(waves crashing)
(somber music)
- We're Marianne and Chris,
and we've been traveling full time for the past three years.
We're currently attempting to drive Trudy,
our home-on-wheels, all the way around the world.
(logo clicking)
(graphic whooshing)
(car horn tooting)
- Welcome to Mendirek Beach here in Manavgat,
an hour's drive from the Turkish city of Antalya.
With its long sand beaches
and wide selection of luxury hotels,
there's no surprise that this area is a mecca for tourists,
looking for that perfect Turkish beach holiday.
- The 65 kilometer beach around Manavgat
is the main nesting ground
for the green and the loggerhead turtle.
With the green turtles being classified as endangered
and the loggerhead turtles vulnerable,
it is essential that we protect these beautiful creatures
for future generations.
- Turkey has something very unique
with this rare marine life.
And by having that, they have huge eco tourism potential
that most countries in the world can only dream of.
- After being parked here for over a week,
we can see that unless something is done,
it's only a matter of time
before these beautiful creatures are gone,
never to return again.
- We just spotted a lady doing the turtles on the beach
and we're gonna go and say, "Hi."
(camera clicking)
After saying hello and giving her
a nice, cool glass of water,
we agreed to meet up and learn more about what she does.
We've just driven down to the end of the beach
where we've been parked, to come and have a chat with Seher.
So I am very curious.
Oh, it's a lovely little spot with the river.
I can see a picture of a turtle,
so this must be the gazebo.
Seher, ah, there she is.
We came.
- Oh, welcome.
- [Chris] Thank you very much, I'm excited.
- Hello, Marianne, hello. - Hello, Seher.
- [Chris] Chris.
- Naji. - Naji, nice to meet you.
- [Marianne] Hello, Manaji.
- And I make here many caretta homes.
We are living also here.
- [Marianne] Oh, you live here?
- Yeah, we sleep here. - You sleep here?
- Yeah, why, in the night time come here the cars
in the beach and go to the caretta's home.
When cars in the beach, make the photos and give the number,
car number, jandarma only five minutes come.
- And they fine the people.
Do they give you the money?
- No, no, this is for the city.
- [Chris] Oh, for the city.
- For the caretta I working not.
- So just, you've given up your job to help the turtles.
- [Seher] Yeah, yeah.
- [Chris] You're amazing.
- Thank you very much.
And I was starting here, why here?
Here is 2,300 meters, left side is Manavgat River,
right side is Mediterranean Sea.
And these islands come many more caretta mothers.
Why, the sand is very full oxygen.
- [Marianne] So this is the perfect area
for turtles to lay their eggs.
And you want to protect it.
- Yes, and with Dekafok I have starting all the beach,
cars is not possible.
- [Marianne] And 65 kilometers, and you did that?
- So basically you're like
the beach warrior princess chasing off
all the cars on the beach.
After spending about 20 minutes talking to Seher,
we realized there's actually a darker side to her story.
And that bubbly personality, the energy came crashing down.
We're moving inside out of the sun
because it is getting a little bit hot.
We're gonna go inside
and have a little heart to heart with her
to really try and understand her pain
and what she's going through
and see if there's anything we can do to help.
Okay, I'm coming in.
- Okay, I've got to, are you filming?
- [Chris] Yes.
- Okay, I have to tell you
that I've just found out from Seher
that this tent has only been here 10 days.
- [Chris] Oh, really?
- Up until then she was sleeping in the tent, on the beach.
- [Chris] Is that where you've been living?
- [Seher] Yes.
- On the beach.
So the local government have given her this tent
to try and help her because she's so dedicated,
that's what she's been living in on the beach.
- [Chris] You are an amazing woman.
- Thank you very much.
- [Marianne] You are awesome.
Hi, Diba, thank you so much again
for being our phone-a-friend interpreter.
- [Diba] You are welcome.
(Seher speaking in foreign language)
(Diba speaking in foreign language)
- We're all crying again.
- [Diba] She said that when she
and her son saw the mother turtle
and her eggs laid on the beach,
car crashed her, she was dead
and she couldn't even cover the eggs.
Her son said that, "Mum, we should save them."
One dead turtle makes them save thousands
of the little ones.
She got a very good job.
She works at a legal bureau and,
but she left all these things behind.
She really exhausted in terms of money
and the physical situation,
but when she sees the juvenile turtles,
the little ones, everything passes.
She wants to build an observation center.
And especially in the Mendirek region,
this education center is going to do a great job
in terms of informing the people.
- But we can see in her eyes
and we can feel she's exhausted.
- [Diba] Now more emotional times.
- We should have had tissues.
- [Diba] Yes, she is the only one doing all these things.
If she left behind all these things she knows
that all things is going to go very bad.
(somber music)
♪ Waste of words, waste of breath ♪
♪ 'Cause I've got none to say ♪
♪ Thoughts they burn inside my chest ♪
♪ Can't take it one more day ♪
♪ No matter how much pain I'm in ♪
♪ No matter how, got to think ♪
♪ I've got to breath here ♪
♪ Changes do come ♪
♪ 'Cause the light's just around the corner ♪
♪ Life must go on ♪
♪ What won't kill me will make me stronger ♪
♪ When I'm falling down on my knees ♪
♪ I will rise and try to believe ♪
♪ That changes will come ♪
♪ 'Cause the light's just around the corner ♪
(somber music)
♪ There's ways to go, ways to leave ♪
♪ Been thinking about them all ♪
♪ Life's too hard ♪
♪ Life's too mean ♪
♪ But I can't just jump and fall ♪
♪ No matter how much pain I'm in ♪
♪ I won't back down ♪
♪ Got to think ♪
♪ Think give in ♪
- But together we can make a change.
- We must save these creatures
for future generations to come.
Because once they're gone, they really will be gone.
- [Marianne] We were so moved by Seher and her story,
that we, as Tread the Globe, are committed
to help her and her cause long term.
- We've set up a GoFundMe page to raise money
for this wonderful cause and already,
just by sharing it on social media,
we've raised a whopping 2,400 pounds.
But we need much more than that.
I'll put a link in the description below.
Every single one of you that donates,
we're committed to getting your name either engraved
on the side of the building or on a plaque next to it,
so that for future generations anyone visiting the center
will know that you made this possible.
- You, thank you very much.
Whatever you can donate, even if it's just
the cost of a cup of coffee, or if you can bake a cake,
take it to work, sell it to your friends,
or invite your friends around for dinner and charge them.
- Yes, and remember, share, share, and share.
♪ Changes will come ♪
♪ 'Cause the light's just around the corner ♪
♪ Life must go on ♪
♪ What won't kill me will make me stronger ♪
♪ When I'm falling down on my knees ♪
♪ I will rise and try to believe ♪
♪ That changes will come ♪
♪ 'Cause the light's just around the corner ♪
(somber music)