I feel like words can’t describe this past weekend. It was one of those adventures where I couldn’t believe how lucky I was to be a part of; it was truly a once of a lifetime experience.
Shell Beach is located in the far northwest corner of Guyana, in Region 1 and is home to 4 types of sea turtles, the endangered Leatherbacks being one of them. Years ago men would hunt and kill sea turtles but for 23 years now Shell Beach has been working to protect sea turtles, as they are part of a non-governmental conservation program protecting and tracking these sea turtles.
The village it self is very small with 150 residents but during the months of May-September this village is all about sea turtles. There’s a group of men who work patrolling the beach at night looking for sea turtles who come ashore to lay their eggs.
It was incredible to see the work they do.
11 of us went for the 4th of July weekend and it was so much fun! We left Linden Friday afternoon and made it to Charity (Region 2) where we stayed the night. We left from Charity Saturday morning around 10am and sat on a boat for 6 hours going on the Pomeroon River, out on the Atlantic Ocean, and through the rain forest. The ride itself was an adventure, as we twisted the turned through 99 turns.
At one point I really had to pee but we were on the river in the middle of nowhere. The boat driver said I could pee off the back of the boat so I made my way to the back and told everyone not to look. As I was squatting I fell into the water, it was pretty funny. Then I had to wrap up in a tarp for the rest of the way because it was cold. Good times!
We arrived at Shell Beach around 5:30pm, unloaded the boat, settled into camp, ate some food and prepared ourselves for the mosquitoes. Once the sun went down swarms of mosquitoes came out, I’d never seen anything like it. They bit through our clothes and bit everywhere it was pretty intense.
That night the guys were setting free a few baby turtles. They were so cute and it was awesome to see. They told us about 1 out of 1,000 baby turtles survive…I hope those little fellows are okay.
Then we walked the beach in the dark for about 4 hours looking and hoping to see a turtle. Unfortunately we didn’t see one. But it was awesome to walk along the beach in complete darkness, listening to the waves crash among the shore and seeing silhouettes of coconut tress.
We got a few hours of sleep and spent Sunday lying around the beach. The water was pretty nice, not to muddy and there were actual waves but there were these little fish that bit so I didn’t stay in the water too long. It was just so relaxing being at the beach.
Come sun down we prepared to set out again; luckily it was windy, which kept the mosquitoes away for a little while.
We walked for about 2 hours without seeing a turtle but we just knew we were going to see one. We took a little break from walking and sat for about 30 minutes when the men spotted a turtle! She was hanging out in the waves and we could barely make her out. She took her time coming out of the water but when she did and we finally got to a shine a light on her it was amazing to see this beautiful creature in the wilderness. It seriously felt like we were a part of National Geographic.
She dug a hole with her back fins to lay her eggs. When she laid them the guys had to remove and bury in a safer spot because she laid them too close to shore. Once she finished laying her eggs she buried the hole and made her way back to the ocean. The whole process took awhile but it was simply incredible to witness.
Monday we left Shell Beach around 8:30am and made it back to Linden just before 9pm. It was such a long travel day. We took 2 boats and 3 buses. We were all sun burnt and itchy with mosquito bites. But we all experienced a priceless, once in a lifetime adventure.
I wish everyone could experience Shell Beach!
