Sukamade - Indonesia
4/24/05
We woke up early and went to the market in Sarogan to try to find a way to get to Sukamade. Sarogan is almost 100% free of tourists an its market is the most authentic I have seen so far.
They had clothes, vegetables, fruits, fish, meat, chickens, spices, delicacies and many other things, but souvenirs. As I said, there are no tourists here, so the market has a better purpose then selling handcraft for tourists. It is a real market, so it feels different.
There are no buses or bemos beyond this point, the only way to get to Sukamade was to hire a motorcycle, or wait for a truck that would come only at 'who knows when' pm.
So we hired two bikes. The 'road' is only 18km long but it is quite an off-road adventure, and it took us more then one hour. Only small trucks, motorcycles and 4wd jeeps dare to travel here and only if the river isn't too hard to cross depending on the weather; a normal car would be wrecked within few trips. Not too long after our departure, one of the bikes, not surprising, started to have problems with the rear break.
We had to stop many many times to fix it, also, we had to walk a good part of the way, but even though we arrived in Sukamade in good time, by 10 am.
The only room available was quite luxurious and too expensive, The other bungalow was taken by the WWF team, that is taking care of turtles.
When we proposed to share their bungalow and just take a small room for cheaper they were surprised, but accepted.
They said 'If you don't mind that we are here ... it is ok for us'.
The garden around was also quite interesting.
In fact, we not just had a better deal, but also got to meet some very interesting people.
Jaya is a student doing a voluntary job with WWF to help monitoring and save the turtles that come to Sukamade beach to lay their eggs.
After our brief introduction we then left for the beach which was only 300m away from the village.
Meru Betiri National Park has a magnificent coastal rain forest, abundant wild life and superb coastal scenery. It is one of Java's finest parks but it receives few visitors, even the Indonesians don't come here because of the long and difficult access. This is one of the most isolated areas in Java.
To reach the sand we had to cross a dense forest trail that is growing all the way to the shore. Many different birds can be heard and monkeys are jumping from a tree to another. The beach is absolutely untouched and the sand had many trails left by the turtles.
Swimming is not possible due to the strong waves. After a while we went to explore the other side, inland.
Despite the rich biodiversity, the park is not all wilderness and two plantations lie within its boundaries, coffee, cacao, coconut and rubber.
The rest of the day we just rested and learned about what WWF is doing to save the turtles. Six of seven species of sea turtles can be found on the Indonesian shores and all of them are endangered.
In Sukamade five species of turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. Green Turtles are the most common. They can weight more then a hundred kilos and measure over a meter long and wide.
THE WWF WORK
Around 8 pm we left for the beach with the WWF team to see the turtles and how the WWF proceeds. The moon was almost full and the night was clear.
As soon as we got there, Jaya spotted a turtle crawling up the beach, we kept a certain distance to watch. Some turtles come to lay their eggs but some come just to check and evaluate the site to come back another day for the eggs.
While we were waiting, other members of WWF called us to see a nest with hatching eggs. Each turtle lays around 140 eggs.
The tiny baby turtles, somehow, on their own, dig a way up from the deep sand and once they reach the surface they immediately run in the direction of the water; it is really cool and makes one wonder how weird it is that they know exactly what to after hatching the egg.
Although they all ran in the direction of the water they were all captured by the WWF for data collection. They first make a gender survey, and release them to the sea on the next night. Also, some eggs do not hatch, and are subject of study.
The numbers are also impressive, from the 140/150 baby turtles from each lay, only two or three will become adult, the rest will be eaten by a predator or simply not survive the wilderness. And the two or three that make it to the adult life often get trapped in fisher nets. Also some even do not get to hatch. Lizards or birds eat the eggs and some smugglers steal the eggs to sell them on the local market which endangered even more the survival of the specie. WWF also patrols the beach at night to keep thieves away.
While the little babies were still popping out from the sand Jaya noticed that the first turtle was already heading back to the sea, this one came only to check the place, not to lay eggs.
