Turtle Tours - During turtle season (November to February) these amazing creatures, leatherback and loggerhead turtles; come back to the same place every year, after crossing oceans, to lay their eggs. It is an unforgettable experience and privilege to witness a giant leatherback (nearly 2 metres in length) or loggerhead turtle as she performs this miracle of nature.

South Africa: 42 seasons of turtle monitoring in KZN

The results from the long-term dataset collected on the beaches of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, were presented at the 26th Annual Sea Turtle Symposium, held in Crete from 3-8 April 2006. 

This dataset is the result of a monitoring programme that was initiated in 1963 by the Natal Parks Board (now Ezemvelo KwaZulu-Natal Wildlife), under the leadership of Dr. George Hughes.  It had the explicit aim of protecting sea turtles while ashore and at the same time collecting data on morphometrics, site preferences and population status. 



Even though interactions by the local communities with turtles were relatively few, “bad habits” crept in and turtle numbers dwindled. 

The first conservation measures were introduced in 1916 but with little effect, such that in the first year of monitoring only six leatherback nests were counted in the index area. 

Lost trail of the north

By Khumo Ntoane

http://www.getaway.co.za/content/getaway/magazine/print.asp?id=1352

Along the secluded beaches, coastal dunes, lakes and swamp forests of Maputaland is an Eden with one of the best hiking trails in South Africa. But internal rivalry broke out in the community in Kosi Bay and the first camp was burnt while others were left to fall apart.

For a while the trail was lost. However, a few community members and tour operators have recently come together to resurrect the area. The old trail used to be a circular route, starting from the northern side of Third Lake at the hiking camp now burned. e new trail has been redesigned by Siyazenzela Co-Op and they’ve split it up into several flexible routes for both slackpackers and hardcore hikers who don’t want assistance. They’ve also included optional activities such as boat rides, snorkelling and horse riding.

I decided to take the easy way and slackpacked, starting in the south side at Maputaland Bush Camp.