YEDIBURUNLAR LIGHTHOUSE: 2009

This was my first attempt at photographing the moon setting over the sea last night. I don't know the camera well enough yet so I did not quite get it right. Probably a good idea to go back to the manual for a bit. In any case we are in the last week of the season and so far so good. A bit cloudy today, but still nice and warm. All the guests took a picnic lunch and went for a walk. Hopefully the weather will stay dry until everyone is back later this afternoon. The rest of the week is not looking to good. Rain forecasted for everyday, but knowing the weather around here we will probably have enough dry time in between to do some walk and hopefully the gulet cruise will happen on Tuesday.

Yesterday we had this crazy goat posing for us on the rocks. This was taken from down by the pool.

Amazing all the wildlife in the garden at the moment. It is like spring all over again, only less flowers. Bees, butterflies and dragonflies in abbundance. I took this one of a Clouded Yellow earlier today. I aquired my 1st DSLR camera recently and now spend my days wandering around our garden, which is a little paradise for wildlife, taking close-ups of as many of them as I could manage. Identification is not always a simple matter because the book I have is, to say the least, incomplete. In any case it is fun and a blessing to be so close to so many amazing creatures.

Our humble little pool. At least it has a view:-))

I love October at Yediburunlar. There are just so many moments like these. Moments of sublime beauty!

A picture of the main building with the flourishing garden in the foreground. Most of the plants in our garden were replanted from the forest to minimize the amount of watering we have to do during the long hot summer months. As we have no mains water supply up here in the mountains, all the water we use is driven up to the hotel from about 15km away. For this we have a small truck that I do the 2 hour round trip with every other day. It probably seems like a pain in the neck, but it is not at all. Just part of life in Yediburunlar.

All new blog coming from Yedi.

Welcome to the official blog of the Yediburunlar Lighthouse. We are a small hotel in the mountains overlooking the med. sea on Turkey's south coast. We offer personalised holidays to discerning travellers. Yedi is the type of place where people go to forget the stresses of modern day living. The location is breathtaking. There are mountain- and seaviews all around the hotel that are simply spectacular, but don't let me be the judge! Come and see for yourself.

To book a holiday at Yedi from May to October, contact our travel agent: http://www.exclusiveescapes.co.uk/

At any other time during the year please contact me directly via email: Leonhitge@hotmail.com

About Yediburunlar.

Quirky, quaint and quite breathtaking – that’s Yediburunlar Lighthouse, a holiday retreat like no other.

Perched 1,800ft up in Turkey’s Taurus mountains, teetering, to one side, on a near-sheer drop to the azure waters of the Mediterranean below, Yediburunlar is certainly off the beaten track.

When most people imagine Turkish holidays, they think of the resorts of Marmaris, Bodrum or Kusadasi – and some might even compare them to Blackpool.

But ‘Yedi’ – as those who know it call the place – is out there on its own, six kilometres along a track that bumps over farmland and winds through mountain villages after taking a turning off the ‘main’ road from Fethiye to Kalkan.

‘Yediburunlar’, in Turkish, means seven noses – describing the headlands that jut into the sea along this stretch of coast.

It’s not actually a lighthouse but a small hotel, sleeping a maximum of 12 guests in charming rooms with spectacular views down to the sea and across farmland to the mountains.

The building itself has a bit of a ramshackle look – all wood and stone – but it is absolutely captivating, a feeling complemented by the smells of the home-baked bread, herbs and spices as Turkish hostess Semra produces her mouth-watering vegetarian dishes.

Semra’s partner, South African Leon, built ‘Yedi’ from scratch and his pride in it is plain to see.

The first senses that strike you on arrival – apart from the splendour of the scenery – are the total peace and tranquility and the purity of the air.

Nothing beats sitting on the wooden balcony of your room in the early evening before dinner, gazing at the views in complete silence – apart from the bells of the goats as they graze on the terraces that slope down towards the sea and the occasional muted calls of the goatherds to their flock.

Leon offers guided treks around the surrounding area – and we joined him for three days, enjoying frequent sightings of wild tortoises, porcupine spines and ancient ruins in the middle of nowhere.

Some of the walks were fairly gentle – but the one winding down to the sea was a beast on the way back up!

All of this provides a huge appetite for Semra’s gorgeous food. It was all vegetarian – apart from fish one night – but I defy the most voracious meat-eater not to be won over by it.

The flavours she can get into a vege-cottage pie or a courgette soufflé are sensational.

On trek-free days we lazed around the small swimming pool, glancing down from the hammocks in between pages of our books to feast on the views.

Gorgeous though it is, I know that ‘Yedi’ wouldn’t suit everyone – for some it would be just too remote – but for us it was idyllic and there was a lump in our throat as we waved ‘goodbye’ to Leon, Semra and our fellow guests and set off for Destination 2.