DNZ

Day 7: July 10, 2009 – Friday

The best of all days! We rented a very small fisherman boat for the day and traveled to rare and beautiful, clear bays.

We met with Captain Ibrahim, the owner of the boat, the day, on which we had been to the Kargicikbuku bay for fish and potatoes. He had taken us initially from the port of Seagarden to Kargicikbuku.

Renting a boat for a day was always on our minds, since the beginning of our vacation. However, we were unsure if we would be able to find a fair price. The trouble was that the ships you find in the Marina of Bodrum town center are usually big boats –with a capacity to hold 30 to 50 or maybe even more people. These boats usually take you and various other people –whom you may or may not know- out for the day at 25 TRY per person. They take you out to at least 5 commercial, yet beautiful beaches and offer you lunch on schnitzels and pasta. There are advantages and disadvantages to go on board in this fashion. The advantages are straightforward: The deal is more than fair –it’s cheap. Yet, the disadvantage is that you get to spend to the day with a bunch of other people that you do not know. That may not be comfy. We wanted something cozier and we did not care to see the commercial beaches especially. All we wanted was to enjoy the atmosphere of a boat, see clear waters, swim and eat fish on the boat. And, that was the deal we got from Captain Ibrahim.

The Captain and his wife took us from the port of Seagarden at 10 A.M. in the morning. We traveled for about an hour in the direction of Gokova until we reached the four cousin bays –or so they are called: Sineklibuk –translated as the mosquito bay, because of the number of mosquitoes there-, Adali Yali –the bay with the island, because of the small island like protrusion there-, Narlibuk –the bay with pomegranate- and the other, whose name I cannot recall. We went to Adali Yali. We were there by 11 A.M. We delved into the sea right away. The water was so clear, the underwater was so rich. Swimming for almost half hour, we got back on the boat. I immediately fell asleep while I was trying to dry and warm up under the sun. The gentle rocking of the boat made me feel as if I was in a hammock. By around 1 P.M. Captain Ibrahim and his wife started cooking fish for us: Fried gilt-head bream or sparus aurata with salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, lettuce and olives). Although I am not much of lunching person, I ate like a pig since the meal was so delicious.

Around 2 P.M. we left Adaliyali and headed for one of the commercial bays: Aquarium. The way to the Aquarium was on the reverse direction we had come. Therefore, the way back was harder as we were now facing the wind, instead of having it at our back. To me it was so much fun rocking all the way to Aquarium, but I must admit, there were a couple of times when I got pretty wet from the waves hitting on our boat.

Aquarium was yet another very beautiful beach, but it was very crowded with bigger boats doing a daily trip. We spent around 2 and a half hours here, swimming, sleeping and swimming again. Later our Captain and his wife offered as traditional Turkish black tea and cookies. I got pretty nostalgic, because it has been awhile since I actually did a tea-time. Living in a big city makes proper tea times almost impossible nowadays.

We returned back to the port of Seagarden around 5.30 P.M. We were due to have pizza again at Sunger Pizza –the same place we had dined on Saturday. We were going this time, so that I could eat pizza as well. The last time I was already pretty full from the meals we had during our journey. Yet, I was full again this time! Thanks to the courtesy of our Captain and his wife J So, I left Sunger Pizza for the next time I will be in Bodrum…

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