TURTLE BEACH

The sandy shore of a sleepy fishing village in Trinidad hosts the highest concentration of nesting leatherbacks to be found anywhere on the planet

- TUI DE ROY

I ARRIVE AT GRANDE RIVIERE, north-east Trinidad, just before dusk. The village seems sleepy, tucked into a green valley bordered by a sandy beach and backed by forested hills. The Caribbean Sea, dull under the darkening sky, is tranquil to match, holding tightly to its great secret.

Just paces from the lapping waves, I join a huddle of people surrounding Kevin Muhammad, head of the Grande Riviere Nature Tour Guides Association. I am the only foreigner at this spot tonight, but we all share the same reason for attending: we're here for the leatherback turtles.

Kevin is explaining the etiquette that must be followed when encountering the world's largest, most mysterious turtle. His audience is rapt, even the children, as he closes his speech: "See you on the beach at 8pm."

The buildings along the beach all use red lighting outside - as do the turtle watchers, at Kevin's insistence, to avoid disorientating the turtles. As we step out onto the cool sand, the anticipation is palpable. I don't bring my cameras; I want to live this moment to its fullest. After all, it's not every day that I get to meet a living, breathing dinosaur.

Soon we see our first female, hauling her gigantic half-tonne bulk out of the surf. Her ridged back, covered in dark, leathery skin rather than a shell, glints in the starlight.

Kevin urges us to continue walking: we don't want to induce her to return to the ocean, carrying her eggs with her. Just a few paces along we encounter another; she's already selected where she'll dig her nest, so she won't be easily disturbed.