Do you know the most difficult issue in travel planning? “How to plan everything so that if something goes wrong, everything still turned out the way you wanted?” Well, or with minimal losses.
So: even at the planning stage, we decided to try to get to Biryuchy Island, which did not surrender to us last year))) Unfortunately, it turned out that this year there are no visitors. And again he did not obey us… We decided to try instead of Biryuchy Island to get on a “safari” in Askania-Nova. They have a website, but the degree of reliability of the information is uncertain. Our acquaintances were there recently and had a good time on the “safari”. So we decided to call them and find out whether they are currently organizing safaris or not. This turned out to be a difficult task … At a time when patience was running out of uncertainty, we decided to reschedule the Obitochnaya Spit instead of Askania-Nova and Biryuchy Island. And what? Right. It was at this point that we were connected to Askania-Nova. They told us that the “safari” is being held now, but there is one “but” – nothing has changed in the Kingdom of Denmark and it is impossible to book time and place in advance. Well, well – let’s go and try ((because once it worked)))
In the process of preparation, the entropy increased when participants could not choose one of the two stickers))) Decided to leave both))

We did not try to catch up with Askania Nova from Kharkiv same day. Instead, we decided to spend the night on the Arabat Spit in the already known Chaika-3 campsite and in the morning come quietly and occupy the place, sit for an hour or two in the exhausting heat and get to the animals .. Impressive prospects(despite spending a night on a sea shore0< but what could we do)))

On the way we stopped to eat in the complex “Bourgeois“.

Everything is good there – wooden gazebos in the shade, peace and quiet, but the kitchen is very average. We got to the Arabat spit without incident)) But an unpleasant surprise awaited us on the spot – our favorite campsite no longer existed. Some local workers told us something vague about the reasons for closing the camp. We did not go deep – we needed to find a place to spend the night. We had to go around a bit to get to the next campsite. And there everything is jammed, but we found a couple of places in the corner. Unfortunately – not on the shoreline, but it’s better than nothing (unfortunately, in those places you can not just pay the tourist tax and put a tent on the beach in a place you like – so you have to look for campsites).
Set up camp, ate, drank tea and went to bed. At night a strong wind rose and it was good and not so hot! To our great joy, our new tent Terra Incognita Ksena 3 Alu withstood the night Azov wind with dignity, as we were advertised. One vicious circle is broken!
After breakfast we headed towards Askania Nova, but on the way we stopped at a salt lake for a bucket of delicious pink salt. In my opinion, except to buy salt, there is nothing more to do – there are less populated and beautiful places with salt water))
As we were told, we arrived by 1 p.m. And found out that the safari was canceled due to hot weather. It was extremely sad and unpleasant. There’s nothing you can do – go for a walk at the zoo. But not all – we decided that the dog should not go to the animals and one of us went to the arboretum. Well, do not sit in the car in such heat.

We walked, talked a little with the animals and wandered back. It turned out that our friend and dog were kicked out of the arboretum, although there are no prohibition signs. “If suddenly someone is scared” (C). Seems like the new quirks in Askania are getting stronger every year, but it’s a pity.
We decided to have a snack at the nearest and only place we saw “Cannes”. Choose from puree with chop or puree with chop and salad. Beauty? And no problems with uncertainty!)))

We can say that the main purpose of this expedition was to explore the Kinburn Spit for pink lakes and pelicans. We did not dare to go to the sands in the middle of the day with the prospect of wandering in the desert at night. So we went to spend the night in a favorite place in Kakhovka – Hotel “Privat” with the restaurant “”Vechornitsi“.

To our great joy for the promise of good behavior we were allowed with the dog in the hotel and restaurant. Thank you, good people!

We would love to have breakfast there, but ” Vechornitsi ” does not open so early and we took breakfast with us. And in the morning warmed up everything in the microwave in the kitchen of the hotel and hurried on the road.

