Thursday, December 18, 2014

the places birds take you



We were making good time on our way to Amasya, and so decided to take a detour to a river delta that Pedro had meticulously mapped out in his birding notebook. The thickening clouds made the air cool and moist, a wonderful respite from the blazing heat of the east. We were in farmland that bordered the Black Sea, somewhere in Samsun, and while I watched Pedro get out of the car with his telescope in hand, my mind wandered back to all the places birds had taken us on this journey. I would have never gone to Demirkazık, Akseki, or Doğubeyazıt— places that now hold in my memory as favourites, places I had never heard of previously. And here I was, looking at a herd of water buffalo silhouetted against a watercolour sky, while Pedro was being invited by a curious and friendly farmer to visit his house when we return.

2 comments:

S.Sen said...

you have water buffalo in turkey ? I always thought these were indigenous to my country ie India .You're photos have some calm about them and your sketches are beautiful too .From your blog I came across places in turkey one doesn't usually encounter in guide books and references .Could you advise me some books where I could find about these places
Cheers=)

szaza said...

Hello! I actually don't know of any books other than Lonely Planet (which is pretty good). We followed the birds, really :)

There are water buffalo in Turkey, and they are generally used to make yoghurt, but they are not indigenous. I often wonder how they got here.

Cheers to you too!