Raz al Jinz part 1

Once upon a time all my dreams came true. But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Once upon a time in the land of Oman during the time of Islamic New Year, a little family drove for hours through the barren mountains along the coast from Muscat to a beautiful coastal point of the country known for Turtle nesting. They checked in at the Raz al JinzTurtle Reserve. Since the hotel had been booked for weeks/months they stayed in a luxury tent. The temperature went from 39C in the day in Muscat to 25C and the wind was a force to be reckoned with in South Sur at the Reserve.

I'd made dinner before we left and it was conveniently still hot when we arrived 3 hrs later. We gobbled it up before heading to the hotel lobby for our 9pm tour.

Random picture of our tour guide and the waiting area for the tour. They showcased some Omani artist's work, a Bedu tent, and had a gift shop with very unique handmade items. It was a little pricey but many things were tempting!

We really didn't know what to expect except that we'd been told we would definitely see turtles. It was completely dark, no moon, the wind was too loud to converse easily and blowing sand and hair all in my face.  The guide walked briskly and with a small light and we had to really work to keep up, especially since the little girls were 1)Tired past their bedtime 2)been in the car for 3 hrs. 3)unsure what to expect in the dark with things blowing all over 4)clinging to my hands one on either side. We got out and they had a sort of system to mark which Mama Turtles had already come in from the beach and began laying eggs. They were very careful not to scare any off because if the Mama Turtles detect people or become afraid, they may turn around and decide not to lay their eggs which can be very dangerous for them medically. There were other groups out so we took turns seeing only a few turtles. They assured us there were many turtles out there but we only got to see a couple. You could hardly walk on the sand in the dark because there were pits everywhere and it was pretty obvious that there were nesting turtles everywhere. They have two sections of beach that are very long.  I was feeling a little excited and just a little disappointed at this point. I'd really wanted to see baby turtles. I asked about them and he said sometimes they see them and sometimes they don't. He went looking around but didn't find any. We thought it was pretty amazing and returned to the building. 

The eggs incubate for 2 months so the major time of year for hatching is actually September and October. The nesting happens from late June through August. This beach is home to Green Sea Turtles which is what we saw. August is a really important time there because they get a lot of the Monsoon winds there that we don't get in Muscat so much. It cools things down nicely. It supposedly even helps in Muscat but. . .I'm not sure it helps enough to count.

Even the boys had Windy Hair!

One of the groups found these lost babies on the road. While the Mamas love a pitch black night, babies can get confused and follow lights that are VERY dim and far away without a moon. We were so excited to see these baby turtles.