Ornitour Cilicia (Goksu Delta)
Purple Swamphen and Pied Kingfisher
The great bird migration route between the Nile Delta and Minor Asia passes across the alluvium of the Goksu Delta at the Turkish Mediterranean coast. Marbled Duck, Bean Goose, Great Bustard and Greater Spotted Eagle spend the winter here. more details

UPCOMING BIRDING TOURS!
South Morocco
Bald Ibis and Black-winged Kite
Northern Turkey and Bosporus
‘Vulture rocks’ (Tour 1) and bird migration (Tour 2)

"Magical Lake Bafa", Report by Andrew Wilder,
September 2006

As a family we have always taken our holidays in the Greek Islands, but with the kids living away from home and having just retired we were open for other alternatives. Since joining Ornitravel last year my wife had mentioned Lake Bafa to me on several occasions. By chance, when browsing through a second-hand bookstall I came across “South from Ephesus” by Brian Sewell. The book fell open at a page where he described a visit to Lake Bafa in South-western Turkey.

“I cannot explain the hold that Heracleia has; the cella of a small temple to Athena perched on a rock overlooking the lake, the grand Byzantine castle, the city ramparts running high into the wild hills behind, the Sir Walter Scott air of the offshore island ….” I had found our ‘somewhere different’!

As my wife is a keen birdwatcher and I am trying to learn to watercolour paint Ornitravel seemed to offer an ideal combination of peace and quiet, exotic wildlife and beautiful locations.

Travelling by TRAIN!

Our birding tours in Germany and
Holland can easily be reached by train from London.

In only 6 hours / Price p.p. from £110
Holland/Rhine Valley
Geese, Ducks and Waders
In only 8 hours / Price p.p. from £170
Birding Tour Black Forest
Owls and Woodpeckers

Picture taken by Daniel Montanus, who spent one week at
our holiday resort at Lake Bafa in May 2008.

Tour reports birding Lake Bafa:
Ornitour Lake Bafa, 15.-28.04.07
Birds at Lake Bafa and surroundings, 15.-29.05.06
Birds at Lake Bafa and surroundings, 10.-23.10.05

Birding North India
Bharatpur, Chambal, Pangot, Corbett

Join us for an adventure through the bird-filled marshes and forests of northern India. Our journey takes us to Bharatpur which is without doubt the greatest waterbird sanctuary in all Asia. This bird paradise is spread over eleven square miles of wetland, woodland and thorny scrub with hundreds of birds. Highlights include huge Sarus Cranes, Dusky Eagle-Owl and Siberian Rubythroat. A boat cruise on the Chambal River gives us the opportunity to look for Indian Skimmer, Small Pratincole and Gangetic Dolphin. more details

Dates: Mon., 05. Feb. 2009 - Fr., 20. Feb. 2009

Hello to all visitors of the Ornitravel homepage!

My name is Rose Butter and I am a British National. I came to Germany many years ago just for a visit and somehow I got hooked. My home area is very near the magnificent Black Forest so I can offer inside information about this beautiful region with its vast vineyards, fairy-tale castles and quaint country villages. In contrast, just a short distance away, a visit to the exclusive spa town of Baden Baden with its thermal baths and famous casino or Heidelberg with its marvellous castle.

As those of you whom I had the pleasure to meet at the Birdfair in August will know we started in the UK last year mainly offering tours to Turkey and Germany. We promised that our programme would be extended as soon as possible to include not just our world wide birding tours but also other holiday categories. To date we have already added several birding destinations as well as nature/walking/biking tours and there is more to come so keep up-to-date by checking our homepage regularly.

Hearing and reading so many articles describing magical Lake Bafa I decided I must see it myself. In September, accompanied by Annie, my counterpart in London, and her husband, Andrew, we flew to Izmir heading for Lake Bafa. This magnificent spot of untold beauty more than lived up to our expectations. I will never forget my first panoramic view of Lake Bafa with the Latmos Mountains reflecting on the water in the early morning sun. It was just so beautiful. Andrew has put a few words and pictures on our homepage describing the areas we visited. I hope you find it enjoyable and informative thus making your decision to visit this wonderful resort an easy one!