Morgan’s Rock Hacienda & Ecolodge Provides Safe Haven For Endangered Giant Sea Turtles

SAN JUAN DEL SUR, Nicaragua - July 23, 2013 - PRLog -- San Juan del Sur, NICARAGUA,  – Morgan’s Rock (http://www.morgansrock.com/), Nicaragua’s pioneering, upscale ecolodge, provides a safe haven on its private beach for endangered giant sea turtles and has created its own wildlife and habitat protection system.

These frequent guests have found a prime nesting ground here where at night turtles returning to where they were born lay up to 120 eggs that hatch 50 or so days later. Two-footed guests can observe both the spawning and hatching and then the scurrying back to sea of baby sea turtles year round at Morgan’s Rock (http://www.morgansrock.com/) with more predictable activity during the late summer and fall months. Worldwide it is estimated that only 1 percent of all baby sea turtles born in the wild survive.

Resort staff who have been trained for these duties label nests and provide 24-hour protection against the turtle’s greatest predator, humans. Once hatched, guardians make sure that the turtles successfully make it into the ocean.

The Olive Ridley turtle is Morgan’s Rock’s most frequent visitor. It weighs up to 90 pounds and can live up to 60 years. About once a month during nesting season the Giant Leatherback turtle (locally called Tora or Baula, Dermochelys coriacea) can also be observed on the beach.

Of the seven species of marine turtles that exist in the world today, five are endangered. In Nicaragua sea turtles are threatened by predatory animals and poachers who sell eggs on the black market for consumption in bars and restaurants. This has put Nicaragua’s sea turtles in peril.

“Protection of solitary nesting beaches such as the one found at Morgan’s Rock can make the difference between extinction and survival for certain species. Along the entire Pacific coast of Nicaragua, the critically endangered Hawskbill and Green turtles have only a couple hundred nests per year, and for the Leatherback turtle there are only a few dozen nests. The turtle protection efforts at Morgan’s Rock can play a pivotal role in the survival of these species,” said Sarah Otterstrom, founder of Paso Pacifico (http://www.pasopacifico.org/). This organization helps restore and conserve the natural ecosystems of Central America’s Pacific slope by collaborating with landowners, local communities and involved organizations to promote ecosystem conservation.

To witness this spectacle, the ecolodge from now through Nov. 14 offers a five-night stay at the four-night rate. The per person, per night rate for couples starts at just $161 each including breakfasts and dinners, private bungalow accommodations and full use of all lodge and beach equipment and facilities. Lunches, bar tab, guided activities, tours and off-site excursions and gratuities are extra. A five-night stay under the current promotion will run $644 per person as opposed to the regular rate of $805 per person.

“North Americans are discovering Nicaragua as a rich and vibrant travel destination but what they don’t yet know is that summer and fall months can be the most enjoyable time of the year here,” said Richard G. Edwards, Managing Partner of Morgan’s Rock (http://www.morgansrock.com/). “Daytime temperatures hover around 82 degrees F and the forest is green and alive with creatures.”

In the Green Season (May 1 – Nov.14), the 15-bungalow resort welcomes couples, families with children ages two and up and small groups to explore nature at their fingertips. Animals of the tropical dry forest, including several varieties of monkeys and sloths, live on the 4,500-acre protected forest reserve, while sea turtles arrive on the private beach during what is their peak nesting season.

Guests can hike, ride horses and kayak on daily tours (http://www.morgansrock.com/tours-and-excursions/Tours-in-...) and excursions (http://www.morgansrock.com/tours-and-excursions/excursions/) on and off property. Activities surrounding the hacienda include visits to the on-property farm, ocean fishing, nearby surfing and just lounging on private mile-long, crescent-shaped beach that naturally inhibits rip tides. The shore has a very gradual drop-off providing shallow waters for wading, splashing and swimming.

Roadless wilderness abounds in the nearly one-fifth of Nicaragua that is protected as national parks or nature reserves. This includes Morgan’s Rock, one of the last large natural sanctuaries along Central America’s Pacific Coast. The reforested lands (http://www.morgansrock.com/the-property/agrotourism-and-reforestation/), together with the nature reserve and adjacent estuary, attract a variety of forest animals (http://www.morgansrock.com/turtles-monkeys.html) from howler and spider monkeys and sloth, to white tipped deer, to most of the birds native to the subtropical region.

For more information about an eco-vacation at Morgan’s Rock (http://www.morgansrock.com/the-property/ecotourism-and-sustainability/), room availability and reservations contact: by email info@morgansrock.com, by phone in Nicaragua: (505) 8670-7676 or visit: http://www.morgansrock.com/

For more information, interviews and photos please contact:

Sara Widness / 802-234-6704 / sara@widnesspr.com

Dave Wiggins / 303-554-8821 / dave@travelnewssource.com

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