So we were in a race against a turtle, we had to get to it before it got into the sea. WWF tags and measures all the turtles that come ashore. The turtle was quite big, with over a hundred cm long. Tagging the turtles allows the WWF to elaborate statistics about the number of times they come to the beach, the number of time they lay eggs, the number of eggs they lay...
Right after that, there was another one coming up, this one to lay the eggs.
We had to stay away and wait while it patiently chose a place to dig the nest. After it started laying the eggs we were allowed to get closer. The turtle was huge and so was the hole it digs, it kept laying eggs for about 20 min.
After it covered the nest with sand the WWF guys tagged and mesured the turtle before it went back to the sea.
Another interesting thing is that the turtle will never come back to check the nest or look after their babies.
We stayed on the beach until around 1 am. The WWF team stayed the whole night.
The next morning we left early, destination: Bali
SAVE THE TURTLES
Although this work is managed by WWF it needs volunteers. Jaya explained to us that there was no other volunteer on the queue and after his departure it was uncertain how the work would be continued and if the smugglers realize that there is no patrol anymore, they will come back.
If you want to help or know somebody interested, please get in contact with WWF. If you are a student of Biology or Veterinary, this is also a nice opportunity to do a field research and help at the same time. Moreover, the place is amazingly beautiful and you will meet very nice people
WWF INA Sea Turtle Pru
Jalan Hayam Wuruk 69
Denpasar - Bali
ZIP:0361-7449851
Dita Canyani
serber_penyu@yahoo.com
If you have any questions, you can also contact the friendly Jaya at jayax_doms@yahoo.com
We woke up early and went to the market in Sarogan to try to find a way to get to Sukamade. Sarogan is almost 100% free of tourists an its market is the most authentic I have seen so far.
They had clothes, vegetables, fruits, fish, meat, chickens, spices, delicacies and many other things, but souvenirs. As I said, there are no tourists here, so the market has a better purpose then selling handcraft for tourists. It is a real market, so it feels different.
There are no buses or bemos beyond this point, the only way to get to Sukamade was to hire a motorcycle, or wait for a truck that would come only at 'who knows when' pm.
So we hired two bikes. The 'road' is only 18km long but it is quite an off-road adventure, and it took us more then one hour. Only small trucks, motorcycles and 4wd jeeps dare to travel here and only if the river isn't too hard to cross depending on the weather; a normal car would be wrecked within few trips. Not too long after our departure, one of the bikes, not surprising, started to have problems with the rear break.
We had to stop many many times to fix it, also, we had to walk a good part of the way, but even though we arrived in Sukamade in good time, by 10 am.
The only room available was quite luxurious and too expensive, The other bungalow was taken by the WWF team, that is taking care of turtles.
When we proposed to share their bungalow and just take a small room for cheaper they were surprised, but accepted.
They said 'If you don't mind that we are here ... it is ok for us'.
The garden around was also quite interesting.
In fact, we not just had a better deal, but also got to meet some very interesting people.
Jaya is a student doing a voluntary job with WWF to help monitoring and save the turtles that come to Sukamade beach to lay their eggs.
After our brief introduction we then left for the beach which was only 300m away from the village.
Meru Betiri National Park has a magnificent coastal rain forest, abundant wild life and superb coastal scenery. It is one of Java's finest parks but it receives few visitors, even the Indonesians don't come here because of the long and difficult access. This is one of the most isolated areas in Java.
To reach the sand we had to cross a dense forest trail that is growing all the way to the shore. Many different birds can be heard and monkeys are jumping from a tree to another. The beach is absolutely untouched and the sand had many trails left by the turtles.
Swimming is not possible due to the strong waves. After a while we went to explore the other side, inland.
Despite the rich biodiversity, the park is not all wilderness and two plantations lie within its boundaries, coffee, cacao, coconut and rubber.
The rest of the day we just rested and learned about what WWF is doing to save the turtles. Six of seven species of sea turtles can be found on the Indonesian shores and all of them are endangered.
