Tolga Kanık

What is a confluence and where there is one? Here is the link answering all your questions:

http://confluence.org

We went the extra mile to discover the unknown Turkey by reaching out to places where nobody has never explored before. Each of our Degree Confluence expedition turned out to be an exhilarating experience with unforgettable memories. The link below will take you through a journey in our world of Degree Confluence adventures.

December 12-13, 2009

41N 33E

Another fully equipped confluence weekend just began in Ankara. We took the highway D750 up to Cerkes junction. From there, we turned right into Cerkes route. Once we reached Cerkes, we turned right onto the route D100 for only a kilometer. Then we turned left due north towards Ercek village near the DCP. That time on, some complex village roads seen on our map were indirectly reaching the village. Unfortunately, it turned out not to be that way. The farmland roads were rather confusing yet, some wern’t’t even plotted on the map. In the end, we ended up giving up on asking where we were and rather using our senses and knowledge of topography for determining the most logical route onto the DCP. We still don’t quite know how but after a prolonged driving session, having gone past a significant number of roads and junctions, we somehow managed to approach to the intersection as close as 120 meters. We were mentally exhausted though, so it was time for a good night sleep.

November 26-30, 2009

41N 32E

On a sunny day at 13:00 we met with Derya in Ankara and set off on the road for our traditional bank holiday DCP hunt. This time we are going discover western Turkey visiting confluences along the latitudes 39, 40, 41 and 42.

Leaving the motorway E-80 behind at Yenicaga exit, we drove up to Yedigoller national park. Enroute, we pulled up and reached the DCP amidst lovely green nature. After quite a few shots we moved on to DCP 41N 30E.

December 06-13, 2008

06th of  December 2008 Saturday

40N 36E

Another bank holiday good for another adventure! We are going to aim 12 DCPs in 8 day time all accross the northeastern Turkey. Thanks to our previous DCP expeditions, we gained a lot of experience. As a matter of fact, we literally did not  take chances on anything. We gathered geographical information such as Google Earth and Google Map images for route accession, digital topographic maps of various scales, downloaded Google Earth data with integrated maps for off-line access, uploaded maps and designated optimum confluence routes to our Garmin CSX GPS, a decent scale road book, Map Source software enabling us reach all the route data within moments notice. Moreover, we brought crampons, ice axes, a chain for the car tire, a tank of reserve fuel not to get stuck in the middle of nowhere, all sorts of camping equipment, a couple of radios and even a pair of pruning shears with an axe to overcome impassible vegetation of the Black Sea region. We were then well equipped and ready for the challenge more than ever!

read more ›

December 31, 2006 – January 03, 2007

This years’s bank holiday is allocated to our confluence project about which we’d been thinking for a long time. We had only four days. Therefore, we were well aware of the fact that it was gonna be a big hectic struggle from one point to another everyday. Having finished all the long and tiring preparations and gathered necessary equipment furnished with useful software, we hit the  road at 01:00 o’clock.

22-May-2004 

40N 32E

On a very sunny and breezy day in Ankara, me and Derya decided to go ahead and find one of the undiscovered intersection points of latitudes and longitudes, and that was of 40N 32E. Our decision was to do this trip on our bikes, as we love biking. The point was within close proximity of Oymaağaç village.

read more ›