Idyllic Dilek

A PLACE OF TRANQUIL NATURAL BEAUTY AND SOME VERY FRIENDLY WILD BOAR.

The Dilek peninsular on Turkeys Aegean coast is a place of natural beauty. The crystal clear waters lap the shore with the mountainous Greek islands visible in the background. Many colourful flowers spring out of the rocks along the pebbled beaches and the lush green landscape surrounds this idyllic wildlife haven.

There are many picnic tables strewn around on the beach and amongst the trees and its an ideal place to spend a day eating, swimming or taking a stroll to the amazing tree lined canyon with rugged rock formations visible at every twist and turn.

Very soon after we arrived we spot a family of Wild Boar, a mother with her babies. Although adult boar are not the prettiest of earths wild animals their babies are totally adorable. A much lighter tan colour than their mothers dark bristly coat, with black and yellow striped fur running the length of their backs. Their snouts look far too big for their slim faces as do their eyes that are edged with incredibly long eyelashes.

This family seem to be quite shy of people and soon run off to hide into the thick bushes.

We sit down, setting out our picnic in the shade of the trees and enjoy the cool breeze gently blowing while we stare out at the wonderful views across the beautiful turquoise sea.

I hoped we would see more boar and I was delighted when another Sounder arrived, with a litter of squeakers. They gather around us eager to share our lunch, This family isn't at all shy of people as they grab whatever morsels are thrown their way and edge themselves closer and closer to us until they are almost feeding from our hands. The babies do not seem to have any fear of us whatsoever as they fight and scuffle over each scrap of food that falls their way, their little snorting noises sound so hilarious.

However, Mum gets a little bit too close for comfort when she snatches the last remains of a sandwich from Hugh's hand, although she didn't do any damage, I am pleased to say he still has all his fingers. What a delightful way to spend an afternoon.

After we finish our picnic with the boar we decide to drive around to see if we can spot any other wildlife here, the scenery really is spectacular in every direction. We didn't see much else in the way of wildlife apart from a squirrel but on our way back we came across another Sounder of boar outside a restaurant. We stopped to take more photos and my partner decided to film them with his new iPhone but just as he leant forward to get a closer view a boar snatched the iPhone straight out of his hand thinking it was food! He shouted at the boar and she dropped it immediately much to his relief but I couldn't stop laughing, it really was hilarious to watch and his iPhone survived with just a few boar teeth marks on the screen.

Unfortunately I was laughing too much to get a photo of his iPhone in the boars mouth, what a photo that would have been.

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