In Sukamade five species of turtles come ashore to lay their eggs. Green Turtles are the most common. They can weight more then a hundred kilos and measure over a meter long and wide.
THE WWF WORK
Around 8 pm we left for the beach with the WWF team to see the turtles and how the WWF proceeds. The moon was almost full and the night was clear.
As soon as we got there, Jaya spotted a turtle crawling up the beach, we kept a certain distance to watch. Some turtles come to lay their eggs but some come just to check and evaluate the site to come back another day for the eggs.
While we were waiting, other members of WWF called us to see a nest with hatching eggs. Each turtle lays around 140 eggs.
The tiny baby turtles, somehow, on their own, dig a way up from the deep sand and once they reach the surface they immediately run in the direction of the water; it is really cool and makes one wonder how weird it is that they know exactly what to after hatching the egg.
Although they all ran in the direction of the water they were all captured by the WWF for data collection. They first make a gender survey, and release them to the sea on the next night. Also, some eggs do not hatch, and are subject of study.
The numbers are also impressive, from the 140/150 baby turtles from each lay, only two or three will become adult, the rest will be eaten by a predator or simply not survive the wilderness. And the two or three that make it to the adult life often get trapped in fisher nets. Also some even do not get to hatch. Lizards or birds eat the eggs and some smugglers steal the eggs to sell them on the local market which endangered even more the survival of the specie. WWF also patrols the beach at night to keep thieves away.
While the little babies were still popping out from the sand Jaya noticed that the first turtle was already heading back to the sea, this one came only to check the place, not to lay eggs.
So we were in a race against a turtle, we had to get to it before it got into the sea. WWF tags and measures all the turtles that come ashore. The turtle was quite big, with over a hundred cm long. Tagging the turtles allows the WWF to elaborate statistics about the number of times they come to the beach, the number of time they lay eggs, the number of eggs they lay...
Right after that, there was another one coming up, this one to lay the eggs.
We had to stay away and wait while it patiently chose a place to dig the nest. After it started laying the eggs we were allowed to get closer. The turtle was huge and so was the hole it digs, it kept laying eggs for about 20 min.
After it covered the nest with sand the WWF guys tagged and mesured the turtle before it went back to the sea.
Another interesting thing is that the turtle will never come back to check the nest or look after their babies.
We stayed on the beach until around 1 am. The WWF team stayed the whole night.
The next morning we left early, destination: Bali
SAVE THE TURTLES
Although this work is managed by WWF it needs volunteers. Jaya explained to us that there was no other volunteer on the queue and after his departure it was uncertain how the work would be continued and if the smugglers realize that there is no patrol anymore, they will come back.
If you want to help or know somebody interested, please get in contact with WWF. If you are a student of Biology or Veterinary, this is also a nice opportunity to do a field research and help at the same time. Moreover, the place is amazingly beautiful and you will meet very nice people
WWF INA Sea Turtle Pru
Jalan Hayam Wuruk 69
Denpasar - Bali
ZIP:0361-7449851
Dita Canyani
serber_penyu@yahoo.com
If you have any questions, you can also contact the friendly Jaya at jayax_doms@yahoo.com
posted by Adriano and Angie | 3:38 AM
2 Comments:
Wow! that was awesome experience with WWF. The baby sea turtles are so cute. You perhaps have learned so much about turtles from Jaya, it just like what I saw in TV, except you saw it life.
It was very nice of you to posted WWF's info on your blogger, you have make us to be more aware of our living environment, protect animals and nature which is also the way to protect us. And it also reminded us not to take nature (and things)for granted.
...yours, Doris!
Angie, Adriano, it is quite enjoying to read your worldtrip. You describe your tribulations / adventures very well. I advise you to write a book later on. For Angie, who certainly knows less poverty than Adriano it must not be easy every day, but for sure you can overcome every situation.Profit by every moment of this wondeful experience, andcontinue to share it with us like you've done it so well so far. Jean-Pierre
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