Alti Agac National Park outing

K went on a day trip arranged by the International Women’s Club to Alti Agac National Park, about 1 ½ hours' drive from Baku. Ladies from many countries—10-15 from Azerbaijan and 15-20 from Scotland, Denmark, Trinidad, New Zealand, the US and ??—piled onto a bus and headed north, along the coast. 

Ladies ready for a fun outing SANS MEN

Oil derricks in the distance, it was good to see a few new looking wind turbines (made in Denmark) along the way. (no photo) Otherwise the scenery looked like this:

Alti Agaci lies in the eastern part of the Greater Caucasus and is one of 8 national parks in the country. There are also 22 nature reserves—parks being new since independence following the breakup of the Soviet Union. We had the good fortune to travel with a lady, now retired, who formerly served as chief ecologist of the country. We also had a guide hired for the trip. Both were wonderfully knowledgeable, though didn’t always agree—for example on species of trees in the park.

Alti Agaci means six beech trees. Way back when, distances were measured in 20 kilometer stretches, and a tree was planted at each 20 km mark (shows you how few trees there are—at least in some areas). The park is at 6 trees, or 120 km from Baku.

Poet's photo and arrest order

We stopped on the way at a memorial site to an Azeri poet and outspoken member of the Soviet resistance Mikayil Mashviq. He was arrested by the Soviets and killed, at age 30. His body was dumped in the Caspian Sea, so there is no grave, only this memorial museum. (photo of the obligatory statue is down below--can't move it for some reason)

fossilized sea creatures, from the Candy Cane Mountians

Another stop at the nearby so-called Candy Cane Mountains, with their distinctive layers of iron ore. We exited the bus to search for some kind of sea creature fossils, of which there were many pieces to be found—at least before each member of the large group had pocketed their fill…

The crew, several among them Haliburton wives

On to the park. As 8 of the 11 climate zones of Earth are found in Azerbaijan, it is not surprising that suddenly forests appear where only barren, windswept hills lie for miles around. The forest is lovely, with rather scrubby trees 10 – 20 feet in height. There are birch, oriental beech, and hornbeam trees, along with “many animals” –jackals, jehran (a type of gazelle), a few endangered leopards, many bears, and an overpopulation of wolves. The wolves are protected by the World Wildlife Fund (if I got that right), and are responsible for the rapidly decreasing population of jehran/gazelle.  A great scheme would be welcoming German hunters to come and pay big bucks to hunt the wolves, but that's far too un-PC  to happen.

The ecologist lady describes a very different forest in the south, along the Iranian border, that is unique in that it was not covered in ice during the Ice Age, because at that time the Caspian Sea was warm (if I have the story right). She led a team who drew up an application to UNESCO to have the forest declared a World Heritage site. The application was deferred, as the majority of the forest lies in Iran. 

The Park features a veterinary clinic and an animal rehabilitation center. We view a caged bear and are told that another had just been released "over that way" earlier that morning.
Some of the Azerbaijani ladies, one reportedly a university professor, feed sandwiches to the caged bear, over protests from the foreigners. Sigh.

Gotta wonder what happened here

resort where we had lunch--fab place for a swim!

view on way back