guyanatimesgy.com
June 21, 2015
Times Sunday Magazine
3
Times Feature
Hawksbill turtle leaving for the ocean By Suresh V. Kandaswamy
I
f you are looking for a one of a kind travel experience in Guyana, Almond Beach should definitely be on your travel agenda.
Almond Beach
The coastline along north-west Guyana in Region One is dotted with beaches made of shells. The broken down and pulverized shells look almost like sand. While many beaches are inaccessible, one of the accessible beaches, and a destination for visitors, is Almond Beach. Almond Beach is often also referred to simply as
of Trustees. Together they form Guyana’s National Protected Areas System. Shell Beach Protected Area extends for 120 km from the Moruca river mouth to the Waini River mouth along the Atlantic coast in Region One. Inland, it is bound by the rivers Moruca, BaraBara, Biara, Baramanni, and Waini. The protected area covers approx 123,055 ha. It is considered exceptional because of its extensive mangrove forests, the longest remaining stretch in Guyana, and the four species of endangered marine turtles that nest from February to August each year.
A Leatherback hatchling making its way to the ocean
Shell Beach. It is about six km from Waini River mouth, close to the Venezuela border, and stretches for about four km. Due to forces of nature, many of the beaches undergo a cycle of erosion and shell accumulation. The shells at Almond Beach have been around for about 25 years now but are showing signs of erosion at the beach. Almond Beach is now part of the Shell Beach Protected Area. Shell Beach Protected Area, along with the famous Kaieteur National Park, where the world famous Kaieteur Falls is located, and Kanuku Mountains is managed by the Protected Areas Commission. Guyana’s other protected area, the Iwokrama Forest Reserve, is run by the Iwokrama International Centre, which is governed by an International Board
These include the Leatherback, Green Turtle, Hawksbill, and Olive Ridley. The area is also important for birds such as the scarlet ibis, which roost within and nearby the protected area. Almond Beach is a small Amerindian community with about seven families living along the beach. They earn their living through fishing, picking and selling coconuts, and working on the marine turtle monitoring project.
or April. The Olive Ridley and Hawksbill are rare, but are known to arrive in small numbers late in the season: June, July and August. The Leatherback is the largest of the turtles, with the Green Turtle coming to a close second. The Olive Ridley is the smallest of the four. Many visitors make their way to Almond Beach just for the turtle watching experience. It is a unique experience. It requires patience, a fair bit of walking mostly at night, and some luck. Turtles show up at their convenience. Some days they arrive in numbers and other days they decide to stay out at sea. There is, however, a high likelihood visitors will see turtles during their visit to Almond Beach. It is rare to see them during the day but it occurs occasionally. Peak season for turtles is May and June. One needs patience to experience the entire turtle nesting process. It can take an hour or two from the time a turtle crawls ashore to the time it leaves for the ocean. It is well worth the wait though. The turtle crawls ashore, finds a place it thinks is a good spot to lay eggs, and digs a little pit in the shells using its front flippers to rest its body. It then uses its back flippers to dig a hole the length of its flipper, lays its eggs, which can number about a 100, and covers its nest with shells. Finally, it uses its front and rear flippers alternately to move shells around to camouflage the nest. Once satisfied, it makes its way back to the ocean. Turtles take a long time to achieve sexual maturi-
ty. Leatherbacks take between 9 and 15 years; Green Turtles 25 to 40 years, Hawksbill 15 to 30 years, and Olive Ridley about 7 to 15 years. To nest, adult marine turtles are known to come back to the general vicinity of the beach at which they were born. Instinctively they know where to go. Incredible! Given that they leave as hatchlings from a beach and return after a decade or more to the same beach is difficult to imagine. If a new turtle is seen on the beach, often determined by a lack of a tag, you know it has been out at sea for a very long time and it has survived against all odds. Only one in a thousand survives to adulthood. This long maturity period is also the reason conser-
zinc roof sounds peaceful. At dusk, you can see large flocks of scarlet ibis fly west towards their roosting sites near the Waini River. There is no light pollution here. On a clear cloudless night, the stars pop out of the dark sky. It is a wonderful site for star gazing. With a good pair of binoculars, thousands more not easily visible to the naked eye become visible.
Accommodation
The accommodations are fairly basic. A guest house with a view of the ocean provides for about seven people. If you add hammocks or extra beds on the porch, it can fit another four. There is solar power for lighting and charging of electronics. There is a rustic but comfortable toilet. Visitors share a thatched kitchen
Children watching a Leatherback turtle nesting
vation efforts must be an ongoing effort. The PAC, WWF Guianas, and GMTCS are working to ensure turtles are protected now and for future generations.
Turtle Etiquette
Once at Almond Beach, you can accompany the rangers on their nightly patrol. Patrols generally take place between 8pm and 12pm and 12 midnight and 3am. The timing is dependent on tide – usually an hour or so after high tide or an hour after low tide.
Turtle watching
Each year from February to July or August, rangers from the Guyana Marine Turtle Conservation Society (GMTCS), who are mainly local residents, in collaboration with the PAC and the WWF Guyana, monitor and record marine turtle sightings on Almond Beach. The Green Turtles start arriving mid-February, and Leatherbacks in late March
It is easy to get excited when seeing a turtle, start crowding, and clicking away with your cameras. The Leatherback and Green Turtles, the most common on the beach, are large and quite a sight. However, it is important to follow some important turtle watching etiquette, and follow the instructions of the rangers. Generally, visitors are required to stay at least two meters away from the turtle, use red lights (turtles do not see the red light as well compared to the white light) when on the beach, and remain quiet. Visitors also should not use flash photography, obstruct arriving or departing turtles, disturb them when they are digging a nest, help hatchlings to the sea, trample on nests, or litter. It is also illegal to take
Swamps behind the beach
or consume turtle eggs, or to cause harm, kill, or consume a turtle. These rules are universal and are also applicable when anyone sees a marine turtle outside of the protected area, in a different region, or a different country.
Other Activities
There is not much else to do at Almond Beach. Being far away from larger communities, with no easy access, a lack of bars and shops, and spotty cell phone reception, mean you have to enjoy nature: learn to relax. The fresh air, the tranquil view of the ocean, the undulating stretches of newly formed beaches, the relentless wind from the ocean, and the coconut and mangrove trees force you to disconnect from the digital world and reconnect with the outdoors. The shallow waters at low tide presents the opportunity for good swimming, the beach allows for lonely introspection, and the breezy afternoons are wonderful for a snooze in a hammock. Even the rain on the
with rangers where cooked meals are provided. Meal time certainly has a communal feel to it. There are no medical facilities or shops. If you need anything, it is advised that you bring it. You should remember to bring your personal medications and mosquito repellents. The mosquitoes can be deadly at dusk and dawn, particularly during the rainy season. There is no good cell phone coverage here. However, you can pick up signal from the Digicel tower located at Mabaruma. For this, you have to locate yourself at certain precise locations on the beach, at the ranger quarters, or the kitchen.
Getting to Almond Beach
Travel in Guyana is not the easiest of things. But this difficulty and inaccessibility is one of the reasons Guyana continues to provide unique visitor experiences. There are two ways to get to Almond Beach. One is to take a trip through the rivers and the other is by air. continued on page 5