The Delights of Dalyan: Family Fun in Turkey

Turkey is great as a holiday destination, as it’s very accessible, but there are still parts of the country that are off the beaten tourist path. The area around Dalyan, not far from Dalaman on the Turquoise Coast, is one of those parts. Plan a Turkish family holiday and you’ll have a wonderfully relaxing and unforgettably fun time. Here are five things to do on a holiday in Dalyan:

Get muddy

Mud, mud, glorious mud. There’s nothing quite like it for improving your skin tone and keeping the kids entertained. The area around Dalyan is probably best known for its unique sulphur mud baths. Turks and tourists alike flock to the natural pools to cover themselves in the stuff, and take ridiculous photos, so don’t miss out on the opportunity to wallow in goo.

Go white-water rafting

There’s no family bonding exercise quite as effective as the experience of being utterly terrified together. But don’t worry, in reality, white-water rafting isn’t actually scary when you’re with one of the professional guides that manage the trips in the mountains behind Dalyan. Sign up for an afternoon adventure, and you’re bound to have fun. You might even succeed in exhausting the kids enough that you’ll manage to squeeze in a civilised grown-up evening.

See baby turtles

As if the unspoilt Iztuzu beach wasn’t enough of an attraction by itself, it also plays home to lots of turtles, and even a turtle hospital to look after any poorly ones. If you’re lucky enough to be there at the right time of the year, you’ll get the chance to see the babies on the beach. But in any season, the turtle hospital makes a great visit, with lots of information and enthusiastic staff to teach you and the children all about the life of the native turtles.

Visit 12 islands in a day

This special boat trip leaves from the port of Göcek, just near Dalyan, and fills the day with island hopping. You’ll see all sorts of interesting sights, from caves and coves to mini-islands, and you’ll get plenty of chance to relax, soak up the sun, and appreciate the scenery. Don’t forget your snorkeling gear, as the sea life is well worth investigating. Trips usually include lunch and drinks on the boat, too, so it’s a real stress-free experience.

Explore some ancient history

It’s not only history buffs who will appreciate the magnificence of the ancient ruins of Kaunos. The hill top site is accessed by a short boat trip from Dalyan, and a bit of a climb, but it’s worth it. See the rock tombs, a Byzantine basilica, a Roman bath, and the ruins of a large Roman theatre. Then, on the way back down, stop off at one of the little stands lining the path where locals sell lemon and pomegranate juice for a refreshing break.

This article is brought to you by Monarch who offer flights, package holidays, city breaks and hotels to Europe’s top destinations.

More Turkish tales
A sun-soaked coastal holiday on the Turkish Riviera
Visit the Kozak Mountains on a Day Trip from Dikili Turkey
Sightseeing in luxury in Istanbul

This article is originally published at Heatheronhertravels.com - Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

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Spending a day with the elephants at Chiang Mai Thailand

In this Guest Post Matthew Barby shares his day with the elephants at the Dante Elephant Camp in Chiang Mai, riding the elephants and playing with them in the river as well as enjoying the company of Do-do the baby elephant.

I spent some time, along with my partner, in the wonderful city of Chiang Mai in Thailand. Between us we had a long list of things that we wanted to do and places that we wanted to see, with seeing elephants being the prime focus of our excitement.

We had spent a lot of time researching into the best places to go in order to spend time with elephants as well as finding out information on how the elephants are treated in the camps. We decided to visit the Dante Elephant Camp which was around an hour drive away from our hotel, Lanna Mantra, and cost us 2,500 Baht ($85) per person. This cost included the journey to and from the camp, a really good lunch, water throughout the day and a full day (9am-5pm) with the elephants.

There are a lot of elephant camps across Chiang Mai and Thailand in general that really don’t treat the animals well. They are often trained to perform for the tourists, underfed and the mahouts (the elephant trainers) can be overly aggressive. The Dante Elephant Camp couldn’t be farther from this. They have a small amount of elephants on-site, around 15-20 in total, that have been taken in after the use of elephants for logging was made illegal 25 years ago (quite rightly so!).

It was clear to see that all of the mahouts on the camp had a very close, intimate bond with the elephants and would treat them with the utmost respect and care. What was also clear to see was that the elephants were all in really high spirits and were allowed to freely roam around the camp without the restrictions of chains. This was particularly good to see.

The journey to the elephant camp

We were picked up from our hotel at around 8am by one of the camp mahouts, and our bumpy journey up through the scenic jungle areas of Chiang Mai lasted for around an hour. In retrospect, the car journey to the camp was probably more treacherous than balancing on top of the elephants through the day!

Once we arrived at the camp we were told to put on some pretty jazzy clothes that essentially consisted of a top that looked like an old rug stitched together and some extremely baggy trousers. Needless to say, we looked pretty funky! It turned out to be quite fortunate that we were wearing these clothes instead of our own as the elephants seemed to have an unrelenting urge to squirt muddy water at us through their trunks. A charming welcome, I thought.

