Turtle mania

We were on a mission to see some turtles. It involved a one hour drive to Paramaribo and a two hour ferry ride across the Suriname River to a beach called Braamspunt. Along the way we saw some river dolphins, which are not very common. Once at the beach we had to wait for nightfall and then we went searching. We were lucky enough to find a leatherback turtle that had just crawled out of the ocean. We had to wait for about 45 mins white she dug her nesting pit and (surprisingly large) egg chamber. Once turtles start laying their eggs they go into a bit of a trance and then it’s safe to move closer. You may only use a red light to see her - white light is too disruptive. The soft eggs plop gently into the chamber and she usually lays about 100 eggs. Then she uses her back flippers to push the sand back over the nest and cover the eggs. She pats it down and then she’s off - back into the sea. Only about one in a thousand hatchlings will survive.Read more