Last year, Matt's parents came to visit us and we set out on an expedition to view turtle hatchlings. Sadly, nature was against us the night we went out and we came back with our cameras empty of turtle baby pictures. Somewhat completely bummed out, we wondered if we would ever have the chance again. Well not too long ago, we headed directly to the best turtle beach we knew of to see ourselves some turtles! We booked a campsite right next to the beach. We could not see it from our tent because of the vegetation but we were seconds from the beach. When we arrived,after a crazy ride through the sandy tracks with GPS coordinates leading us through what felt like uncharted territory, the campsite was deserted. A little warily we began setting up our things. I got a tad discouraged, I had expected a random person to approach us at any moment and tell us they would make sure a turtle guide came that night. Oh, and to also show us we weren't totally along in the wilderness. Soon though, that is exactly what happened. This Is Africa. T.I.A. We hurriedly made our dinner and waited for the guide. About an hour late, he came and rushed us to the beach in time to see 2 baby turtles.
We followed their progress down to the waters edge. It was amazing! Then, a few moments later, several more were spotted making their way down the beach. We didn't see any babies pouring out of the nests but we saw lots of them on the sand.
I was so excited and caught up in the moment that a freak wave (that is my story people) splashed me, and my camera. Sadly, it is dead now. Gone with the Waves. The last picture it ever took was of a baby loggerhead turtle. We left it to dry out 2 weeks, cleaned it well but alas! To no avail. Africa is hard on cameras! The next night we set out again to see turtles. We walked for kilometers, and saw 1 baby turtle. He seemed a bit confused, and we decided according to the tracks he had been caught by a ghost crab (one of the many elements these babies contend with) and our prescence had caused the crab to let go. Hence, we saved him. On the way back down the beach we saw something great. A female loggerhead turtle mom! We waited for a very long time before approaching her to see what she was up to. The guide said maybe it was her first time to go up the beach, she hadn't layed yet, and didn't seem to know what she was doing so we left her in peace as she tried to sort herself out. Then a little way on, we got to see a female leatherback turtle mom. She was HUGE! Again, no pictures because of the dumb wave. But just seeing her was amazing. As it was time for the guide to go home, we had to leave her there, it could have been quite awhile before she layed her eggs so we didn't get to see that, but just to see her..so cool. Very successful outings! After the 2 nights of turtle viewing we made out way out of the sandy, grassy dunes to civilization. I didn't mind too much, there were bugs, like everywhere. Giant ones. Tiny ones who penetrated our tent. Jumpy ones. Loud ones. Yucky.
However, the turtles are something we will never forget.
