Travel Notes

The turtles can lay up to 100 eggs at a time depending upon age and maturity. Although it takes 25 years for a turtle to become mature, it can live to be 150. The eggs take two months to hatch, after which the young turtles are looked after in special tanks close to the beach until they are strong enough to stand a good chance of survival in the ocean. To date, more than two thousand turtles have been tagged and recorded since the beach became a protected area. While the creatures invariably seem to return to Sukamade to lay their eggs, they are known to travel for great distances, two of them being discovered quite recently on the north coast of Australia.

With all this in mind, we boarded the small boat and made ready to depart for Grajagan and on to Meru Betiri. Despite our eagerness to get going, however, it was not without some apprehension that we headed out towards the surf, knowing that if we didn't time it just right we would end up more than simply wet. Further more, thoughts about the enticing but often treacherous goddess, Nyai Roro Kidul, were not quite as light hearted as they had been. It was difficult to allay the suggestive power of this ancient belief, especially since we had had some bad luck on the day before and lost one of our three cameras to the ocean.We negotiated the first wave successfully; the second broke straight on the bow, drenching us, scattering equipment and leaving behind a trail of curses. It could have been worse. Then we were past the danger point and immediately searched frantically for damage to cameras and other equipment. Fortunately, aside from one electric typewriter which had temporarily ceased to function, all seemed more or less in order. After a drying off in the sun the machine appeared to recover.
Surrounded by such a magnificent environment, our spirits rose again rapidly and we soon forgot about the goddess and our recent misfortunes. We sat on the deck, watched flying fish and looked out for whales, which are commonly seen in the bay. Passing by Cape Grajagan we noticed that from a particular angle the end of the cliff formed the distinct profile of a human face and wondered which legendary figure had been immortalized there.
Back at Grajagan, we were somewhat relieved to have our feet firmly back on solid ground. Anchored in a small cove, we disembarked and headed straight for the top of the beach to reorganize our equipment.
The usual routes to Meru Betiri are from the Banyuwangi - Jember main road, via either Genteng or Glenmore. Genteng to Sukamade is 70 km and about three hours drive over extremely rough roads. From Glenmore the road conditions are not much better and the distance is 100 km. The former is more suitable if coming from Banyuwangi. We took the road from Grajagan, which joins the Genteng access at Pesanggaran. As yet there are no bridges across the several rivers which have to be forded in order to reach Sukamade. Negotiable in the dry season, they become difficult, if not impossible, as soon as it starts raining heavily.
Grajagan
 

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