Sabah - Turtle Island

Next stop on the tour of Sabah was a trip to see some of the famous aquatic wildlife around the island. We booked in to stay overnight at a Turtle sanctury just off the coast of Sandakan. The island itself is beautiful and makes for a nice day relaxing on the beach and a bit of snorkelling before the big evening watching the turtles. You can see various quad bike type tracks in the sand from the previous night where the turtles have flippered their way up to higher ground.

When the sun falls we all gather in the restaurant area after dinner and wait for the signal from the rangers that it is time to go - A turtle has been spotted tracking its way up the beach and is about to lay its eggs. We race off in silence to the beach where there is a very large turtle who has dug out a big hole in the sand and is busy popping out her eggs - this amazing lady pops out nearly 100 in the space of a few minutes. Whilst doing so, she is in a trance-like state and seems oblivious to the group of tourists quietly gathered around her. The rangers gather the eggs to put into the hatchery. Once the eggs have hatched, the rangers release the teeny tiny turtles to the sea, which we got to watch. This was probably the best part watching these miniscule creatures waddle their way down the beach to the ocean (although some immediately headed up the beach and needed a little re-direction)