Day 16 -Wednesday 10th June

Alex had told us yesterday we'd be setting out at 9am today for our trip on the Danube Delta. At one stage he'd thought we would be starting at 8am and so we were pleased when he changed it to 9am.

It took ages for the hot water to arrive when I had a shower. When I got out of the shower (in the bath tub), the shower curtain rail fell down. It wasn't fixed to the wall in any way - it was just jammed in between the tiled walls at either end.

When we went to breakfast in the hotel restaurant on the mezzanine level, there was almost nobody there. The breakfast wasn't as good as we'd had at the hotel in Bucharest.

Various forecasts in recent days had predicted rain for today. So far it was a pleasant day - sunny with some clouds and about 20C.

At 9am, Alex was waiting for us - having a smoke on the promenade outside our hotel. He took us towards the boat and along the way we met George who would be the boat driver and guide for our trip on the Danube Delta.

We hadn't been sure if we would be the only ones on the boat and we weren't sure how big the boat would be. It turned out that there would only be the four of us on board - Suzy and me plus Alex and George - and the boat was just a tinny - just big enough for the four of us.

I was unsure about the wisdom of exploring the Danube Delta in such a small vessel. The metal bench didn't look comfortable and there was no shade cover for such a warm sunny day. I also wondered about the stability of the boat - especially considering the equipment I was carrying - new camera, iPhone, etc.

Setting off from the bank wasn't easy. We went down steps to the boat - no wharf etc. Then George had to manoeuvre the boat under the tie ropes from larger vessels. My confidence didn't increase when the outboard motor kept stalling.

Eventually we heading off east away from the Tulcea port area along the main channel for about 10 minutes before turning north-east into Channel 36. Apparently this means that the channel is 36 nautical miles from the mouth of the Danube - where it meets the Black Sea.

In the main channel, George said we had to wear life jackets. Apparently there have been some drownings recently in the main channel where fast moving vessels have caused smaller vessels to overturn and so the authorities had introduced the rule to wear life jackets.

On the banks, we regularly saw fishermen fishing with rods and occasionally boats too. It wasn't clear how some of them had got there. Further on, we started to see shacks on the river bank. Invariably each shack was inhabited and had a dog.

One of the main purposes of visiting the Danube Delta had been to see the bird life. We saw a few birds in the early stages but not as many as I'd hoped for. I was still busy taking photos along the way. Some parts of the channel were quite narrow - we often had to duck down to avoid branches.

After about two hours, we stopped and got off onto dry land. It turned out to be a man-made wall. Apparently Ceacescu had built dam-like walls in various parts of the delta to drain large areas with the intention of creating farmland.

There was a helicopter hovering in the distance and George was afraid it would frighten off the birdlife. Before we set off again, I changed the lens on my camera to the zoom lens.

George's concerns about the wildlife proved to be unfounded. I was kept busy zooming in on birds left right and centre. George really new what he was doing. At times he would stop the motor so we could float silently to observe the birds and hear the sounds of the river.

A little further on, he turned off and headed towards trees where dozens of birds were sitting in the trees. There were often nests in the trees and birds were flying to and fro everywhere. There were plenty of photo opportunities.

Later we spotted two beautiful swans in the middle of a wide body of water. George positioned the boat so I could take photos and then moved the boat towards them so they would fly off right before our eyes. It was an amazing sight to see them skipping over the lake.

Soon we came across a junction of channels where we saw a tourist boat and a rubber duckie that seemed to be full of scuba divers. As we approached I was taking photos of these vessels. But as we got close, a man in the rubber duckie was yelling excitedly at us.

Apparently it was a police vessel and he was telling me that I wasn't allowed to take photos. He calmed down when George reassured him that I was deleting the photos I'd taken.

Initially we were puzzled about what the police were doing but we soon came across various boats with large nets. Apparently these people were poachers and the police were waiting to capture them in the act.

Many photos later, we stopped for lunch at a wharf. George had organised for a couple he knows to cook lunch for us. This middle-aged couple live there with their dog and two cats in shacks on the river bank. There have a small farm where they grow there own food.

The woman had cooked fish in a large open-air kettle. She served up the fish on a large metal tray and then served up a delicious fish soup from the kettle. We sat down at their large timber bench under a timber frame covered in vines. By that time it was quite hot and we consumed lots of the bottled water they provided.

There was an outhouse toilet in the corner of their island property. I was a simple timber structure. Inside there was a timber bench with a hole cut into it and topped with a toilet seat. Below this was a deep dark hole in the ground. It did the job.

Soon after we had arrived, George and the man were having a heated conversation. I was concerned that there was a big problem, but it turned out that George had told him about the police and the photos. The man was angry that the police had been so unreasonable.

We'd arrived at the lunch spot at about 12:45 and we set off again just after 2pm. We followed the various channels back to Tulcea and arrived just before 4pm. Along the way I had the opportunity to take more photos. It had been a great experience.

Back on shore, we went to the local supermarket to get some items we needed. Then we bought some ice creams and sat next to the promenade to admire the scenery. The laundry that I'd left with housekeeping this morning was waiting for us in our room - neatly folded or hanging as appropriate.

For dinner, we strolled past some of the other cafes but decided to go back to the hotel to eat at the same place as last night - on the terrace overlooking the river. It was another great meal - good food and wine.

George had predicted that a thunderstorm would arrive at 5pm. Although threatening clouds came and went all day, there was no storm. However, the clouds were hiding the sun and so we didn't get the spectacular sunset that we'd witnessed last night.