Rantau Abang Circa 1995

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From 1982/3....fast forward to 1995...both of us are settled in Kuala Lumpur,
and the kids came along...

My eldest and my second....we brought them to Trengganu
for the first time after 13 long years

Back to Rantau Abang, hopefully to see the giant leatherback mother turtle..

The place is  now different, with more info and visitors' lounge

Outside Rantau Abang tourist centre....we had to go back to our hotel
and wait for the men to call us when a turtle appears.

Then we had to ride this contraption through the sand
in the darkness to get to the beach!!

I clung on to the driver for dear life!! It was pitch black and I had to balance
my bag, camera and I was in danger of falling off the bike!!
But I had full trust and faith in the driver. He was very experienced!

Where's the turtle? Remember, it is black darkness, the light was from the camera flash. Before the turtle comes ashore, no lights or sound should be made,
otherwise the turtle would turn round and swim off again.

Then we crowded round the poor turtle.

It is only a tiny, green hawksbille turtle! Not a giant leatherback!!
(Are they getting extinct? Surely, their numbers are greatly reduced).
We were truly lucky that we got to see a leatherback in 1982 (see older post)

No wonder, the turtles are getting instinct.
No sooner had the turtle finished laying her eggs and covering it with sand,
the men came and dug them all out.

Look, he is putting his hand right in to get at the eggs.

Even I got one!

A learning experience for the kids.

I caught some light flickering sea creature on the palm of my hand.
We did not buy any turtle eggs, we did not eat any.
We hoped that the eggs were sent to the turtle sanctuary to be hatched
and the hatchings be allowed to go back to sea.