Saturday 04 / May / 2024
Oman is home to five of seven different species of sea turtles in the world, who travel to the beaches of Oman, from Somalia, the Red Sea and the Arabian Gulf, to lay eggs. The Eco Centre at Barr Al Jissah is a perfect place for turtle watching and educating people about them.
It was one of those sedentary Thursdays, file in everything and make up for weekend holidays, when my younger brother called me up saying he wanted to see turtles in the weekend. ‘Oman has the highest turtle hatchings in the world’, he exclaimed, never heard of it. Probably just a lucrative phrase for a false deal. Even if it were true, I had to drive my family all the way up to Ras Al Jinz in Sur. A three-hour drive from Muscat, quite long for a person already tired. I didn’t mind watching turtles followed by a lavish dinner and a hotel room to sleep in but drive that long and bear all that expenses? Not my ideal kind of weekend getaway.
By some luck my eyes fell on an old e-mail which mentioned something about an Eco Centre related to turtles. Somewhere around Sur surely, I sighed, until I read the name of the sender, Shangri-La Barr Al Jissah Resort and Spa.
Do Shangri-La house turtles? I thought. The world class resort not only houses turtles but also has a dedicated Eco Centre fully equipped with information on turtles and also has a turtle ranger as a guide. Even if it was not as good as the turtle beach, I had my drive cut short to 15 minutes and nothing harsh on my wallet in the form of hotel stay. I picked up my phone and gave Barr Al Jissah a call where I was informed that I was most welcome to visit and also that it was the best time to be there as it was turtle hatching day.
A refreshing ride through the awe-inspiring Qantab road carved between sandstone cliffs led us to the most luxurious resort in Oman, Barr Al Jissah. The moment you cross the security check point, the road starts to descend with a glimpse of the sea on one side, and the complete resort on the other, lighted up revealing a magnificent Arabian architecture with a contemporary touch. An effect on wallet wouldn’t hurt, I thought.
Part of the Turtle Care Project by Shangri La, the Eco Centre is located at the Al Bandar Hotel. I reached the lobby and the receptionist guided me to the place. I learnt that I had reached nearly 30 minutes before visitors could be taken in to see the hatching so I had to wait.
This place was a library or a museum, I am still confused. Located right above the Mokha Cafe, the place housed books, pamphlets, graphical information and a television to explain turtles’ migration in Oman. Here I was greeted by a man named Mohammed, who introduced himself as the turtle ranger, an expert in turtle migration and the guide to turtle watching journey.
The general knowledge session itself was so enlightening that the Eco Centre, I was informed, was a popular excursion spot for school students. Well it was. I learnt the whole process of turtle migration and hatching and the fact that every female turtle would come back to the same place to lay eggs where it was born. The images represented a step-by-step guide to turtle activities and basically it can be termed as a one-stop solution for turtle information in Oman. Children are also encouraged to graphically represent the Eco Centre through drawing which are placed on the soft boards for display.
Following the brief session with Mohammed explaining turtle nesting and hatching, we were finally taken to the turtle beach at Shangri-La.
Crossing paved pathways and a narrow sandy track, we reached a rather secluded area, entry to which is prohibited without guidance of a staff member. This was the turtle beach, a small lagoon coast overcast by mountains at one end and sea on the other. Here we witnessed boards marked by dates, which we learnt marked the spot of turtle nest and the dates mentioned were date of hatching written by the turtle ranger.
We were then audience to the beautiful hatching of baby turtles, who face their most vulnerable time of their lives making a dangerous journey away from the detrimental land predators into the safer sea waters.
Even with darkness prevailing, guests were not allowed to use flashlights; instead the ranger used infrared to illuminate the area due to bad harmful effects of flashlights on turtles. After an exciting hour of turtle watching we were allowed to go back to the hotel to the Eco Centre where we were bid farewell by the staff.
Talking about the difference between Ras Al Jinz and Eco Centre, while the turtle beach in Sur is home to hundreds of turtles each year, the Barr Al Jissah Eco Centre is a much smaller version and has two species of turtles coming in for nesting, the Hawksbill and the green turtles. Ras Al Jinz, one of the largest nesting ground for turtles in the world, has only green turtle species.
The Eco Centre is however a dedicated educational hub where people are systematically educated about turtles and procedure is followed to take care of the thousands of turtle nesting and hatchlings every year.
For more information call +968 2477 6825
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