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| look close and you will see all the nasty little crabs on the beach |
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| The beach is covered with these large holes dug by the turtles |
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| Hobbled camel crossing the road. |
We started off Friday with a long breakfast at the hotel and
then swimming and games in the pool. After soaking up the sun we left Sifa by
water taxi. No dolphins this time just a nice ride to the marina where we
picked up our car. Since we were passing by we stopped in at the Mutrah souq
and did a bit of shopping. Saturday
morning we left for Sur and the Turtle Reserve at Raz Al Jinz. We drove up the
mountain behind our apartment and through Amarat and down the coast road
toward Sur. The sea on one side and the mountains on the other. Another
scorching day but it cooled down when we reached Raz Al Jinz. We stayed
overnight at the Sea Turtle Reserve, a place especially built by the government
for research and to show visitors the turtles in a controlled manner. At 9:00 Saturday
night we went to the beach with the guide, walked down in the dark and he
showed us a huge turtle in the process of laying her eggs in the sand. The female turtle comes ashore at night and
with her flippers scoops out a large hole for her to lie in when she is laying
her eggs. Then with her hind flippers, she scoops out an egg chamber and
proceeds to lay about 100 eggs. When she is finished she covers the eggs with
her back flippers first and as she moves forward she scoops up sand with her
front flippers, and throws it over her back to cover the eggs behind her. She
gradually moves ahead with the eggs behind her covered up. When finished she climbs out of the hole, in
front, she has made by covering the eggs, and leaving the eggs safely behind
covered by about 3 feet of sand, she
drags herself down the beach into the surf and out to sea. The beach is covered in exit pits and turtle
tracks. The babies hatch about 2 months later and we saw two cute little ones
on the way to the sea. It is a dangerous trip, they have to get past the foxes,
sea birds and nasty little crabs half their size, which are running all over
the beach. Next morning at 4:00 AM we
dragged ourselves out of bed to see it happen all over again and to take
pictures this time. I am amazed at how many turtles came to the beach. This is
one of the few beaches in the world where sea Green turtles nest all year
round. After it was over we flopped back
in bed for a few more hours sleep and after breakfast we set off for Muscat
this time taking the interior road leading to Muscat which is about 400
km. We saw so very many goats and camels
by the side of the road, they all roam free. And keep in mind all this is in 40 + Celsius.
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| Sink hole on the way to Sur |
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| Ever present goats |
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| At least this bunch were using the side walk |
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| Mamma turtle |
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| On the way back to the sea | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
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