The Middle

I arrived back at the camp shorly after my previous post. It felt like I was returning home as our 5 dogs (dont think i mentioned in previous post) barked, growled and chased us along the bumpy track as we left a cloud of dust upon our arrival. We had a new volunteer with us (Andreia) and a new set of soldiers. Dinner was ready and waiting, every meal is pretty much rice with vegetables and meat or pasta with veg and meat, you get used to it and it gives you plenty of energy for the patrols. Immediately after dinner straight out on patrol, not much to report and upon returning my legs were like jelly and I was ready for sleep, its really hard work after a few days off.

The 11th was overcast again and quite nice, so its a good time to catch up on much needed sleep. I think average sleep is about 4 hours a night so you learn to make the most when the sun is not melting every part of you. I also started making a flag for our Lacacao campsite with the new volunteer Andreia. That night I took her out on patrol as she had not seen any turtles the previous night and I have been lucky with the turtle count. We saw three turtles, two nesting and one on a half moon.

Today was really cool, as in temperature, well and amazing too. I managed to sleep until the afternoon for the first time since I arrived, tiredness had stored up and took a while to off load. 9 of us then set off on the task of making a volleyball net which turned out really well and we had a big game, MILITARY Vs VOLUNTEERS. They won, but only just. Patrol was incredible that evening. In terms of turtles not especially, we found a couple of half moons and one making a half moon, this is where the turtle enters the beach but then heads back down without nesting. But we had the most amazing lightening storm! There was no thunder to follow but the whole beach would be illuminated for anything up to a second and the brightness of everything increased compared to the usual contrast, the sand was bright yellow, the sea unbelievibly blue, it was awesome. I love that feeling of slight danger and excitment that you get from a storm, when natures in control.

Today (13th) we welcomed another new volunteer, Mimi from italy. A really sound guy and the first thing he said made me laugh "wow this is like being on the moon" so so true. Almost every one I have met here has been really honest, genuine and friendly. Its refreshing and an amazing lesson in life being here. Every one is from a different background, a different country, working in different roles and yet we work so well together. Most people have not worked in this environment before and I feel it works as a bridge to connect you with people you would not usually socialise with or get the chance to any way. Being here is not just beneficial for the turtles, its also about living and working together with people who until now had not existed in your life. It really is a great lesson and experience.

The 14th day of september, and my trip was the hottest day so far. There is really not much that you can do in this heat apart from swim in the sea then hide in the shade. Gustavo began to feel unwell so I covered his shift from 8pm-12am then grabed a few hours sleep before my patrol 4am-7am. The really early shifts are part patrol but we also do the censos on the way back, this is where we tally up all the half moons and nests from the previous night.

We also add all the nests to our GPS network so that the data can be used to locate the nests and also see any corrilations between times and nests.

I had quick sleep when I returned and begun to feel ill myself. Later that evening 2 other volunteers fell ill as well. We think it was due to some un filtered water but cannot be sure. We are all extra careful now.

When you are a long way from home and feeling ill it is tough, you think of home and all the things you have left behind you. Having no phone or possible way of being contacted, you really are cut off from the world.

On the 16th we had the best surf since I have been here. Really wish I had my board here but I made the most of it body surfing, the waves were crisp, love it! I was also on the look out for some sharks as they had been spotted earlier that day but didnt see any :( At around 3pm the sky began to cloud over, there was a slight breeze in the air, yet the temperature was still rising! This place truely is a desert, and we are camping on it. Crazy!

The following day after an afternoon nap I awoke to the sound of voices, one of which I did not recognise. In my bewildered state I turned around to see a random guy standing in the middle of our camp speaking to Amanda. I said "is there a guy in just his pants asking for directions in the middle of a desert" apparently there was. This caused fits of laughter with Andreia and still makes me laugh when ever I think of it.

That evening I was feeling alot better and that evening went on patrol with Andreia. We discoverd a trurtle nesting, but this was no ordinary nest. When a Loggerhead turtle nests she will dig a hole approx 20cms wide and fill it with eggs, usually. This turtle decided to dig 2 holes, each the normal size and with a 3cm gap apart from each other, she then filled up one side with eggs and the other side about 1/4 full and buried. This was either an incredibly clever turtle, or maybe she had some brain damage. . . either way a special turtle. When we reported this to the foundation it had not been seen or heard of before, as far as I know.

The next day I awoke to a stinging sensation across parts of my body. The mosquitoes had been really bad the previous night. As counted 30 bites across my 2 hands I wondered what they find so delicious about an english guy. I seem to get more bites than most.

On the 18th Carrie and I treated our selves to a real breakfast for the first time. When I say real I mean something other than just bread and jam or Nusco (chocolate spread) So I fried up a couple of eggs and made some fried bread, I even found some ketchup tucked away in the fridge. Wow who would have thought an egg butty could cause so much excitment. It was needed after the previous night, patrol was really tough, I had 1/2 hour sleep before leaving for patrol and awoke in a foul mood. Your body gets so warn out at times, getting rest in the day is essential. On patrol I could tell I was not the only one feeling like this.

