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| photo by Steve Leighton (Wikipedia) |
I'll never forget the trip we made to "Turtle Beach" in Oman. A four hour drive from Muscat along the coastal road to Sur was quite scary as we navigated our way through the mountains and along cliff edges. The kiddos thought it great fun to be bouncing, twisting and turning! At one point we almost drove off the cliff edge-angels for sure were watching over us that day-only the sudden brake lights of the 4x4 in front of us allowed us a narrow escape.
It was an adventure never to be forgotten. Arriving late in the evening, we stayed in huts, pictured above. They are made from Palm tree fronds on the sides and dried grasses on the roof. They are traditional Omani huts except for the ceiling fans to keep cool!
After a traditional Omani meal under the stars, we waited up until late into the night for our guide to take us the short walk to the beach. The night viewing of sea turtles laying eggs in the sand was fantastic. After laying eggs, they will be buried in the sand and around 80 days later will hatch.
This turtle beach is known as Ras Al Jinz and is a protected area. A few hours later in the early dawn hours, we were able to view another nest of eggs hatching. Only one turtle out of every thousand will survive to adulthood. This nature reserve is doing its best to give the turtles the best chance of survival. Most turtles eggs are killed by local foxes who find the nest or once hatched, by crabs who lie in wait on the sand to catch the baby turtles before they reach the water.
We had the great privilege of carrying buckets to catch the baby turtles before they reach the water. They are then kept in a specially designed aquarium for a while before being taken to the shore for release. Kiddos No.1 & 2 still have memories of the day they rescued the baby turtles as they hatched. Having forgotten my camera I can only describe the hundreds of babies trying to make it to the water while we all ran around chasing the crabs who were trying to eat them. Kiddo No.1 was very proud to hold one of the rescued babies, only for it to wiggle, dropping from her hand! Thankfully it survived the foxes, the crabs and an excited 6 year old!
