The Charm of Ujung Genteng, Banten Indonesia.

The Charm of Ujung Genteng
Photo and Text by: Barry Kusuma

Sukabumi has a lot of beautiful and natural sites. One of them is Ujung Genteng. It’s located 70 kilometer to the south of Sukabumi. Or if we started off from Jakarta, we would have to go on a 250 kilometers journey. It would be a 6 hours journey by land because we have to pass through several small towns like Cicurug and Cibadak which were famous for its quite dense population. After that, we will came across winding roads with beautiful scenery on the side of the road. Ujung Genteng are on the west coast of West Java. One of the well-known beaches here is Pengumbahan Beach, located in Ujung Genteng. This white sandy beach is a favourite place for the Green Turtle to lay their eggs. The beach covers more than 110 hectare (hectare n. metric unit of square measure, 100 ares (2.471 acres or 10,000 square meters).

The beauty of Ujung Genteng beach is not limited to its cleanness and unschated ground, we can also enjoy the view of sunset and sunrise. We can have quality time with families with rest assuring feeling because the wave is not so strong due to natural barier formed out of sea rocks.
This beach is a favourite spot for the Green Turtle—its Latin name is Chelonia Mydas—to lay their eggs. During lay season between Augusts to March, these turtles can lay eggs up to 3-4 times. Due to its location which is near the main street, the beach are full with tourists during this time of the year. They all come to see the turtles lay their eggs in natural habitat.

To reach the location, we must rent a motorcycle-cab and went on 5 kilos of road trip. Why use a motorcycle? It’s because the road is very narrow and only fit for one car. The street is currently not covered by asphalt. Not to mention we have to go through small river which is very slippery when the rain comes. You can rent bikes for 30-50 thousands rupiahs from the local villagers. And ofcourse, all you have to do is sit on their back and let them do all the steering.

If you want to see when the turtles lay their eggs, then you should come during the night. Local villagers will help you as they were assigned to taken care of these turtles’ existence. We will walk along side of the beach trailing down the turtles’ foot prints using a torch. If we are lucky, we can see a turtle slowly walking towards its nest and then lay eggs. Turtles are a very selective when it comes to finding place for them to lay eggs. If they encounter any trash or branches during a dig, then they will stop and move somewhere else. Their eggs have the size of a ping pong ball and loaded with proteins. Therefore many people try to take them by force. Some people capture them to eat their flesh; whilesome people did it for their beautiful and expensive shells.

Turtles laid 100-200 eggs each time. And out 1000 eggs, only 2-5 turtles able to reach its maturity and comes back to lay eggs. It’s an irony for so many people hunt these turtles for money. Their eggs alone are worth 2000-3000 rupiahs each. Others died because they were caught in fishermen’s net or get eaten by their natural predators.

In order to maintain these turtles population in Ujung Genteng, Sukabumi, the regional government has revised regulations concerning taxes for swallow bird, turtle eggs, etc. And so trading of turtles eggs are highly restricted. It seems obvious that to make these turtles conservation works, local resources must be empowered not only to conserve, but also to develop other potentials such as tourism.

Photo & Text by Barry Kusuma

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