So I had the opportunity to join another Sea Turtle Volunteer program., and this year it is by University Malaysia Terenggany from 13th July to 20th July 2019.
We took the night bus from KL and the journey took us about 6 hours to Kuala Terengganu. Upon arrival, we found some food at China Town to fill our bellies. Since our boat is around noon, we had plenty of time to spare and explored the Kuala Terengganu town first.
We explored Pasar Payang, Kuala Terengganu's wet and dry market located next to Chinatown. Payang refers to the name of the typical Terengganu's fisherman boat. The stores were just opening when we arrived, but the market offers huge variety of traditional products, souvenirs and lekor! Unfortunately, it seemed to be a quite run down and some corners are unoccupied.
After that, we head to the beach and my friend's house before boarding our ferry to Chagar Hutan, Redang Island. We were welcomed by the staff & interns there and we were given some time to settle down and rest. We were split into different groups and were given patrolling task at night.
July is considered a peak season as many turtles will come on shore to lay eggs. And we'll help to tag the nest and monitor the hatch-lings. Every morning we'll check the nest to see if the eggs have hatch after 45 days and if the nest is safe from disturbance.
According to my friend, this is how you dig out your boyfriend's past. We would have to dig quite deep as the holes dug by the turtles are quite deep before they lay their eggs.
When night falls, we would patrol the beach to monitor the turtles coming on shore. It was really team work and we need to be quick to tag, label, record and allocated the eggs if the location is not strategic and safe. On some nights, we would be busy running up and down the beach. While some nights, we would just lay down on our mat, stargazing.
The night sky was beautiful and was covered with stars and shooting stars. The occasional cloud and rain did affect our patrol sessions as turtles do not come up when it rains.
We also hiked up to the tip of Turtle Rock hill by Chagar Hutan. The view was breathtaking but I couldn't bring myself to stand at the corner as I'm slightly afraid of heights. It is called Turtle Rock and there is a rock that is shaped like a turtle at the top.
It was time to leave after being cut off from civilization and social media. We bid goodbye to the staffs and interns and came back with beautiful memories and some 'battle scars'. It was definitely as fun and fulfilling experience to be so close to the sea turtles and learning the importance of taking care of mother nature.
Till next time! :P
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