19092010 and 2 new volunteers arrived from spain as a few others leave. Over tiredness is still there, everything has been so exciting, fun and draining and tonight it is taking its tole. I took one of the new volunteers on my patrol and we soon came across a turtle entering the beach, she was quick to nest and gave the volunteer a great start to his experience.

On the 20th I awoke feeling great, a fresh new day and I had shaken off the tiredness. We had plenty of beach action and again the swell was really great, most of the waves were perfect for some body surfing but occasionally there would be one wave that would drain all the water back and dump you straight onto the sand. The last wave I got that day did this and was nearly twice my hight.
When you body surf your going head first to catch the wave, kind of like body boarding but without the board. I hit my head and bent my neck back, it was painful but could have been alot worse, just a little sore for the following days. Face plant!

Later that day we headed for the construction site on Lacacao, one of the beaches we patrol. They are mid way through building a vast hotel complex, it is huge and completely out of place. Its 40 miutes drive from any shops or any real civilisation. It is on a beach where the turtles nest and the water is not safe to swim in, especially not for children. You really have to question why it has been allowed to be built there. The lights from the construction are on all night long and confuse the turtles. We have had many that wonder in to the site as they look for their way back to the sea, I have no doubt that the lights will have also put off any potenial turtles nesting from time to time. The construction site has a bar for its workers so we grabbed a cold beer, it was so refreshing but with a hint of 'why the hell are you here'.

On the 22nd I was set for a few nights off and this time did not miss the soldier exchange as my lift was with them. It was sad again to see them swapped but as I said before, and it turned out to be true, I am sure the new ones will be just as sound. I arrived back at the turtle foundation in the afternoon and set about arranging my scuba dive for the following day. When we spoke to the dive centre they informed us that they had found 2 dead green turtles, one the at morning and one the previous day. Me and Christian went down the cantre to pick up the one from that morning. When I got back I got to witness first hand a disection of the juvenile turtle. It was really interesting (and smelly) but we could not diagnose the reason for its death. We then watched a documentary by Mimi the italian volunteer on the life of a turtle and its journey on the projector. It was really interesting, even though it was in italian. Later that night I went out with Ukie again and had a really funny night, what a host.

The next day I was set for my first scuba dive in Cape Verde. The conditions were fairly rough but we headed out for dive site Bodega De Juan which was an 18 metre dive. The dive was cool, visability could have been better though and the strong currents were causing problems for may of the divers. Unfortunately we had to come up after 32 mins as people were struggling and running out of air, I was a bit gutted as still had 100 bar left. We got to see a few Moray eels, jelly fish and a huge lobster but that was about as good as it got. I was hoping for some sharks but not this time. I look forwards to my next dive. When I got back from the dive 2 of the volunteers Daniela and Andreia were at the turtle foundation as there fligths back home were the following morning. We went out for pizza (it was amazing) and a few drinks but was sad to see them go. Daniela provides alot of the life and soul of the camp and I got on really well with Andreia so it wont be the same when I get back to Lacacao

The following day we had 2 morning dives booked but knew it was unlikely due to the previous conditions. The dives were not on so no more dives for me (yet) It is a real shame as Joane and Christian were also going to come so there would have been four of us including a German guy who is currently making a nature documentary and had been filming at our camp (tigersnail.com)

Well that brings me up to right now, I am frantically trying to sort out my next destination as the season and camp ends here on the 10th of October and I currently have no flights or anything booked whilst also typing up this blog, hectic. And I wont have any internet access again until the end so I am really not sure how its going to be arranged, ill find a way! I am trying to arrange some more conservation work and the most likely destination seems to be Costa Rica, there is alot of volunteer and conservation work there, otherwise it may be Brazil. Oh its not such a bad life.

Peace xxx

The Begining

Wow. . where to start. Firstly sorry for any spelling and punctuation mistakes, a combination of my english skills, lack of time and a dodgy key board will surely lead to this. Also I cant get any photos up in the internet cafe I am at at the moment so they will follow shortly.

After a long period of traveling and more so waiting, whilst attempting to sleep at Brussels airport I finally made it to 6.30am and borded my flight. I touched down at the charming open air airport of Boa Vista where I was greeted by a surge of heat which washed away any tiredness and turned it into pure excitment and happiness. I went straight to the bar and sipped a refreshing bottle of orange fanta. I swear its nicer abroad, and in an ice cold glass bottle :)


Following my airport pick up we headed into Sal Rei and went to the Turtle Foundation office to meet the organisers Joanne and Christan. I then got a lift to the campsite that I was assigned to at Locacao a 40 minute drive from proper civilisation.

