Olive Ridley female preparing her nest in which she will lay up to 120 eggs. Photo courtesy Pat Chilton.

THIS TRIP IS NOW FULL.
Friday, February 4th is a holiday. The Angola Field Group will will join biologist Michel Morais and his research team from Agostinho Neto University for our annual Turtle Trip. For the past nine years the university’s biology faculty has been tracking turtles south of Luanda, but this is the first year they’ve extended their Projecto de Conservacao de Tartarugas Marinhas as far south as Rio Longa at the beach where the river empties into the ocean.

We will spend Friday night walking up and down the beach in teams hoping to find turtles laying eggs. At this point in time we can even witness newly hatched baby turtles on their first ever journey, heading to the ocean. We will camp on the beach and leave the next morning back for Luanda. (See posting below for more info.)

We plan to leave the city at 9:00 AM on Friday. Participants must supply their own food and camping gear – highly recommended to have a fly for your tent since we’ve been having a lot of rain. A four wheel drive vehicle is necessary. We must keep numbers to a strict limit so please only sign up if you’re serious about going. Final trip details including our meeting location will be given once you’ve signed up and are confirmed for this trip.

When you are registering for this trip please indicate:

* if you have room in your vehicle for more passengers and how many can you take
* if you do not have transport and need a lift
* if you will be leaving from the city or from Luanda Sul

We are collecting $25.00 from each participant to donate to the Marine Turtle Conservation Project. To register for this trip, email Henriette Koning at angolafieldgroup@gmail.com. All Angola Field Group trips are at your own risk. Make sure you read the previous posting for more details.

Baby turtles just hatched heading straight for the ocean. Photo courtesy Pat Chilton.