A kite or kestrel hovering over the volcanic caldera of Santorini
Not long ago, we posted a very lively report about this year's family cruise along the Lycian Shore of Turkey and about the intrepid explorers participating in it. One of the main features of that report was the observation of various kinds of animals or the traces of wildlife.
In the process of editing the post, it occurred to me that we never really talk about wildlife here.
It's a given that the key focus of our escorted tours and gulet cruises in Europe is on culture, history and archaeology, which are also the main themes of the Peter Sommer Travels blog. Nevertheless, we do actually come across a fair amount of animals on our tours and reconnaissance trips. Of course, some of them are ancient and made of stone or clay, but we also see real animals, wild, domestic or feral ones, their habitats being the sea, land and air along our routes, in and around the sites we visit.
They are part of the areas and landscapes we explore, and although wildlife is outside our main historical narrative, there can be no doubt that they add an element of fascination and interest to our work. Being interrupted by a fox cub while talking at Ephesus, spotting a group of dolphins while cruising off the Turkish coast, or being side-tracked by watching the goats climbing seemingly unreachable peaks in Crete in their never-ending hunt for food - each of these experiences is memorable and charming in its own right.
So, we've trawled through our files to create an album of some of our most striking wildlife photographs. Enjoy.
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