The first couple of hours were spent with a couple of the mahouts who educated us in the ways of the elephants, spoke to us a bit about the history of the camp and also told us some short commands that the elephants can understand. This was nice to hear because it really assured us and, not least, made us feel comfortable that the mahouts genuinely cared about the welfare of the animals and didn’t just treat them like a tourist commodity. Having said that, the harsh reality is that if they don’t bring in money from tourism then it’s highly unlikely that they will be able to sustain the camp.

Meeting the elephant family

Laura and I were the only ones on the trip so we literally had a free roam of the place without anyone else – which was awesome. I was given the daunting task of being the first to try and get on top of the big bull (oh, and when I say big I mean 3.5m tall big!). The mahouts were pretty good in showing me how ‘easy’ it is to do so, to avoid the risk of being emasculated, I marched up to the big guy, jumped onto his giant leg and, using his ear as a handle, threw myself over his back.

After some readjusting and a bit of a shaky start, (to say the least) I managed to at least look like I had a clue what I was doing on top of an elephant. At first I was pretty careful where I was putting my hands and how I was sitting, primarily because I didn’t want to hurt the elephant, but once I got into the swing of things I soon realised that my weight was nothing to one of these beasts. Bearing in mind that elephant skin is over 3cm in thickness, you can pretty much grab them anywhere to steady yourself and they will hardly feel it.

After some brief pottering around on the camp, we were ready to go off for a little trek through the forest. Laura was on-board one of the female elephants that was with calf, whilst I was on-board the bull. It was really great going out with the whole elephant family and added to the intimacy of the whole experience. ‘Do-do’ the young calf was like a human toddler; ambling around aimlessly under the close supervision of her mother, she was constantly looking for the next distraction to wander over to. She found particular interest in our shoes at the start of the trip which was really funny – well, it was at least funny for the mahouts as they watched me having to chase after Do-do to get my sodden flip-flop out of her mouth!

Bathing the Elephants in the River

After around 20 minutes of trekking through the forest we stopped by a river so that they elephants could cool off and get a drink. This also gave us the opportunity to grab a bucket and brush in order to give them all a good wash. This was great fun as we got to splash around with the elephants in the water and also get all of the dirt out of their skin.

When we first got to the river, the two adult elephants slowly crept into the water and started to submerge themselves. Once Laura and I had seen that they were in and comfortable we went to get in ourselves. The next thing we know, little Do-do has dived head-first between us and all that could be seen were her four legs up in the air along with her tiny trunk – like I said, just like a little mischievous toddler!

After some splashing around, we let the elephants wander off and share some valuable social time together. It was really amazing to see how maternal the mother is to her calf and you could see that as soon as little Do-do tried to run off and play with some stick that she has just found, Mum was there to reel her in. One thing that I didn’t realise until the mahouts told me was that elephants stay pregnant for around 22 months, so you can see why their bond is so strong.

Once the elephants had taken in some final slurps of water, we got back on top of them and rode them back to the camp, which was about 15 minutes away. By this point I felt a lot more comfortable and was riding my luck using no hands. That is until the big man decided he wanted to tear down a huge branch from the tree above me and nearly threw me down with it!

Final Impressions of the elephant camp

By the time we arrived back at the camp, both myself and Laura couldn’t quite believe what we had been spending our day doing. It really was a fantastic experience that not many people will have the opportunity of ever doing so I couldn’t recommend it more.

The Dante Elephant Camp that we went to actually brought down a photographer along with us through the trip and took some amazing shots along the way. We then had the chance to look through the photos at the end and pay a small price to get them put on a CD at the end. One of the mahouts also took along our camera and took a load of photos as we went, so they didn’t try to force you into buying the photos at all and we came back with hundreds of shots in the end.

All in all, a perfect trip. Although it may seem quite expensive at first, the Dante Elephant Camp prides itself in the correct treatment of its animals and it was clear to both me and Laura that this was definitely the case. My advice would be that if you do decide on going with a different camp, make sure that you do your research. I’ve heard of many people coming back upset about the state of the animals and the way they were treated at certain camps and that will just ruin your whole experience. On top of this, it is great to know that your money is going to a good and moral cause.

If you’ve spent any time at one of the many elephant camps in Thailand then let me know by leaving a message in the comments box below. I’d love to hear your thoughts on the differing experiences that people have had that could also provide good advice to other readers.

Many thanks for this article to Matthew Barby, owner of the Melted Stories travel blog. He’s an avid traveller and loves throwing himself into new experiences. Alongside this he has a passion for music, online marketing and is a complete social media addict. You can follow Matt on Twitter and Google+ to hear all of his latest ramblings.

More tales about elephants

Elephants encounters at Chiang Mai – in Thailand
My daughter’s elephant safari in Chitwan, Nepal
An encounter with the Desert Elephants of Namibia

This guest post is originally published by Heather Cowper at Heatheronhertravels.com - Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

You’ll also find our sister blog with tips on how to build a successful travel blog at My Blogging Journey

 Don’t miss out – subscribe to Heather on her travels

Touring Las Vegas’ Desert Landscape with the Kids

In this guest post from Helene Vece, we tour the desert landscape close to Las Vegas with the family, for camping, hiking and natural rock formations as well as some family friendly shows in the city itself.

