I love island life..... the sound of the waves and the feeling of sand under the feet!
One of the places highly recommended is Gili Meno, a little island off Lombok Island in Indonesia.
I had a fantastic time there swimming, diving (in one dive, I managed to see 6 turtles)
The dive sites are really wonderful with access just 5-10 mins boat ride from the islands.
The tiny island is very pretty with blue water views and Lombok island in the background.
I also spent time helping out a local that really impressed me with his passion and dedication to his adopted family: The Turtles of the region.
Boulong was a fisherman that did what every local did; he ate the turtles. He started to notice that yearly there were less and less of them around him. He decided to do something about it.
He used his own time and money and set-up a rudimentary turtle sanctuary to make sure there is another generation of turtles to speak off. When he goes fishing for his income, instead of selling it all, he brings back some of
the fish to feed his little "babies". When he doesn't get anything, he feeds them bread bought out of his own money.This Turtle Sanctuary will let the little hatchlings grow to a size that they are strong enough to forage for themselves and are then released into the wild.
We helped him put up signage about the turtles and his story as well as help in getting more of the facilities in order.
Update: one year on, he is adding a glass boat to his "company" so that he can take tourists out to see the turtles in the wild. He still channels the funds made to bringing up more babies.
If you are in the area, please do lend a helping hand to the babies of Gili Meno.
How to get there?
SilkAir flies from Singapore direct
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