“We will go turtle watching tomorrow at Matura beach. That’s the best place for this”. The decision was announced by my colleague in my maiden trip to the Caribbean island. Though, I had heard of this tourist attraction it wasn’t my first choice for an evening in West Indies. I was pretty sure there would be more exciting things to do in this part of the world. That’s the image I had in my mind of Trinidad. The image was devastated within 24 hours of landing in Port of Spain.
Trinidad is a small island right at the tip of Central America with typical third world characteristics. For those of you who are looking at a Goa like vacation it’s definitely not the place to visit. There are hardly any beaches or resorts in Trinidad. (The island of Tobago has all the good vacation resorts). In fact Port of Spain is as noisy as it gets during business hours with narrow roads and traffic snarls during peak hours as people attempt to go to or come back from work. Trinidad is the place where the business is conducted. You can see massive construction going on at most places in the island with a lot of oil money getting pumped into the economy. The population consists of Africans and Indians in almost equal number with a few white faces around. Indians in Trinidad are hardly in touch with their roots back home as they have been settled here for generations. The language for communication is English but the accent is very pronounced (I had to strain myself to understand the English spoken even in the Business meetings).
It’s a small island which has a hilly terrain and commuting is not easy. Taxis are more expensive than in US. The other option is to get down to the road and wave any passing car for a ride. The driver will charge you less than a fraction of the taxi fare, but this mode is best left to locals who know their way around. There are a few malls in Port of Spain but they close by sunset and the only entertainment seems to be to visit the city square and sit on the benches doing nothing. You do get to see a lot of people selling music cds on the streets (mostly pirated though). There is hardly any night life and only a few good restaurants that usually close by nine. In a situation like this watching turtles seemed like the most exciting thing to do.
Matura beach was a two hour ride from our hotel on a road that was hilly and narrow in a region which had hardly any habitants. The only time to watch Turtles was around midnight. So we set off in a taxi after dinner through the secluded road which reminded me of the road trips I used to make with my parents during childhoods in interiors of India. We had some trouble finding the exact location where the Turtles can be seen but managed to reach there with the help of a local from a nearby hamlet. It was few miles off the highway on a dirt track. Driving to the place in the middle of the night with no lights and no sign of humans suddenly did not seem a very smart thing to do. We finally reached the security post before the beach signifying that it was a protected area. The guard at the post said we could not visit the beach as we had no permission from the City office. Now we had taken a not so pleasant drive for 2 hours to watch turtles and I had no plans to return back from the security post. It took a little persuasion and a couple of hundred TT Dollars for the guard to allow us entry in the beach.
We were told to buy tickets and pay for a guide to take us through the process of watching turtles. I thought this was taking things too far. What’s so difficult about watching some turtles? We just planned to stroll in the beach and watch a few of them before going back to the hotel. I wasn’t sure it was an activity to be taken so seriously. Actually I found the whole thing a bit silly. Driving two hours in the middle of the night to watch some turtles did sound like a silly idea, if not completely crazy. Well, we might as well watch them since we are here, said my friend.
The guide initiated us into the process by saying that the turtles have not yet come on the beach so we will need to wait for them to come out. Now this was getting crazier by the minute. We had a meeting early in the morning. I had a few questions for the guide and he better come up with convincing answers. His explanations actually got me interested in the whole process.
Leatherback Turtles are a rare species that visit the 8 kilometer stretch in the Matura beach to lay eggs during a 3 month period every year. A number of people come this far every night to watch them lay eggs. The guide was a part of the Turtle conservation project that was started with support of the Trinidad Govt conserves this rare species. We had the option of waiting at the post or at beach for turtles to show up. The cool breeze from the beach was tempting and the decision was made.
We strolled down to the beach which was full of darkness (we were not allowed to use any lights as turtles would be scared and not show up) but the sky above was a breathtaking sight. It had been ages since I had seen such a clear sky where one could point out all the stars we learnt about in school. We spent a good few minutes soaking up the experience of being in an environment far away from the pollution and noise. The breeze was cool and so were the sand and the sea water. We strolled across the beach just to enjoy the moment rather than look for turtles. The beach had uneven mounds of sand spread across the entire stretch which we were told were Turtle egg nests.
We finally settled down on one of the nests waiting for the turtle to show up. There were a number of volunteers of the project on the lookout for the turtles to emerge. They usually come after the tide becomes higher as the use the waves to swim on to the beach, said our guide. The wait lasted more than a couple of hours and as we were about to give up a message was received that one turtle had emerged on the other side of the beach.
We set off immediately and were warned not to take any pictures before the guide permitted us to do so. We saw a black turtle which must weigh about 200 Kg trying to dig a hoe in the sand in the beach. It was using its rear feet to dig the hole and remove the sand. It kept doing so till the hole was at least 4 feet deep and then started to lay eggs inside. It was one of the rare sights of nature to see an animal giving birth to its progeny after careful planning so as to protect the turtles that are born from becoming a prey to other animals in the beach. Having heard of a number of examples of the sophisticated manner in which the nature has developed a system for animals to survive and reproduce in the world, I was amazed to see a process like this unfolding before my eyes. The turtle continued to lay eggs for some time and at this point the volunteers allowed everyone to take pictures and touch the turtle. It lay around 100-120 eggs. The ones laid first are generally more productive and softer and are buried deep in the hole while the ones on top are harder and are meant to protect the productive ones from the other inhabitants of nature. The turtle starts filling the hole with the sand after the laying of eggs is complete and then goes on to create some dummy mounds in the beach sand to camouflage the actual nest. On an average each turtle comes to the beach a few times in the season to do this activity and only a few of the eggs actually survive for the babies to be born.
