Turtle Conservation......

During our travels to Kuantan, one of the most memorable stopover we made as  the Turtle Conservation & Information Centre located near Club Med, Cherating. Upon arrival at that place, it was raining cats and dogs but it did not deter us from having a good time there. At that time, we were the only guests there. There was indeed some good change noted from the last visit we made which was a couple of years ago. 

The information display areas were much better lighted and exhibits were far better than the ones we used to see. It is always a delight to see these model turtles. There were quite a variety this time. The taxidermist have done a great job in ensuring that the turtles come alive at the display counters. Truly was impressed with the effort to make the place more conducive for a visitor centre. This centre is still run on public donations and I did my part by depositing some money into the collection perspex sealed container. 

The highlight of the short visit was to see the turtle in three of the pools. The bigger pool housed the bigger turtles and it was such a delight to see a mature turtle that up close and personal. They are lovely and wonderful creatures indeed. I guess, compared to the bigger species of turtles these were just smaller in size while the actual mature turtles were much bigger. Nevertheless , it was still good to see the turtles in pool and moving about. As I looked at them, I realised how beautiful these creatures are indeed. 

Then it was off to the adjacent pool which house some amusing looking tortoises , I guess. It looked like the some vulture-like tortoises. There are odd looking in a way but nevertheless, one species of tortoise to be admired. I must admit, I have no seen such species before. 

The mature turtle...

Then we went to the next pool which housed the baby turtles which was black in color and orangie brownish color turtles.This was an exciting pool. you could see how the turtle rest, how they move about and how fast they could swim in a rather effortless ways. It was really good to see the babies at their ways. 

While we were here, we enjoyed enjoyed the local delicacies of 'sata' - otak-otak like paste wrapped with banana leaves. It is usually sold 10 in a string. It is basically fish paste with some herbs & spices and grated coconut flesh and milk mixture wrapped up in banana leaves and grilled over charcoal fire to give it a rustic taste. I decided to give it a pass as I am not a fan of fish though.

Infant turtles in their enclosure..

Anyway, we enjoy some really good time here before we proceeded to our next destination at Beserah. I guess, it has been quite a long time travelling from Sg.Lembing to Kemaman and then back o Kuantan town. It surely was a great time out there as we enjoyed the outing very much.

The infant turtles....

The sata seller and his 'sata' fare...