A couple of months ago, we tried to get out of town for a weekend-away. We left later than expected on a Friday, due to work issues. Then, just as we were getting on the road, it began to rain. It made for a perfect storm situation. Literally. Our destination was only 36 miles away. However, after 5.5 hrs we weren't even half way, so we finally turned around and came home. It was a nightmare.
Not willing to be completely defeated, we kept watching for just the right weekend to try again. Friday, we got on the road earlier at 12:00 and.... there was no rain. It only took us 2 hrs! We were so happy! Seems very strange to get excited about going 36 miles in 2 hrs, but we were thrilled! Jordan had a little PTSD from the last trip kick in when we hit our first traffic jam, but everything gradually moved along and we made it!
Our Destination: New Ningo PramPram (a coastal town in the greater Accra region). Our Mission: Some R&R and to hopefully witness the sea turtles hatch and be released into the ocean!
We stayed at the C Resort. Although not completely worth the amount of money paid per night for the nicest ocean view room, that lacked sufficient AC to cool it down, 4 hrs of no water on Saturday (they accidentally let the polytank on the roof run out of water??), a very very hard bed that kept us tossing and turning most of both nights, a pool we weren't sure we should swim in, and beaches littered with so much garbage you can barely walk on it... we would call our weekend a complete success!!
The amount of trash that washes up on the beach daily is horrible. In front of the C Resort, they gather it up and bury it 2 feet down. They don't want it to end up back in the ocean and on the beach by sending it to the landfill.
Better parts of the resort:
We arrived Friday afternoon, went for a swim and then had dinner and relaxed. Finally, headed to bed with hopes for an early phone call from the hatchery on site, letting us know turtles had hatched. Unfortunately, nothing. We slept in and had a nice breakfast. After breakfast we wandered over to the turtle hatchery to get an understanding of what they do.
Meridian Port Services Ltd (MPS), located in the Port of Tema, has relaunched its sea turtle conservation initiative. Between November 2018 and August 2020, 24,674 eggs were retrieved and brought to the hatchery, while 16,198 hatchlings were successfully released into the sea during this same period. The current hatchery has 2 Sea Turtle species namely; Olive Ridley (88%) and the Green Turtle (12%).
MPS is a joint venture between Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (30%), APM Terminals (35%) and Bolloré Transport and Logistics (35%).
The program which commenced in November 2018 involves the safe relocation of turtle eggs at risk in their natural environment into an enclosed hatchery replicating natural conditions, creating a conducive atmosphere for them to hatch and finally releasing the hatchlings into the ocean.
TURTLE RESCUE
While we were talking with the conservationists, they could see what looked like a turtle in distress out in the ocean, dragging a buoy. One of the locals tried swimming out, but the turtle swam away. He then came back and got a kayak and was able to catch up to the turtle. He grabbed onto the rope and buoy that was indeed attached to the turtle, and paddled with all his might back to shore. It was a struggle for sure as the turtle was very large and likely weighed about 100 lbs. This Olive Ridley sea turtle is one of the smaller species of the sea. Another common species that frequents this area is the Green sea turtle and can get up to 350 lbs!
It was still quite a feat getting the turtle on solid ground. Once safely out of the water, they began working to untie the rope connected to a fisherman's buoy, that was wrapped several times around the turtle's neck and was digging into the skin. After a few minutes, it was all undone. The female turtle was exhausted and didn't move much for about 1 hr. She was then coaxed and pushed back into the water, where she swam away.
For the rest of the day, we lazed around the pool and tried to catch up on lost sleep. Once the large water polytank on the roof was refilled, we got cleaned up and had dinner and retired early, hoping there would be an early wake up call for hatchlings.
At 0609 the phone rang and a voice on the other end said, "Your prayers have been answered and the turtles have hatched! Kindly join us at the hatchery for the turtle release at 0630." I jumped out of bed, soooo excited to be a part of this experience. We were not disappointed!
Coming down the beach with a blue bucket and more eggs from an turtle laying during the night, was conservationist Sharon. She goes every morning to check a beach 1/2 mile away, where the turtles come to shore and lay their eggs. Sure enough, the classic signs of a large turtle moving across the sand and back to the ocean were plainly seen. She then gently dug up the eggs while wearing a rubber glove and placed them in a small black plastic bag.
She walked quickly back to the hatchery where she immediately dug a 2 foot deep hole in the sand, and gently placed all 67 eggs in the hole. She then covered them up and placed an open bottomed wicker basket on top of the hole. The eggs will take approximately 60 days to hatch. The hatchlings dig their way to the surface and then sleep for a couple of hours from the hard climb upwards.
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