It has been a year since I moved outside of Las Vegas to the sleepy town of Boulder City, Nevada. When I heard that my family, little ones included, was set to arrive in Vegas for a week, I thought I was more than qualified to play tour guide. I lived in Las Vegas for thirty years and thought I knew everything the city had to offer and more. One week later and my adventure took me to the best-unknown spots that Sin City could offer. I was more amazed than my guests because I had lived there. Las Vegas has this mystique about it. It is a city of legendary tales and also legends that headline! After my week in Las Vegas, I had discovered more about the city from a traveler’s perspective than I did living there. Most notable? That Las Vegas is extremely kid-friendly.

Scenic beauty at Red Rock

The family wanted an affordable and unpopular activity. They didn’t want to be crammed into a smoky casino with tons of other tourists, so we piled into two cars and headed west! Only a half hour away from Las Vegas is a beautiful natural display of amber colored mountains. The road to Red Rock is mostly desert. There are enough people on the road, so don’t expect to feel completely isolated. I had only been to Red Rock once and that was years ago. Now, Red Rock had its own visitor’s center and a drive through route for people who don’t like to hike or have mobility challenges. The route is a total of thirteen miles and well worth the cost – yes, you are charged a small fee per car. The sites are amazing and so are the photo opps. You can pull the car over to the side of the road and take photos with the family and/or with the scenery! The only misgiving of this adventure was the gift shop. Everyone was trying to get into the restroom at once so I advise packing a little patience on this short road trip.

Relaxing in the desert

Our family spent the next couple of days touring Las Vegas’ amazing desert landscape. We stopped at Spring Mountain Ranch State Park. Howard Hughes once owned this 520 acre ranch, which is now opened to the public. We spent the afternoon having a picnic and enjoying the trees, which are over 400 years old! The older children in our group took themselves on a self-guided tour of the ranch house’s interior. There were also plenty of volunteers around to help us figure out what trees and bushes were from what lineage. The ranch is a great way for the family to spend an afternoon without spending a lot of money. The best part is that it is only fifteen miles outside of Las Vegas. Bring a light jacket since the ranch is higher in elevation which made it about ten degrees colder when we arrived at the picnic area.

Native American history

One of the last natural Las Vegas adventures we took was to the Valley of Fire. We spent a night camping here. You are missing out on all Las Vegas has to offer if you don’t stop here. The Valley of Fire boasts 3,000 year-old Indian petroglyphs and it is only 36 dollars to camp per family! Yes, pets are allowed. The Valley of Fire was only an hour drive outside of Vegas. It is exactly 55 miles northeast of Las Vegas via Interstate 15. I am not the world’s greatest camper, but I was excited to see shaded tables, grills, water, and restrooms were readily available. There are numerous natural rock formations at the Valley of Fire. The kids all loved the different stories behind each formation. We picked up a few brochures to guide us from the visitor’s center. I would say the kids loved the White Domes the best. These formations were only a five minute drive from the visitor’s center. We walked, so it took a little longer. I would have to say if you could only chose between Red Rock, Spring Mountain Ranch or the Valley of Fire adventure, go with Valley of Fire. It is so breathtaking! All the kids had a wonderful time – as did the adults!

Classic Las Vegas showmanship

When we did head back to Las Vegas, our group decided to see the Penn and Teller show at The Rio. I was told this would be a great show for little kids. Of course, a ticket salesperson sold me this line. I would say use your own discretion. The show is fantastic. But there are lots of loud noises and the magic duo shoot a prop gun at the end which can be scary. If your children are sensitive and under age eight, I would hold off. The best part of this show (besides the locals discount) was the meet and greet at the end. Penn and Teller patiently stand outside the theatre and sign tickets or take photos with everyone who was at the show. This is a really nice thing for them to do considering another Vegas show charges a hundred dollars per person for the exact same experience!

My Vegas family adventure went on for several more days. I learned about artwork and gluten-free restaurants that I didn’t know existed. I discovered that Las Vegas has many more kid-friendly concessions than I originally thought or knew about, and I found that being a tourist in Sin City (or on the outskirts) is a wonderful thing that can be experienced with family or when visiting solo!

Many thanks for this article to Helene Vece who regularly writes for Vegaskids.info. She has lived in Las Vegas for 35 years, raised her kids in Las Vegas and for the last few years has been taking her grandchildren on daytrips or weekend trips to Las Vegas.

Photo credits: All photos belong to Vegaskids.info

Other family friendly experiences

A short drive around Texas Hill Country
Calgary’s family spirit for fun with the kids
9 cool things we did in Austin, Texas

This guest article is originally published by Heather Cowper at Heatheronhertravels.com - Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

You’ll also find our sister blog with tips on how to build a successful travel blog at My Blogging Journey

 Don’t miss out – subscribe to Heather on her travels

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