 |
| At Gili Trawangan |
I was really keen on seeing turtles hatch their young ones on a pristine beach, tucked away on one of the many Indonesian islands. It is a wonderful sight to behold and a memory to cherish forever, is what the many blogs and travel websites on the subject told me. Due to lack of time, this seemed difficult.
I chose to spend some time on the
neighbouring Gili Islands instead. It was a great decision. On our snorkeling
trip at IDR 100.000 or $7.50 per person there, I actually swam with an adult
sea turtle! The Gili Islands are known to be one of the best sites for diving and snorkeling in Indonesia.
The tour was three hours long, taking us to each of the three Gili
islands to experience snorkeling including the famous Turtle Point, off Gili
Meno. It was my first ever snorkeling trip. Putting on the snorkel mask and
breathing through it took a bit of practice; it felt suffocating at first. After
selecting our snorkel mask and fins, we waited for further instructions on the
beach along with the rest of the group. We were about 30 people, adults and
kids, waiting to be seated onto a glass bottom boat.
 |
| Turtle Conservation Hatchery, Gili |
I assumed that a life jacket
would be provided on the boat. It is only when I jumped off the deck of the
boat into the salty, deep blue waters did I realize that I needed one. I swam
back to the boat only to learn that they were not carrying extra life jackets.
Luckily, there was a spare one which the tour operator strapped onto me. It
felt much better with a life jacket on; I swam a little, floated for some time,
gazing at the multi-coloured varieties of fish and corals. We spotted clown
fish (Nemo), butterfly fish, anemone fish, flying fish, bat fish amongst many
others. The water was very clear and we could see the sea bed with ease. I
tried to put my foot on a few of the corals while swimming in shallow waters. I felt calm and at ease, swimming in the Bali sea.
We got back onto the boat, took
off our snorkeling equipment and sun bathed on the upper deck till the next
stop. At Turtle Point, we excitedly jumped into the cold waters, hoping to
catch a glimpse of this wondrous creature. Five minutes later, we spotted a
turtle sleeping on the sea bed. There were schools of fish swimming around
everywhere. Suddenly, we spotted an adult sea turtle swimming about four feet
below us. We followed him, swimming as
fast as he was, in order to keep up. He seemed to be enjoying the attention and
swam with us for at least five minutes, popping his head out of the water for a
breather every now and then. It was the most magical experience ever.
I am glad to have not opted for a
go pro camera to capture the underwater activity as my attention would have
been diverted by it. Some experiences are best captured as memories. This was certainly
one of them.
