoise and many Black-throated Divers and Great Crested Grebes." but that was tosh as any chance to view the sea had been screened-off with sheet metal.  The nearest we got to seeing "the rare Black Sea race of Porpoise" as we crossed the border was a poster advertising the dolphinarium in Batumi.  Although we had nothing to declare, our guide directed us into the 'Declare' channel, probably because it was less busy.  Our luggage (still with us, thankfully) was passed through a machine, then our passports were stamped and here we were in Georgia.  But the adventure was not over.

As soon as we emerged, Andy was accosted by a woman with a baby whilst a little girl, maybe about 8 years old, ran over to me and wrapped her arms around my leg like a friendly boa-constrictor.  She rubbed a thumb and finger together which I took to indicate that a donation might be required to make her let go but I had no change, in fact no Georgian currency whatsoever.  I tried moving the leg which was being held and she tried a sham scream in response; we had reached an impasse.  I stood there a moment then shrugged my shoulders and held my palms open to indicate that nothing would be forthcoming.  It all started to seem rather hilarious so I grinned down at her, she grinned back up at me and let go.  And here I was, finally, in Georgia.
             

[Alan_b]

By the way, the Georgian currency is called Larry, or something like.  I kept thinking of a song called 'Float on' by the Floaters 

[Alan_b]

I should have said, it's

Day 5 (11/3/17)

Our guide in Georgia was the young, energetic and enthusiastic Tolkha.



One of the ladies in the party admitted to quite wanting to take him home with her; if anyone else felt the same they kept it to themselves.

Our mission for the day was to find Galanthus krasnovii in the high hills although, unfortunately, Georgia had experienced a particularly snowy winter.  Because of the rough terrain our party was divided amongst two 4x4 vehicles.   

[Alan_b]

As we neared the krasnovii site we found our road, which was more of a dirt track, was blocked by a snow drift so we turned round in order to take another route.  We stopped at this point to stretch our legs and photograph the flowers and it was decided that it was time for a picnic lunch.  Here is dedicated Tolkha getting it ready whilst we are off taking pictures.



We found Galanthus woronowii



Corydalis, mostly this colour



but the odd one like this



Here is a particularly lovely display of the viola we saw quite frequently



I'm sure there was Cyclamen coum in flower also but we saw so much that I had rather given up on taking its picture by this point.   

[Alan_b]

We got to within a few hundred metres of where we might climb up a hill to see Galanthus krasnovii but the road was again blocked so the intrepid and/or fanatical galanthophiles amongst us got out to proceed on foot.  Here we are preparing to set-out



Our guide for the day was Davit who works at Batumi Botanical Gardens and knew where to find these snowdrops.  He is in the centre of the last picture

As some of you may be of a nervous disposition I will tell you in advance that we all survived.  Here is a picture taken by Tolkha on the way back down.  It really was just as steep as it looks.  Despite the snow it was also warm so I was only wearing a shirt!



What you cannot see is the rhododendron bushes.  About two thirds of the way up the hill we had to clamber through branches of the bushes of the native rhododendron that had been weighed-down with snow in order to proceed upwards.  Davit assured us that Galanthus krasnovii grows under these bushes but there was no sign, even in the few areas that were clear from snow.  Progress was painfully slow and after struggling upwards for a while we had to give up and turn around.  But getting down again was no easier than getting up.

At one point Carolyn fell and found herself sitting in Andy's lap.  Here she is extracting herself from this situation.



This photo is again courtesy of Tolkha.  I had put my camera away in order to be able to hang-on with both hands.  I managed to take one shot as we got towards the bottom of the slope.



 

 

[Alan_b]

So Galanthus krasnovii was the one that got away.

[Alan_b]

When we got back to the vehicles, some of us needed a quick change.



We had parked just above a house.  What the people there made of us I really don't know.