The South of Bali

Sanur is a good place to take a short day trip around the southern peninsula of Bali.

My first stop was the turtle conservation center on Serangan Island. There, turtles that were found on the black market by the police are being nursed back to health, and cute little baby turtles are hatched and released into the wild.
These tiny turtles are soooo adorable!
♥
The whole project has a very serious background: turtles are actually commonly eaten in Bali, so the population numbers, already decimated by climate change, have plummeted worryingly. The government has now banned turtle consumption, but turtles can still be sacrificed for a very holy festival every 5 to 10 years. Animal rights activists can't do anything against religion...
Some of the turtles had amputated flippers because their wounds had become infected. Some were also brought in because they were suspected of having consumed too much plastic.
The sad truth was shown to me, but the baby turtles were still cute...
Admission was free, but donations were requested. They handled that quite ingeniously: for a relatively small amount, you can adopt a baby turtle. You receive a certificate, a video of its release, and you get to come up with a name.
Of course, I did that!
In a few days, a little racket with my express blessing should be released.

After the turtles, I wanted to go to the Waterblow in Nusa Dua. If I can't go to Nusa Penida, then at least the smaller version.
Nusa Dua is a snazzy place for rich people: all the big hotel chains have their hotels here, the streets are meticulously laid out, and the green areas are well-maintained.
The Waterblow itself... wasn't as spectacular as I had imagined. There were even warnings on the internet to not approach the railing too closely.
Well, the sea was quite calm today, and the waves in the Waterblow weren't too high.
Well, it was okay anyway.

The sun was getting higher and higher, I already had a sunburn, and then I continued to a beach: Pandawa Beach on the south coast.
Beautiful white sandy beach, not a single seashell to be found, and touristy. So many sun loungers that it was hard to walk on the beach, and on the other side, a bunch of restaurants. Too bad. It was actually a beautiful sight.
And the last item on my list was also a beach, but mainly because it was on the way. Dreamland Beach.
Well, it wasn't my dreamland, but it was enough for a coconut at the bar.
The waves at that beach were treacherous: quite high, and sometimes they went unexpectedly far. I even got caught up to my shins once. But that dries up again eventually...
After the beach, I already felt like I was done. It was definitely too hot, so I just wanted to get into the air-conditioned car and go to my next accommodation: Seminyak.

Spoiler: It really is as bad as everyone says.
But that's a topic for another blog post...