At 9:00 at night, dressed in dark clothes and old shoes, my nine-year-old daughter Maddie and I loaded a van with ten others and headed out from the Four Seasons Nevis into the dark Nevisian night. Two other vans followed, along with several cars and one pickup truck carrying a large wooden box. The goal? Find a Hawksbill Sea Turtle, bear witness to her nesting a clutch of more than 100 eggs and bring her back to the Four Seasons to be tagged, named and released in the morning.
It was the start of Sea Turtle Conservation Weekend, the product of a three-way partnership between the Four Seasons Nevis, Gainesville-based Sea Turtle Conservancy and the local Nevis Turtle Group founded by Lemuel Pemberton. Now in its tenth year, Sea Turtle Conservation Weekend at the Four Seasons aims to educate hotel guests and the local community about the majesty and importance of the sea turtles who return to Nevis each year to nest, and the risks they face as a critically endangered species.
By 9:15, we were patrolling Lover’s Beach, one of more than a dozen beaches being watched that night. With David Godfrey, the Executive Director of the Sea Turtle Conservancy in the lead, and Maddie close by his side, we walked a quarter-mile stretch of beach looking for the telltale tracks of a 200-hundred pound sea turtle lumbering out of the water to nest on the very same beach where she had been born decades earlier. The waves crashed louder than I expected and the lack of any moon made the night dark. Lap one, no turtle. “It’s early,” David said as he suggested we sit and rest for twenty minutes before walking back to where we started. Ninety minutes, three more laps up and down the beach and still no turtle. “It’s early,” David repeated. Ummm, I thought, it is almost 11:00.
“This isn’t as exciting as I thought it would be,” Maddie whispered to me.
“Do you want to go back to the hotel?” I asked.
“Not yet. I’m afraid as soon as we leave they will find a turtle,” she said.
“Okay, let’s give it another half hour, but then we head back. Deal?” She wasn’t happy about it, but she agreed.
And then David’s phone rang. The local Nevis team found a turtle at Oualie Beach Resort, a small nearby hotel favored by divers. She had just finished laying her eggs, a process that can take these beauties hours. “We have to hurry,” David said.
Back into the vans for the very short ride to Oualie beach, where a group was already huddled around a huge Hawksbill turtle who was busy using her massive flippers to cover and conceal her clutch of eggs. Sand was spraying everywhere. She eyed the crowd suspiciously, but she was a mama on a mission and wasn’t quitting until she was satisfied.
“Be ready, she’s going to bolt as soon as she’s done,” someone said. And she did. Four turtle wranglers grabbed and held on tight while she was measured and tagged. Next, she was carefully placed into a large box for transport to the Four Seasons for an overnight stay where she would be examined. During her stay she would also enjoy -- or merely tolerate -- a “shellicure” where her shell would be cleaned and any barnacles removed. She would spend the night under the watchful eye of Ignacio Ottley, a Four Seasons employee whose love of sea turtles drives him to volunteer to turtle sit each year.
Early the next morning, we joined a crowd of at least a hundred to await the turtle’s release. Hotel guests, employees, local dignitaries and dozens of children gathered behind lines hastily drawn in the sand to be sure the turtle would have a clear path home. After a few brief speeches, her name was announced – she would be “Millie” in honor of the sugar mills that used to support Nevis and whose massive stone ruins still dot the island. The kids were rallied into a countdown from ten and as they shouted “one,” the top was lifted off the wooden box.
Clearly not as impressed with her Four Seasons accommodations as I was, Millie raced to the water and was gone in a flash. Hawksbill Turtles are surprisingly fast.
https://youtu.be/KKNtyWRDdB4?list=PLL6hqeLpfXiV8naREYCz8Eret463zETPj
Curious about where Millie is now? Click HERE, as a small transmitter will be following Millie’s journey for the next year or so. “We have learned a tremendous amount about these sea turtles from the program,” explained David Godfrey from the Sea Turtle Conservancy, which recently used data from this program to help defeat an effort by Cuba to hunt sea turtles in its waters.
https://youtu.be/KKNtyWRDdB4?list=PLL6hqeLpfXiV8naREYCz8Eret463zETPj
Curious about where Millie is now? Click HERE, as a small transmitter will be following Millie’s journey for the next year or so. “We have learned a tremendous amount about these sea turtles from the program,” explained David Godfrey from the Sea Turtle Conservancy, which recently used data from this program to help defeat an effort by Cuba to hunt sea turtles in its waters.
