Alanya Jeep Safari: Dust, Water and the Taurus

A jeep safari is the excursion people either rave about for years or regret by lunchtime, and the difference is almost entirely about knowing what you signed up for. It is not a scenic drive. It is a convoy of open 4x4s going up a mountain on a dirt road, and everyone involved is going to get wet.

What the day actually looks like

Pickup is early, usually between 08:00 and 09:00, and the first hour is tarmac heading inland from the coast. Then the convoy turns off and the road becomes gravel and dust, climbing through orange groves into pine forest and past villages where the whole thing is greeted with a certain weary tolerance.

You stop for photographs at a viewpoint, for a walk at a stream or small waterfall, for lunch at a mountain restaurant, and for shopping at a village co-operative selling honey, herbs and soap. Back at the hotel between 17:00 and 18:00.

Somewhere in the middle of that, usually on the way back down, there is a water fight. Buckets, water pistols, villagers with hoses. This is not an accident and it is not optional in any meaningful sense.

Why people love it and why some hate it

The good version of a jeep safari is genuinely great. You get the Taurus at close range, you see how the villages an hour above the beach actually live, and the group in the back of an open jeep talks to each other in a way that a coach never manages.

The bad version is four hours of jolting on a hard bench in full sun with a headache. Which one you get depends on the vehicle, the driver and your own tolerance for chaos.

Who should not book one

Be honest with yourself here, because the operator will not be:

• Back or neck problems. The track is rough and the suspension is not there for your comfort.
• Pregnancy. Most operators will refuse, and they are right to.
• Very small children. Under about six it is a long, hot, loud day with nothing to hold onto.
• Anyone who does not want to be soaked. There is no dry seat on the way home.

If that list rules you out but you still want the mountains, the Sapadere Canyon trip covers similar country in a minibus, with a walkway at the end of it.

Packing, honestly

Bring these and the day works. Forget them and it does not.

1. 1Closed shoes. Trainers, not sandals. There is loose rock at every stop.
2. 2A dry bag or zip-lock for your phone. Every year somebody learns this the hard way.
3. 3A complete change of clothes, left in the vehicle or in your hotel bag.
4. 4Sunglasses and a cap that fastens. Dust and wind, both constant.
5. 5Sun cream applied before pickup, then again after the water fight.

Jeep safari or quad safari?

They get sold side by side and they are not the same thing. A jeep safari is a passenger day: someone else drives, the group is large, the route is long and lunch is included. A quad and ATV safari is a driving day: two to three hours, you are at the controls, the route is a loop closer to town and the dust is entirely your own.

Choose the jeep if you want the scenery and a full day out. Choose the quad if the point is to drive something yourself. Doing both in one week is a lot of dust.