Saving the Turtles!

A few of us were given the one off opportunity to visit a turtle protection camp near to us this weekend and it was an absolutley fantastic experience! We were asked to check it out as a potential project for other volunteers to collaborate with and so we happily packed out bags and Hanna, Lauren, Robyn and I piled into an oldschool VW beetle, not quite sure what to expect of our 24 hour adventure!

The camp was very close by, just behind the airport, and next to a crocodile infested lake. (No I'm not joking). However we were told that as long as they weren't provoked the crodiles didn't attack and only slightly more reassured we continued our tour of the area. The camp area is very basic. A wooden structure with a palmleaf roof and a little mezzanine situated right on the beach front it seems like the perfect in sync with nature lifestyle. However, as to be expected there were some drawbacks: The toilet facilities were less than desirable, and  the mosquitos were out in force, revelling in our white skin!

The aim of the camp is to protect the turtles that lay their eggs all along the cost from both predators and poachers. During the laying season (June- December) female turtles crawl up onto the beaches, leaving destinctive marks, dig a nest, and lay around 100 eggs, before covering it back up and crawling back into the sea. The volunteers patrol the beaches throughout the night, finding the nests before poachers do and moving them to a safe yard where they are protected during the 45 day gestation period. As long as the eggs are moved within 8 hours of being laid the move doesn't affect them. During our evening of patrolling we found 7 nests, dug them up and moved them! There is a whole process for finding them, recognizing the trails, poking the sand to find where the nest will be, and carefully digging up the 100 eggs without breaking them. It is an incredible feeling to handle them which have are squishy but feel slightly leathery.

We were also incredibly lucky, as one of the nests hatched and we were able to free the baby turtles. The turtles are very clever and wait inside the nest untill the majority of the eggs have hatched before pushing up into the sand as a team effort to brave the outside world in numbers and make a sprint for the sea. We kept them in a bucket untill most are born and freed them into the sea as a group. The turtles were really tiny, very cute and it was touching to be able to free them.

It was a great experience but the lifestyle is one that would be hard to adapt to! The 3 people who live there permanently have to walk over 1Km (and back) to a local hotel that sponsors them for every meal and for showers and live on less than 100 pesos (a fiver) a week! The couple who run the camp who are only 22 and 17 are lovely and their attitude to life, saying they have everything they need there was so refreshing. I really loved it there and am so grateful to have lived something so different to anything I had ever experienced before!

Love Soph xxx