Hike to Turtle Beach ( and just a little side note to say that Rachel is the Best!!!)
On the morning of Good Friday we joined some new friends (Lisa and her children Julia and Daniel) for a hike to Turtle Beach. As is every day, it was hot, but we all enjoyed it a lot.
Entering the park - the 'office' took our names and information like they do for all who take this hike. Good to know someone will come looking for you if you don't come back!! Not all of the hike was a nice paved path like this though!
This picture is sideways - sorry! The incredibly tall and straight trees in the jungle were amazing.
Isn't this tree so cool? It looks like the camouflage clothes you can buy - but it's courtesy of the Master Designer Himself!! We saw them all along the path.
We stopped in one steep part to get a picture - we're pretty hot and sweaty by this time!
Hanging bridge with the ocean on the right and a freshwater lake (though it was pretty dried up) on the left. Josh, of course, had to shake it while we walked. Or was that actually Bob???
As we hiked over to Turtle Beach we came upon several of these large trees...can you guess what they are?
This 'fruit' of the tree isn't ripe yet...
This one is getting closer...any guesses yet?
Sorry for the fuzzy photo, but this is what we eat off of this tree - cashew nuts! The cashew is enclosed in a pod that hangs below the fruit. This kind of thing is 'old hat' to people who have been here a while, but we're still having fun seeing and learning all these new things!!
Apit in the sand that the turtles dig when they come up out of the water, and then they lay their eggs in it.
There is a Turtle Sanctuary on this beach. They retrieve the eggs that are laid by the turtles and protect them until they hatch. They keep them in a 'swimming pool' where they are protected from predators. We were shocked to learn that only 1/1000 turtles that they protect will survive. We were able to see them in the pool and take pictures, though not with flashes. We all thought they were SO cute!!!
Aren't they just so cute? Their eyes are covered with a mucous like film, presumably to protect them. They gather in the shady parts of the pool rather than the sunny areas and on the day we were there there were about 150 turtles in the pool. They are about the size of the palm of a small hand.
"Selamat Datang" is Welcome.
We opted to hire a boat for the trip back and we were all big fans of that decision! It's a very hilly 1.5 hour hike one way, so we were very glad that we didn't have to do it again.
This was a great way to spend a morning and we look forward to more hikes to other places in days to come!
From Penang,
Karin and the other '4Thornes'
Comments
I really loved that tree that was camoflouged, Way cool.
Miss you all and think of you often.