TRAVEL A lagadi Beach is one of the most closely monitored beaches in the Mediterranean, manned around the clock by an international protection force. Constantly on the lookout, they survey the bay off the port city of Girne in northern Cyprus, chasing off intrusive fishermen and bathers during the day and lighting up the sea and dunes by night. Their watchful eye is focused on the nests of the green sea turtle, an endangered species.
There are just 1,000 green turtles left in the Mediterranean — and 1 in 3 buries its eggs, around 100 per nest, on the beaches along the northern coast of Cyprus. "Normally, not even one in a thousand newly hatched turtles survives," says project manager Robin Snape. The volunteers cannot protect their charges from the dangers of the sea, but they can secure the path into the water, watching as the creatures literally run for their lives.
Stop at the turtle beach of Alagadi to get to know the most beautiful side of northern Cyprus, the part of the island still living with and from nature, as yet untouched by mass tourism. Political impasse There's an uneven flow of tourists on the island, as millions flock to the Greek-Cypriot south every year, while only a few hundred thousand venture to the Turkish-Cypriot north. That inequality is due to a 50-year-old political impasse, beginning in 1974.
First came a coup by Greek nationalists against the Cypriot government, then the Turkish army intervened. The island has been divided ever since. While th.
