Turtle-tastic in Tankah
Trip Start
Jun 29, 2011
1
10
Trip End
Jul 31, 2011
Tankah, Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Saturday, July 23, 2011
We couldn't believe it....all these tiny turtles were appearing out of nowhere and heading for the sea with such speed and focus that their bodies could hardly keep up with their determination. They were beautiful and gorgeous, and after a few metres of sand they then had a metre and a half of rocks and coral to get over between them and the sea....so we watched as this amazing spectacle unfolded before our very eyes. A few of the little darlings got themselves stuck headfirst in holes in between the chunks of coral, so we moved them out of the way so they could start their first voyage into the sea!
Watching them was utterly magical... you just couldn't believe what was happening and how quickly it was happening. Once the little tortugitas made it to the sea they darkened in colour by a few shades to looking nearly black....and then they just swam off and were gone in a few seconds into the big blue Caribbean. These particular baby turtles were Loggerhead (an endangered species which nests here on the Mexican Caribbean coast) and if they make it to adulthood then in 20 years time they will come back to nest on this very beach. So the whole experience probably only lasted about 8 minutes, but we were utterly exhilarated and on a totally high for the rest of the evening...we just couldn't believe how lucky we had been, if we hadn't caught the snake we would have missed this once in a lifetime experience.
On Monday morning we decided to snorkelling at a lagoon near Akumal called the Yal Kú lagoon. The surrounding land had been made into a sculpture park, which was cool. Once we got in the water we were in quite an interesting aquatic environment because it was an area where saltwater and freshwater meet...so we were looking at mangroves (which are nurseries for lots of underwater species). We saw loads of fish and had a really good morning. For lunch we went to a little beach bar near Tulum beach, which advertised that it served the best fish tacos in the world....so obviously we tried them and they were really really delicious :-)
In the evening we had organised a totally amazing ecological experience with the Office of Flora, fauna and culture - we were going to a protected beach to watch green turtles come on to the beach at night to lay their eggs. We had already had one close encounter with turtles on the beach, and we were so excited about watching the female turtles build their nests. So when we arrived there were three other people and we had two guides, Jose Luis and Elizabeth. So they told us all about the turtles and we learnt loads while we waited untill one of the females was on the beach.
When we got called to the beach we were so excited....after a short walk along the sandy shore in the dark we saw the red light of a torch at the location of one of the turtles. The beautiful green turtle, which was about 110cm long, had dug itself a large bowl in the sand and at the bottom there was a perfectly formed deep hole about 30cm across and 50cm deep. When we approached the turtle it had started to lay its eggs into the hole. It was a magical experience and we continued to watch it for about 30 minutes until all of the 100-120 eggs had been laid.
When it had finished, the turtle then expertly covered over and patted down the sand with its' rear flippers to protect the eggs and then proceeded to shovel sand on top to disguise the location of the nest. All through the experience we were able to ask questions from Elizabeth and Jose Luis and so managed to learn loads about the complete life of a turtle. When it had nearly finished, an adjacent turtle left her nest and started walking back to the sea and so we went and watched it slip back into the sea.
On Tuesday we had a lie in after the late and exciting night and then a chilled day by the pool and played in the kayaks. We had a nice lunch in Akumal (Nat had a roasted vegetable and Houmous Pitta which she found very exciting) and shopped.
Wednesday was the day we planned to go diving, so we left the rest of the Boxshalls at the house, and then went to Akumal to go out on the 11 o'clock boat. The boat ride was a short five minutes out to the reef, and we had a really beautiful 45 minute dive. Akumal in Mayan means "Place of the turtles" and as soon as we got underwater we could see why - over the course of the dive we had encounters with at least 5 Green Turtles! We saw a young one which was really beautiful, maybe only 4 or 5 years old....and lots of the larger ones had fish on their shells who were hitching a ride. It was really nice to be underwater again, and seeing these wonderful animals in the sea again.
In the evening we walked to our local restaurant the Blue Sky Pizza and shared a couple of pizzas between us and a whole array of cocktails :-) In the evening Jimmy was attacked by a Praying Mantis, so we are now a bit wary of them!
We woke up on Thursday to the tail end of a storm having past in the night (Tropical Storm "Don" which was heading towards the Gulf of Mexico), with howling winds and angry waves crashing towards the shore. By about 9 o'clock it was calming down a bit, so we set off to visit the Tulum ruins, which are set on a cliff top right next to the turquoise Caribbean sea. It was another interesting site to walk around, with interesting carvings, but by far and away the setting was the most impressive aspect of the site.
We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out and then got ready to go to our favourite restaurant Posada Margherita. We had a great table looking right over Tulum beach, and we all enjoyed some more cocktails - Blackberry Daiquiris, Margaritas, Caipirinhas - alongside our antipasti platter, followed by fresh fish and pasta meals for everybody.
Today we have really been enjoying being relaxing - we've been kayaking, swimming and finishing up the rest of the tequila! The most dramatic moment of the day was when we had to rescue a tiny baby lizard from the pool - only an inch long - which wasn't breathing, but with warming up in the sun and the heat from our hands it started breathing again and after a little rest we set it free again.
So it has been an amazing week - once in a lifetime experiences with turtles, lots of swimming, relaxing, cocktails and we've killed as many "Yellow Flies of the Dismal Swamp" as possible, as they have been persistent in their attacks, and everyone has been bitten once except Nat :-(
Looking foward to our next trip and next blog,
Love to all our readers xxx
