We are back home from our little Eid holidays trip and all settled
back into our routine. It was a refreshing little break to my bro-in-laws place
in Muscat. The best part was the little family reunion -
Smera with catching up her cousins sisters and brothers and the night long
gossip sessions with the sister-in-law.
However the highlight of the trip was our visit to Ras-al-Hadd, very
famous for its green turtle nesting conservatory.
After couple of hours drive from the Muscat and overtaking
countless rocky mountains on either side, we pulled up to this place on a
secluded beach. The beach house belonged to one of our family friends and was
all ours for the duration of our stay. We settled in at once after a bit of
cleaning up. It was around 8 at night when we tucked in the noodles and chicken
and waited eagerly for the turtle trail.
It was a moonlit night and there is nothing like walking on the beach
with cool breeze hitting your face and sand in your shoes. We were a gang of
11, silently waiting to see the Green Turtles to come towards the land to lay
eggs. In the mean time, we made sure we kept the kids occupied by making sand
castles and interconnecting network of underground tunnels – it was so much fun
that even the adults enjoyed it.
From a distance we could see a few of the turtles slowly walking
towards the land, the waves helping them come ashore. The slowly walk towards
the land and find a good spot lay eggs. It takes them about 10-15 minutes to
dig a safe for them to lay eggs and once done they would cover it up, for them
hatch.
The entire experience was breathtaking, every element of the nature
helps nest here. The moon gives them enough light, the waves help the come on
to the shore, take them back once they are ready to go back and lastly the sand
provides a safe nest for eggs to hatch safely. Once the eggs hatch the tiny
new-baby turtle would quickly rush off to the sea. It’s magical to see them
swiftly walking towards the waves, the noise from the waves guides them home.
However there is a catch to it, you cannot make noise, use big torch
and click picture as it would disturb and the local guide makes all this rule
perfectly clear before the start of the tour. They would end tour right then if
we break even once single rule.
Oman takes pride in the fact that the Green
turtles have chosen their land to nest. With great care they make sure no harm
is done to them. During the conversation, the guide mentioned that some the
tagged turtles have been tracked as far as Africa.
If you are anytime around visiting Oman then I would highly recommend
you to visit this incredible place, almost close to heaven on Earth. To add
cherry on the top the drive from Muscat
to Ras al Hadd is picturesque, definitely one not to be missed.
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| The morning after the viewing the turtles, catching the glimpse of the Sun rising!! |
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| Heading to the waves |
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| Lost the path a bit but the sunshine helped him get back! |
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| Breakfast time |
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| Looking out for some more |
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| Sunshine and morning walk is good everybody's health, including this one's |
