iSimangaliso KZN Ep 5 Bhanga Nek - "Ironvan" Adventures with Ironman 4x4

This is truly a special episode. Alti & Dirk take us to Bhanga Nek, where they experience more Turtle conservation.
The coastline of the iSimangaliso Wetland Park is the only remaining major nesting site in Africa where Loggerhead and Leatherback turtles still lay their eggs. These important breeding grounds have been protected by Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife, the conservation partners of the Wetland Park Authority, for over 50 years.

This ancient nesting ritual starts early in November every year. The female emerges from the surf and rests in the wash zone alert for danger – at this point, she is easily disturbed. She then moves above the high tide mark to find a suitable site, where the laborious process of digging a nest, down to 1m in depth, commences. After laying a batch of 80-100 eggs, she carefully closes the nest and conceals its presence from foragers like jackals, genets, honey badgers and ghost crabs. The cumbersome journey back to sea follows.

The eggs can take up to 70 days to hatch, with the hatchlings emerging at night and making their way to the sea from January through to March every year. Approximately 4 hatchlings from every 1000 are estimated to reach maturity. Recent evidence suggests that female turtles return to the beaches where they hatched. How they know the route back to the spots they hatched on remains a mystery.

Turtle tours operate from November to March every year from St Lucia and Cape Vidal (Shoreline Boat Safaris & Turtle Tours; Thompsons Tours), Sodwana Bay (Phinda and Ufudu Tours), Mabibi (Thonga Beach Lodge), Island Rock (Rocktail Beach Camp) and Bhanga Nek (Community guides).
More on the tours: http://www.bhanganek.co.za/

Bhanga Nek, or KwaDapha, is situated in northeastern KwaZulu-Natal, 15Km south of the Mozambique border.

Bhanga Nek is the perfect family holiday destination, with endless golden beaches, rock and surf as well as lake and estuary fishing, pristine dune forests and quaint accommodation establishments.
https://isimangaliso.com/activity/tur...

At Ironman 4x4, we are very passionate about 4 wheel driving. We love Overlanding and being out in Nature. As a responsible 4 wheel drive company, we are very aware of the challenges that Mother Nature faces with the relentless onslaught caused by our human activities. Now, more than ever, Ironman 4x4 has embraced a philosophy of Conservation Awareness in all of our activities as a company and as a team of Nature Lovers.

We are at the forefront of an industry that relies on our clients getting out there and enjoying everything that nature has to offer. We feel a tremendous responsibility to bring as much Conservation Focus as possible to our customers and our audience through our Social Media platforms as well as our day to day activities. To this end, we have elected to produce content that is Conservation focussed alongside our Overlanding and Technical 4wd content.
There are so many Organisations, Groups and Individuals involved in Conservation and we take great pleasure in bringing their stories, their struggles and their plight to the greater Ironman 4x4 following. It is our sincere intention and hopes that we can bring together some of these like-minded people with the aim to build on Conservation efforts for the benefit of, not only our current generation but also generations to come.

At Ironman 4x4, our motto is “Travel Further, See More.” Without Conservation, this will not last very much longer. We invite you to come on a journey with us. Welcome Aboard!

This episode was filmed in the iSimangaliso Wetland Park. Ironman Adventures obtained the necessary permissions and filming permits with assistance from the kind staff at iSimangaliso.

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