My U!niverse: Make Way for the Turtles

Anak angkat kami!! All 10 of them.

Kesimpulan - we always take things around us for granted. Sebab apa? Do you know we have a great turtle sanctuary in Cherating, Pahang? Yang bolehkan guests come and actually set free the babies, FOR FREE? Percayalah, ramai orang tak tahu. Samalah kita. I found out about this pun masa the media trip to Club Med awal tahun ni. Tu pun bila dikejutkan dengan sesi lepaskan anak penyu agar before one of the dinners. But then, I didnt actually know we can actually do that again if we go to the turtle sanctuary itself. I thought, then, it was just part of the programs that they especially made for media.
So, last weekend, when we were at Cherating, we saw the big road sign pasal turtle sanctuary ni. And it was 3 minutes away from our hotel. I thought, why not. Bawak je la anak2 ke situ, kot ada rezeki dapat tengok penyu saja pun dah kira baik.
I googled the place, and was really disappointed that they didnt have an official website. Info on the place was put on some random travel sites, but atleast it's there. And ting!! The place is open at night sampai 7.30am.
So we went there lah lepas dinner. Daddy jumpa pakcik yang jaga tempat tu, and dia bagitau acara lepaskan penyu starts at 10pm. Since it was still early, and Club Med is a forbidden area tu hang around (Turtle Sanctuary tu betul2 sebelah entrance to Club Med Cherating), so kitorang pun balik hotel layan Shout Awards dulu.
Dalam 10 lebe gitu dah sampai balik kat TS (short form ya). Tengok2 manager dia pun ada situ, and paling best, we were the only ones there! Lepas sedekah skit duit untuk "kebajikan" anak2 penyu, the manager gave us 10 ekor anak penyu agar untuk dilepaskan ke laut. But ofcourse, ada lah sesi bergambar2 gedik dengan anak penyu ketakutan tu. Dan yang paling excited sudah tentu Mummy and Daddy, barisan anakanda suma kegelian. Nak sangat bela binatang kat rumah tapi suma kaki geli, ntah apa2.
Then we were taken to the beach, unfortunately, cant take any pictures here sebab satu, it was so dark, I dont think my camera murahan can actually capture anything. And dua, memang takleh amik gambar pun sebab according to pakcik tu, the little penyus are afraid of lights.
So pelan2 kami lepaskan sekor demi sekor anak penyu tu. The experience can't be described by proper words. Simply said, for me, it felt like sending your kid to his/her first day of school - to the unknown. And to think the unknown for these penyu are getting eaten by crabs, jellyfish, birds and big fishes, it's just super scary. And we even got to witness one of the penyu kena makan ngan ketam, betul2 depan mata kami. We tried saving it but the crab was fast. One down, another 9 to go. And I pray hard they survive the open sea.
Overall, the experience was precious. The kids can't stop talking about it. We are so lucky. We are so blessed. Alhamdulillah...
So silalah ya kengkawan, kalau dah sangap sangat tak tau nak buat apa hujung2 minggu. Silalah ke Turtle Sanctuary in Cherating. Like I said, kalau nampak jek signboard Club Med, you wont miss the signboard to the place. And waktu siang, you can go to the centre tengok the older turtles which they keep for research.