Okçular is a small village on the Dalyan to Ortaca road about five or six minutes away from Dalyan by dolmus. To the south of the village lies a small mountain range which separates the Köycegiz Delta from the Dalaman Delta whilst to the north of the village lies low lying arable farming land punctuated with the occasional small scrub clad hill. Okçula is an authentic Turkish village and has managed to so far avoid the commercial development (both in tourism and industrial) that has seen the loss of natural habitat that has crept into places like Dalyan for example. Indeed the village itself has managed to emerged from a struggle to prevent outside companies from building a quarry and cement factory and this is even more impressive as work had already started on the project. Thankfully, that area is the site of rare plants and this was brought to the attentions of the authorities before it was too late.
We are going to do part of 'Walk One' from Alan Fenn’s book ‘ Okçular Village -A Guide’ written in both English and Turkish it chronicles how the village fought this struggle and covers a little of the history of the village and the immediate area; the flora and fauna. From a birding point of view this walk offers a variety of habitat and the chance of localised specialty birds Rupples Warbler and Kruppers Nuthatch. Kocerde Valley pictured above is part of the walk and can be good for raptors.
You can get to this walk by Dolmus, bike or car. If you go by Dolmus you simply get the return Dolmus back to Dalyan from the LeyLey Restaurant . If you go by bike or car you’ll have to consider that you’ll have to retrace you steps to where you parked your car or left your bike.
Directions : View or download the PDF file below.