Nungwi - red people and turtles

Fishermen's Dhow boats at Nungwi

So after all those late nights and dancing at Sauti za Busara festival, Louise and I retreated to Nungwi in the north east of Zanzibar for a relaxing few days on the beach.  Nungwi is a small traditional village but has been surrounded by massive tourist hotels (there is a Hilton!) and is a very mzungu-ey, with German and Italians tourists strolling the main beach in their speedos  - not very culturally sensitive for a Muslim island!  Although Mzungu means “white person”, this must confuse the locals, as actually everyone was mainly red with sunburn (maybe a business opportunity for a melanoma clinic, or at least a sunscreen shop)!

Nungwi Beach

Thankfully we chose a hotel called Sazani beach hotel away from the main tourist strip, and we were glad we did!  It was a small hotel with only ten private bandas with very friendly owners and staff, good food and a direct access to a private beach (well away from the tourist beach) with crystal clear water!  

view from our bedroom!

 

 

 The hotel is aiming to be as eco-friendly as possible, with solar power, solar water heating, composting food waste and no air conditioning (the Nungwi sea breeze is constant and very refreshing).  The hotel had a very personal feel, and I would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting some quiet time (especially as they gave us discount as we are TZ residents!)  We spent our time relaxing, reading, shade bathing (far too hot to be in the direct sunlight) and swimming.  

Private beach and shade-bathing

 

Whilst we were there we found out that the nearby turtle sanctuary was doing their annual release of turtles and so we joined the trip to release them!

The turtle sanctuary was set up in 1993 as a conservation project to help the endangered hawksbill and greenback turtles.  Local villagers used to hunt these turtles to sell the shells to tourists and to eat the meat (turtle soup is considered an aphrodisiac!).

 

How many Tanzanians does it take to carry a turtle? - errr, well 4!

 The conservation project has provided education to the village fisherman about the need to save the turtles, and so they no longer hunt for turtles.  If a turtle is accidently caught in the fishing nets then the villagers can give it to the sanctuary who will give them a small monetary gift (but not large enough so that they actively catch them!).  Also the sanctuary has promoted tourism in the area, and so many of the villagers have been provided with jobs and extra income from the tourists. 

 

 The turtles are often injured by the fisherman’s nets or boat propellers and so the sanctuary keeps them in a tidal pool where they are fed and looked after until they are healthy enough to be released. 

  During the breeding season the sanctuary looks for the nests of eggs, and puts up protective fencing, preventing birds and lizards from stealing the eggs.  When the hatchlings are born they are taken into special pools in the sanctuary where they are kept until they are big enough to be released. 

Village children were off school for the big day!

Once a year the sanctuary releases the turtles and this is a big occasion, with all the village children, the media and even a politician attending the event! 

We paid our money and hopped onto one of four dhow boats, loaded up the turtles onto the deck by our feet and sailed to the coral reef twenty minutes from the shoreline to release the turtles into the wild.  

all aboard

This big one was 20 years old

release the turtle

 It was great to see them up close, although I did feel a little sorry for them sat on a baking hot deck for up to half an hour and being patted and stroked by a bunch of red-people!  It was a relief to both me and to the turtles when they were put in the water and swam away!  A total of twenty turtles were released to the wild, with about 5 remining in the sanctury pool. 

swim for it !

 One red-bodied german tourist asked why didn't they release all of the turtles, to which the Tanzanian guide gave them a condescending look and replied "Well then you wouldn't pay money to come and see them" ! Classic!

louise giving a helping hand!