Sea Turtle Camp is based on Millie’s dramatic return to the sea. Fifty-five kids, including local Nevisians and hotel guests, spent the day playing games and learning about sea turtles. Camp concluded with a “coconut story” delivered by Mac kee France, the Resort’s “Director of Fun” after which the kids all raced to their families to share all they had learned.
Sea Turtle Conservation Weekend is a very special program and the Four Seasons Nevis is a special place. It is beautiful and unspoiled, the dominant resort on a small island with abundant natural beauty. An expansive beach, three pools, an 18-hole golf course, tennis courts and a variety of water-sports offer lots to do for every member of the family. Families are known to return year after year and more than I could count cited it as their very favorite resort. Lounging on the beach while Maddie was at turtle camp, I met a family visiting for the ninth time. “It’s the people that bring us back,” the mom confided. “And we love that it’s so unspoiled, so uncommercial. For us, this feels like the real Caribbean, but with all of the activities and amenities we want.”
Personally, The Four Seasons Nevis has been on my bucket list for two decades, ever since a former colleague returned home with tales of a family vacation to an unspoiled oasis that managed to satisfy her golf-obsessed husband, nature-loving daughter, sports-minded son and rather demanding parents. I remember thinking that any place the Faber family loved that much had to be amazing. And it was.
Things to know...
Getting there. Fly into St. Kitts and you will be driven the short distance to a boat launch where cold drinks and a beautiful 35-minute boat ride will deliver you to the Four Seasons’ private pier. For true indulgence, book Yu Lounge, a private terminal experience currently available only on St. Kitts and Mauritius. For about $500 (depending on the season), the Yu Lounge team will grab you right from the plane in their white Porsche Cayenne, fetch your bags and allow you to clear customs while sipping Veuve Clicquot or their signature iced tea in an elegant, air-conditioned building on the far side of the tarmac. And on your return, you will once again avoid the terminal, as you await your flight in luxury and pass through private security right in the Yu Lounge.
Don’t miss: The Four Seasons spa (ask for Henena Francis if you like your massage serious) and be sure to leave time to enjoy the secluded spa waterfall and plunge pool. Dinner at on-property Mangos waterfront restaurant and homemade gelato poolside is a must. Dive and Dine: dive for your dinner of spiny lobster and join Executive Chef Jason Adams who will prepare your freshly caught feast beachside. A Killer Bee cocktail (the recipe is a well-kept secret but there is definitely rum, juice and nutmeg involved), chopped salad and BBQ chicken just down the beach at Sunshine’s.
Take a Hike: Around the golf course on one of three well-marked, hilly trails ranging from 1.6 to 3.5 miles. Bring a camera to capture the spectacular ocean views and close ups of the Green Vervet Monkeys who have wisely made the Four Seasons their home.
Bring Your Friends: More than 70 villas complete the Four Seasons property and offer one-to seven-bedroom accommodations with complete hotel amenities and a complimentary golf cart to help you get around. Consider modern, indoor-outdoor living in the recently completed Pinney’s Beach Villas and if Nevis feels like home by the time you are ready to depart, consider “citizenship by investment” -- a fractional ownership in one of the villas scores you a Nevisian passport.
Don’t be Shy: The Four Seasons team is warm and welcoming. Track down Recreation Director Mac kee France, the self-proclaimed “director of fun” or former teacher Marva Paris-Roberts who runs the Kids for All Seasons program, both of whom, like most of the Four Seasons Nevis team, will gladly share all that makes their island special and will work tirelessly to ensure a great visit for you and your kids.
Plan ahead: Four Seasons Sea Turtle Conservation Weekend 2016 will be held July 15-19, 2016.
Budget Accordingly: On-property meals, golf, spa and other activities are fairly pricey, so budget
accordingly.
The writer and her daughter were hosted by the Four Seasons Nevis in connection with the preparation of this article. Accommodations, meals and activities were complimentary. No other compensation was received and all opinions expressed are the writer's own.
Budget Accordingly: On-property meals, golf, spa and other activities are fairly pricey, so budget
accordingly.
The writer and her daughter were hosted by the Four Seasons Nevis in connection with the preparation of this article. Accommodations, meals and activities were complimentary. No other compensation was received and all opinions expressed are the writer's own.