There was just one catch to our bargain holiday. The flight left Manchester at 5.00am. That meant check-in from 2.00am which in turn meant leaving home at just around midnight.
A non existent night's sleep was a small price to pay!
On the plus side I have never been through security as fast despite the most intensive check I have had yet. There was no-one else there, the airport was virtually deserted. Most of the shops and cafes were shut too so we had to forsake the traditional pre flight beer.A small sacrifice indeed.
I had arranged a hire car but had decided to pick it up in the resort on our second full day.
Very sensible.The traffic in Corfu Town was pretty hectic and I was not fully wide awake after a nights travel. The coach transfer was by far the better option. Sit back , enjoy the scenery and besides, I'm always curious to see the other hotel drop off spots too.
Ours was the last drop but by no means the least desirable, on the contrary we were both delighted in what we found. Our apartment block, one of three small ones with a large garden area, was spread over two floors. A bedroom upstairs with a balcony enjoying the sun from first light to early evening and views over olive groves and distant hills.
Not only that but on our first morning I was delighted to find there were plenty of birds around from a distant Stonechat having an insect field day
to a Buzzard sitting in a nearer tree.
There were plenty of birds about but nothing I can't see at home. Well not in the hotel grounds anyway.
Downstairs we had the bathroom, a small kitchen area which included a fridge, two hobs, a kettle and a microwave oven. We had no intention of any serious self catering but the ability to make a cup of coffee and a lunch time sandwich taken on our shaded terrace overlooking the garden and pool area was ideal.
Right in front of us there was a fig tree that was attracting House Sparrows and Blackcaps for a fruity feast.
We even had a Jay visit, but as usual they were as furtive here as they are at home!
A walk around the neighbourhood which was a fairly green area produced a single Whinchat
and a roof with a dozen or so Barn Swallows suggested they might be on a migration path.
On the walls I would spot the odd Lizard, this one if I have the ID correct is an endemic to Greece.
There wasn't a lot to excite me that's was for sure but I wasn't too bothered. I had hoped that during the course of the 10 days I would find perhaps 1-5 new species to photograph to add to my year list.The priority was good weather, good food and some R&R for Claire.
The resort of Roda, at the very northern end of Corfu is a fairly small one and at this time of year was extremely quiet as the season was rapidly coming to an end. Lots of places had already packed up for the year but there was still plenty of choice.
A short walk of a few minutes had you down at the beach for a sunset pre-dinner drink.
It was all very charming and just what we hoped for!
The package was so inexpensive we didn't think twice about the cost of eating out but in actual fact I thought it quite reasonable, certainly cheaper than the UK. A 500ml beer was 3 euro, a meal of two courses and a couple of beers, maybe a litre of house wine would be around 50 euros.
Oh and the food was excellent! Nothing too fancy, just good tasty local Greek dishes.
Our favourite was the grilled Octopus!
The best I have tasted at 13 euro per portion, slightly more expensive than most dishes but worth every cent!
Whilst Claire was more than content to stay by the pool all day, I looked forward to collecting my hire car, then I could investigate further afield!
My preliminary investigation before leaving home had revealed that there wasn't too much information about birding in Corfu. Unlike some of the islands like Lesbos, Corfu is on the western side of mainland Greece and not quite on the major migration highway some other islands are but nevertheless there were some suggested spots worth checking out and one was just a few kilometres away.
Great stuff... bring them on!
T.B.C.
A non existent night's sleep was a small price to pay!
On the plus side I have never been through security as fast despite the most intensive check I have had yet. There was no-one else there, the airport was virtually deserted. Most of the shops and cafes were shut too so we had to forsake the traditional pre flight beer.A small sacrifice indeed.
I had arranged a hire car but had decided to pick it up in the resort on our second full day.
Very sensible.The traffic in Corfu Town was pretty hectic and I was not fully wide awake after a nights travel. The coach transfer was by far the better option. Sit back , enjoy the scenery and besides, I'm always curious to see the other hotel drop off spots too.
Ours was the last drop but by no means the least desirable, on the contrary we were both delighted in what we found. Our apartment block, one of three small ones with a large garden area, was spread over two floors. A bedroom upstairs with a balcony enjoying the sun from first light to early evening and views over olive groves and distant hills.
Not only that but on our first morning I was delighted to find there were plenty of birds around from a distant Stonechat having an insect field day
to a Buzzard sitting in a nearer tree.
There were plenty of birds about but nothing I can't see at home. Well not in the hotel grounds anyway.
Downstairs we had the bathroom, a small kitchen area which included a fridge, two hobs, a kettle and a microwave oven. We had no intention of any serious self catering but the ability to make a cup of coffee and a lunch time sandwich taken on our shaded terrace overlooking the garden and pool area was ideal.
Right in front of us there was a fig tree that was attracting House Sparrows and Blackcaps for a fruity feast.
We even had a Jay visit, but as usual they were as furtive here as they are at home!
A walk around the neighbourhood which was a fairly green area produced a single Whinchat
and a roof with a dozen or so Barn Swallows suggested they might be on a migration path.
On the walls I would spot the odd Lizard, this one if I have the ID correct is an endemic to Greece.
There wasn't a lot to excite me that's was for sure but I wasn't too bothered. I had hoped that during the course of the 10 days I would find perhaps 1-5 new species to photograph to add to my year list.The priority was good weather, good food and some R&R for Claire.
The resort of Roda, at the very northern end of Corfu is a fairly small one and at this time of year was extremely quiet as the season was rapidly coming to an end. Lots of places had already packed up for the year but there was still plenty of choice.
A short walk of a few minutes had you down at the beach for a sunset pre-dinner drink.
It was all very charming and just what we hoped for!
The package was so inexpensive we didn't think twice about the cost of eating out but in actual fact I thought it quite reasonable, certainly cheaper than the UK. A 500ml beer was 3 euro, a meal of two courses and a couple of beers, maybe a litre of house wine would be around 50 euros.
Oh and the food was excellent! Nothing too fancy, just good tasty local Greek dishes.
Our favourite was the grilled Octopus!
The best I have tasted at 13 euro per portion, slightly more expensive than most dishes but worth every cent!
Whilst Claire was more than content to stay by the pool all day, I looked forward to collecting my hire car, then I could investigate further afield!
My preliminary investigation before leaving home had revealed that there wasn't too much information about birding in Corfu. Unlike some of the islands like Lesbos, Corfu is on the western side of mainland Greece and not quite on the major migration highway some other islands are but nevertheless there were some suggested spots worth checking out and one was just a few kilometres away.
Great stuff... bring them on!
T.B.C.
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