On the way to the Heroys’ke, we decided to visit the Ajigol lighthouse. As it turned out, this way we greatly reduced the travel time, although we made a hook. Apparently, the Heroys’ke was called such by some wise man – to get there, you need to have strong and hardened nerves and suspension. Not everyone will do this)))
And the lighthouse was found quite easily. You can look at it from the shore, or somehow agree to take you to the lighthouse by boat. It seems that this process is even somehow organized, but I did not find accurate information.

In the course of the play we tried to find out from the locals how to see pelicans, with whom they seem to have a whole war. There have been many articles in the media about locals killing pelicans, even though they are listed in the Red Book because pelicans “eat their fish.” Unfortunately, no one told us where to look for birds ..
Arriving at the Heroic, we went to drink tea and eat ice cream in the already known містечко place.

And went first to the pink lakes. We did not find the road immediately, the loyalty of the road was determined by oncoming touring SUVs and once lifted the drone to determine the direction.

On the spot under the scorching rays of the midday sun we checked two pink lakes from all possible ways and angles.

In addition to the mountain of salt, there were rusty remains of pumps and a small canopy.

This canopy is the only shadow-forming structure in this place.
However, a lot of amazing and very nice vegetation around.

Unfortunately, this year Kinburn Camp did not open and we decided to go to the Recreation Center №3 “Rymbovsky”.

The road there is not the easiest. In building the route, we started from Google Maps and our landmarks from last year. Every year the roads change – there are parallel to broken or new due to changes in the boundaries of lakes. As it turned out, the easiest roads – along the northern coast of the spit. But part of the way in any case will be in the center and south, if you will be moving not to the edge of the spit. In some places there is very deep sand and large differences (3-7 meters) in height. It is very easy to sit in such a pit and you need to be very careful. And in general – roads on the Kinburn Spit are difficult and dangerous (well, or directions))))
We arrived in the middle of the day at the campsite, found the main ones and began to look for a place to park. The choice as a result remained between parking in a pine forest far from the sea and next to the children’s camp and parking on the edge of the beach without shade from the trees (all the bunches of trees on the beach were already occupied). We wandered here and there for a long time and decided. As a result, we decided that we will be very stuffy in the pine forest and went to set up camp on the shore. The leadership of the camp carefully refused us – in their opinion, no tents and nets can save us from such hell. They were wrong))) We had an agro-net with a density of 95%. Without that, we certainly would not have survived there, because under the usual tourist awning during the day it is so stuffy and hot that it is better to be in the pine forest.

As a result, we mostly got out from under the net only in the morning (before 9 am and in the evening after 5 pm). The children, led by counselors, did exercise on the beach in the morning, run during the day, and organized a disco in the evening … Next time we will try to find another campsite – not so crowded.
One of the goals was to catch and eat rapans. At the camp we could not find out any information about this and decided to go to the abandoned pier early in the morning and try our luck there, because mussels always live on the pier and they are eaten by rapans.

Our first campaign was unsuccessful. We saw people with nets of rapans, but they did not tell us anything, the water was muddy and the bottom was covered with algae.
In the evening we tried to reach the end of the spit, but after an hour we realized that we had to go back – it was getting dark, we were hungry and we were still only in the middle of the road. However, found a micro-shop with all sorts of goodies))) Of course at enormous prices, but still we are very happy with its existence)))

There are probably people who do not like to sit by the sea in the west and listen to the sound of the waves. But this is definitely not about us))) While we sat in the evenings, we found that the waves glow slightly. Personally, for the first time in my life I saw this beauty live! Unfortunately, I did not manage to photograph it .. But there are memories)))
The next morning we went to the pier again. I took my camera with me because a flock of cormorants was spotted on the pier.

And then I sat and waited while the hunt for delicious rapans was taking place)))

This time we were lucky – the bottom cleared a bit and we managed to collect a whole net for dinner! In addition to being very tasty, rapans are currently parasites in the Black Sea, an invasive species that has multiplied and threatens local clams populations.

That’s how several days passed under the hot sun with buzzing flies and mosquitoes, children’s cries and songs of local bards. We got really bored and managed to enjoy the sparkling sea and rapan stew. Now it’s time to move on))

Part two.