As we set off back to the city after viewing what was one of the most amazing sights of nature that I had seen, I imagined the beautiful sight of baby turtles running towards the sea after coming out of the nest. I smile broke out on my face thinking about the lovely sight.
Trinidad is a small island right at the tip of Central America with typical third world characteristics. For those of you who are looking at a Goa like vacation it’s definitely not the place to visit. There are hardly any beaches or resorts in Trinidad. (The island of Tobago has all the good vacation resorts). In fact Port of Spain is as noisy as it gets during business hours with narrow roads and traffic snarls during peak hours as people attempt to go to or come back from work. Trinidad is the place where the business is conducted. You can see massive construction going on at most places in the island with a lot of oil money getting pumped into the economy. The population consists of Africans and Indians in almost equal number with a few white faces around. Indians in Trinidad are hardly in touch with their roots back home as they have been settled here for generations. The language for communication is English but the accent is very pronounced (I had to strain myself to understand the English spoken even in the Business meetings).
It’s a small island which has a hilly terrain and commuting is not easy. Taxis are more expensive than in US. The other option is to get down to the road and wave any passing car for a ride. The driver will charge you less than a fraction of the taxi fare, but this mode is best left to locals who know their way around. There are a few malls in Port of Spain but they close by sunset and the only entertainment seems to be to visit the city square and sit on the benches doing nothing. You do get to see a lot of people selling music cds on the streets (mostly pirated though). There is hardly any night life and only a few good restaurants that usually close by nine. In a situation like this watching turtles seemed like the most exciting thing to do.
Matura beach was a two hour ride from our hotel on a road that was hilly and narrow in a region which had hardly any habitants. The only time to watch Turtles was around midnight. So we set off in a taxi after dinner through the secluded road which reminded me of the road trips I used to make with my parents during childhoods in interiors of India. We had some trouble finding the exact location where the Turtles can be seen but managed to reach there with the help of a local from a nearby hamlet. It was few miles off the highway on a dirt track. Driving to the place in the middle of the night with no lights and no sign of humans suddenly did not seem a very smart thing to do. We finally reached the security post before the beach signifying that it was a protected area. The guard at the post said we could not visit the beach as we had no permission from the City office. Now we had taken a not so pleasant drive for 2 hours to watch turtles and I had no plans to return back from the security post. It took a little persuasion and a couple of hundred TT Dollars for the guard to allow us entry in the beach.
We were told to buy tickets and pay for a guide to take us through the process of watching turtles. I thought this was taking things too far. What’s so difficult about watching some turtles? We just planned to stroll in the beach and watch a few of them before going back to the hotel. I wasn’t sure it was an activity to be taken so seriously. Actually I found the whole thing a bit silly. Driving two hours in the middle of the night to watch some turtles did sound like a silly idea, if not completely crazy. Well, we might as well watch them since we are here, said my friend.
The guide initiated us into the process by saying that the turtles have not yet come on the beach so we will need to wait for them to come out. Now this was getting crazier by the minute. We had a meeting early in the morning. I had a few questions for the guide and he better come up with convincing answers. His explanations actually got me interested in the whole process.
Leatherback Turtles are a rare species that visit the 8 kilometer stretch in the Matura beach to lay eggs during a 3 month period every year. A number of people come this far every night to watch them lay eggs. The guide was a part of the Turtle conservation project that was started with support of the Trinidad Govt conserves this rare species. We had the option of waiting at the post or at beach for turtles to show up. The cool breeze from the beach was tempting and the decision was made.
We strolled down to the beach which was full of darkness (we were not allowed to use any lights as turtles would be scared and not show up) but the sky above was a breathtaking sight. It had been ages since I had seen such a clear sky where one could point out all the stars we learnt about in school. We spent a good few minutes soaking up the experience of being in an environment far away from the pollution and noise. The breeze was cool and so were the sand and the sea water. We strolled across the beach just to enjoy the moment rather than look for turtles. The beach had uneven mounds of sand spread across the entire stretch which we were told were Turtle egg nests.
We finally settled down on one of the nests waiting for the turtle to show up. There were a number of volunteers of the project on the lookout for the turtles to emerge. They usually come after the tide becomes higher as the use the waves to swim on to the beach, said our guide. The wait lasted more than a couple of hours and as we were about to give up a message was received that one turtle had emerged on the other side of the beach.
We set off immediately and were warned not to take any pictures before the guide permitted us to do so. We saw a black turtle which must weigh about 200 Kg trying to dig a hoe in the sand in the beach. It was using its rear feet to dig the hole and remove the sand. It kept doing so till the hole was at least 4 feet deep and then started to lay eggs inside. It was one of the rare sights of nature to see an animal giving birth to its progeny after careful planning so as to protect the turtles that are born from becoming a prey to other animals in the beach. Having heard of a number of examples of the sophisticated manner in which the nature has developed a system for animals to survive and reproduce in the world, I was amazed to see a process like this unfolding before my eyes. The turtle continued to lay eggs for some time and at this point the volunteers allowed everyone to take pictures and touch the turtle. It lay around 100-120 eggs. The ones laid first are generally more productive and softer and are buried deep in the hole while the ones on top are harder and are meant to protect the productive ones from the other inhabitants of nature. The turtle starts filling the hole with the sand after the laying of eggs is complete and then goes on to create some dummy mounds in the beach sand to camouflage the actual nest. On an average each turtle comes to the beach a few times in the season to do this activity and only a few of the eggs actually survive for the babies to be born.
As we set off back to the city after viewing what was one of the most amazing sights of nature that I had seen, I imagined the beautiful sight of baby turtles running towards the sea after coming out of the nest. I smile broke out on my face thinking about the lovely sight.
Deepak Bhatia
1 comment:
Nice adventure.
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