Turtles’ and Fireflies’ Day in Terengganu

My sixth semester in university has officially came to an end (FULL STOP) but I gonna settle final year project’s stuffs before I go home to start the real survey. Mmm...have homesick in a sudden without a reason!

Went to some places during the study week and now only have time to write about it. There’s a lot to write and a lot to share.

Some of my coursemates spontaneously suggested go watch fireflies. So, about 20 of us came out with a Terengganu road trip.

We drove all the way to south. 4 cars move together, like going to take the bride. Hahaha~

First, we went to Noor Arfa Craft Complex for batik and crafts. We also went to other galleria for traditional fabric weaving.

Then we continued the trip down to Rantau Abang Turtle Sanctuary.

Rantau Abang is most noted for leatherback sea turtle nesting. The turtle information centre is quite interesting. You can see how baby turtle hatched, the difference of turtle eggs, and also many information about turtle conservation.

It was my first time to see baby turtles!!!! So cute, so adorable!!

Then we go South again to Tanjung Jara for this very crystal clear sea and breathtaking sea view. The beach is real charming. Thanks to the clear blue sky on that day, the sea looked super super blue. The blue sea and the blue sky are perfectly matched.

Group photo number 1

After our late lunch in Mesra Mall, Kemaman, we went to...er..erm..can’t remember what beach already. Too many beach in Terengganu already larrrr.


Here is one very special thing in Terengganu I want to tell.

There is only one cinema in the whole Terengganu state, the TGV cinema in Mesra Mall. But, the operation hour is damn ‘special’. I guess this could happen in this state only! Ishhhh...!

 

Now, the great night has come!!!


We drove to Sungai Yak Yah, Kemaman. There we watched the nature’s most amazing phenomena.

As the night falls, we took a boat and went to watch fireflies. The trees all turned into Christmas trees!! The sky was full with stars!! The night was lit up by the firefly, stars and the moonlight. It was very pretty, like a poster! Friend from Kuala Selangor said that the view here is prettier than Kuala Selangor Fireflies Sanctuary. Wow! So I don’t think I need to go to Kuala Selangor for fireflies anymore.

Group photo number 2

Too bad I couldn’t take any photos of it. But nevermind lar, just keep in mind. Maybe I’m not a romantic person, when others still very glad to admire such a beautiful scene, I was getting bored. Uhmmm......well, it’s just lighting bugs. In comic and cartoon, they will carry lantern with their buttock~


After the firefly watching, the guide told us that there are 3 turtles landed at Monica Bay to nest and he can bring us there to watch the whole process. Fuiyoo...I never see a real turtle before eh!! Let’s go!


We headed to the Monica Bay aka Pantai Mak Nik.


It took 3 hours for the whole nesting and eggs laying process.

They were all green turtles. First the mother turtle dig a big hole to fit herself in, then she dig a small hole for the eggs. We were not allowed to go near to the turtle and no flashlight is permitted. So, we sat on the beach, looked at the stars and the moonlight, tried to spot a shooting star, listened to the wave beat on the beach, talked, and took stupid photos......like this.

It made me so miss my scouting life during high school.

Mmm..so love it! I mean the scouting life *heart*

When she is laying the eggs, only we go near and see. The guide gave us an egg and let us to touch and feel it. Oh...warm one! And really like a ping pong ball.

After that, all the eggs are collected and this new mother turtle was tagged with a censor in her flip and her size is measured. She's in about 1 metre square, and she just laid about 70 something eggs.

When she’s closing back the holes, I touched her shell, real hard!!! I touched her flip, she almost slapped me. Haha! Luckily I ran fast, or else my mouth will be full with sand!

The last activity is release the newly hatched baby turtles back to the sea. Yoooohooo~

friends say they look like toys =P

Run! Babies, Run! Run! Run!!! Back to the sea...

must survive okay?!!! God bless~

It’s already 1.30am after our super late DINNER. Then it took another 3 hours to back to Kuala Terengganu. Whoa!! Tired like helllll (the drivers were more exhausted) and felt so dirty with sweat, sand and dirt... Yiak! When I backed in room, I was like...*Yes! Finally can sleep on my lovely bed!* But then, what makes me get mad is... *DAMN! I need to travel to Kenyir Lake few hours later in the morning ~.~*

That’s all for the road trip!

Last group photo with our guide, Mr. Ghani and his younger son (very cute and he can speak Mandarin!)

If you are interested in the fireflies watching and turtles watching (maybe jungle trekking also), you can visit this kemamanguide.com Facebook page/web page or find Ghani Kelipkelip Mohd Nor in Facebook. Mr.Ghani is really a great and humorous guide. He is very knowledgeable. And his friends all in-charge of the turtle watching are very experienced and professional. You can plan this as your next trip!!