Thonga Beach Lodge

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What we did share though was walking back along the beach in a downpour that had arrived out of nowhere. The rain increased in intensity as we made our way back to the lodge and we made it back to our accommodation soaked to the skin, but with smiles on our faces. These unexpected downpours happened every day of our stay and in a way it was they that decided what activities would be undertaken. Luckily the weather and the rain were warm, so although arriving back at our accommodation soaked was an inconvenience, it was not unpleasant.

 

 

 

“You will love the ocean. It makes you feel small, but not in a bad way. Small because you realize you’re part of something bigger.”
― Lauren Myracle.

The inclement weather during the night and the pouring rain and wind prevented me from my morning walk to the beach to greet the sunrise. Instead, I stayed on the balcony of our sea-facing room and watched as the clouds roiled across the sky.

 

 

 

And our final night brought weather that allowed us to take a turtle walk to see if we could find any hatchings and as luck would have it, we almost stepped on a lone straggler trying to make its way to the water…He was cheered on by an enthusiastic group who had joined us for the walk. We did find turtle hatchling tracks of about 30 individuals that had made it to the sea while we were having dinner.

However, much like the tiger that we found on our first game drive in Pench National Park in India, finding this lone hatchling was just as exciting. In retrospect, it probably fell prey to a passing Kingfish, but I would like to think that it survived more than just the short time from hatching to entering the water.
I was chatting to a couple of guests who were at the lodge with their 5-month-old baby and wondering what would happen if newborn humans could run at 15 minutes old and if, like turtles, women gave birth and then just walked away.

How would human babies survive? And we think that we are at the top of the food chain, how wrong we are…

Little do these young turtles know that if the crabs don’t get them sea birds probably will and if they safely negotiate those dangers there are fish just waiting for them in the surf. The survival rate is roughly 1 in 1100, hence, much like Impala, they emerge in numbers hoping that the law of averages will prevail and at least a small percentage WILL survive to adulthood.

 

 

 

The beach was filled with Pink Ghost crabs that appear to increase in number during turtle-hatching season. The baby turtles are easy pickings for the crabs as they scuttle their way to the sea and potential safety.

Did you know?

Stats of Ghost crab (Ocypode ryder) v Leatherback turtle(Dermochelys coriacea) hatchlings:
Ghost crabs weigh in at between 15-71 gms/
They can run at up to 7,5kmh
Have a life span of 3 years
They prey on carrion and turtle hatchlings and are in turn preyed on by a variety of sea birds.
Their name Ocypode means ‘swift-footed’ in Greek.
Turtles are around 5-8cm at birth and weigh approximately 226gm.
Only 1in 1100 will make it to adulthood.
Sexual maturity at 20-30 years.
Unlike most animals, they are born orphans and have to rely on instinct and their environment to survive.
Dermochelys is Greek and means Derma: is skin or leather and Chelyfos is a shell while Coriacea is Latin and means soft/pliable.

 

 

 

A portion of Lake Sibaya.

This is the largest freshwater lake in South Africa, with a surface area of 64 km².  The lake is located in the Maputaland, or Umhlabuyalingana, area of KwaZulu-Natal, on the east coast of South Africa.

As part of this aquifer, the lake is an almost direct reflection of the regionally-important groundwater table. Now the lake is in peril, drying out rapidly due to drought, increasing human water demands and the thirsty roots of exotic timber plantations that have been dubbed “money trees”.

Lake Sibaya is home to KwaZulu-Natal’s second largest population of hippo and crocodiles. It is an important breeding, feeding and roosting area for a host of bird species.

 

 

 

 

Finally, an evening activity as we thought that the rain had held off. Into one of the lodge vehicles and off to Lake Sibaya, one of the largest freshwater lakes in South Africa.
Both the rain and our vehicle arrived at the sundowner spot at the same time, but luckily the rain came in squalls and was over before it really began. It did not interrupt drinks and snacks and we watched both the birdlife and a pod of hippos as they made their way towards their evening grazing grounds.

 

 

 

Changing from a dark, menacing and broody mass into a welcoming morning tinged with pink and white. But that did not long for as soon as the sun rose, the sea did not take on its usual golden glow, but remained in the shadows…present but threatening the possibility of the arrival of the impending Tropical Cyclone Batsirai. Luckily the cyclone veered east and slammed into Madagascar where it was responsible for killing 10 people and leaving 55000 homeless.

A sunrise is like an analogy for life. It rises, lights the sky and then wanes until it is finally extinguished at the end of the day. Each day it sets out to be the best that it can be and at the end of that day all is left behind to once again start afresh.
Should we humans not take some solace from this? If we look at every day as being the only day that we have, could we not work smarter, love better and be kinder, knowing that at the end of that particular day, there will be no more opportunities? Every sunrise and every sunset are precious, yet we often take them for granted, and that is something that we should never do.
Time is a precious commodity and we have whether we like to admit it or not, a finite time to strut our stuff on this tiny planet that we call home.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those that were not aware, there is an extension to the Travel & Things Blog in the form of ‘In conversation with‘ a YouTube channel hosted by David Batzofin and filled with a plethora of interesting interviews with a variety of people.

To visit the channel, click on the ‘In conversation with’ image above.

 

 

 

 

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