My initial thoughts as I arrived quickly changed from excitment to ´wow what have I got myself into´ but this was very momentary and just a few nerves kicking in, this combined with the desert, mosquitoes and just being sooo remote for 6 weeks. I met the camp co-ordinator Amanda (an amazing and really kind Brazilian girl) the other vounteers (Carrie from the US and Daniela from Switzerland) and the military guys. Every one was really friendly and welcoming. The camp is smaller than I expected. We have 3 large sleeping tents and a shade and shelter for the kitchen. A shower made from a wheely bin and a tin pot and an undesirable loo made with a small tent and a hole in the sand.

I quickly set about asking how hey have been getting on, how the work is going and general survival techniques. Usually you would not go out on patrol on your first night but I chose to, I really could not wait, plus it was too hot for sleep. The patrol was great, Only got to see one turtle and she had finished nesting but found lots of tracks and learnt alot about what we would be doing. Towards the end we went to one of the other beaches that we patrol(3 in total) Curralito. As we arrived we were welcomed by milions of very unwelcome mosquitoes and as it was my first patrol and soooo hot I was not properly prepard and got fully attacked. They are vicious and can bite straight through a t-shirt. When we got back to the camp I was ready for some well earned sleep zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

I awoke to the heat and dragged myself out of the tent and along a 5 minute walk to the beach. The waves are very strong and crash really close to the shore, the swimming conditions are dangerous wih strong rips but if you know me then you´ll know this wont stop me from getting in the sea. As long as you are a little sensible and dont go out to far it is fine and really fun. The morning was mainly taken up with body surfing the waves and then using my body as a solar panel, lyeing in the abrupt heat regaining energy, oh what a hard day. My day to day life goes like this- wake up breakfast coffee swim read walk eat swim games sleep, then it gets to the evening and eat patrol poachers tag turtle help turtle monitor turtle chill sleep. I love it.

My second patrol was hard work (02092010) The shifts range from 4-6 hours and I was on a 12-4am with Cerrie and one of the military guys. To minimise the mosquitoes you have to really dress up and you get seriously hot, drippingly so!! My muscles were still adjusting to long walks on the beach and we did not come across any turtles. On a positive note it tires you out enough to make sleepig in the hot conditions possible. Fuelled with 5 litres of water a day and your feeling fine. I have never felt so healthy, I have not smoked since I arrived, hardly any alcohol, eating fresh and healthy food and going on long walks every day, swimming and sun. I have lost a little weight and am feeling great :)

On the 3rd me and Fogo (one of our soldiers) went fishing from the cliff top. I caught one but chucked it back as it was t small to eat. Fogo caught a moray eel and a couple of decent sized fish which we ate for dinner, you dont get much more fresh than that. That evening the weather became overcast and to my relief the temperaures lowered and the winds picked up which it turn lowered the mosquitoe count :)

The following day was nice and cool (for Boa Vista) and a few us took advantage and went for a walk up on top of the rocky hill above our camp as the sun went down, got some nice shots. The patrol that nite was my best yet!!! I went with Amanda (plus 1 soldier) because it takes a while before you go out with just yourself and a soldier due to training. We came across 3 turtles all of which had not been tagged. Amanda had taught me earlier in the day so this was my turn to step up. I tagged using a Pit Tag which is a microchip that can be scanned to give an ID so that we know if they have already been monitored and nested before. The loggerhead turtles nest up to 5 times in one season and do this one in every three years. I was really lucky for none of them to have already been tagged as it meant I gained the experice quickly and by the third I was very confident. I also got to see 2 of the turtles nesting and laying their eggs, they are so smoothe and delicate with their work, its a great experience to witness. This patrol was really ace, Amanda is one of he nicest people I have ever met. It was a perfect evening.

04092010 Today I woke up really burnt :( I guess clouds are missleading when you are in the desert. . . ouch. Later in the day one of the previous locals, an ex poacher who worked with us turned up following being fired and caused some trouble with one of our soldiers, a fight broke out and tempers were high but this was quickly broken up. What a dick!
Following the previous nights success I was set to lead one of the patrols with the new voluneers Gustavo and Emanuel. There were 5 of us in total including another volunteer and soldier. There was a lot of activity on the beaches, we found a lot of half moons (the name given when the turtle enters the beach but then returns with out nesting- usually due to bad sand conditions or sometimes crazy turtles?? wo knows) there were loads of tracks but we came across no turtles and no poachers.

The following day I was set for my first solo patrol, this I was looking forwards to :) The evening was odd, something in the air. . . at about 6pm before sun down the clearest rainbow appeared, but no rain at first. . . then the sun set was as always amazing but extra amazing. When me and the soldier went on patrol the waves and tide was coming in an extra 30M to usual, apparently this happens rarely, maybe twice a year. so we did patrol barefoot as the beach was like sinking sand. Again as the previous night there was alot of activity and eventaully we came across a turtle that headed along the beach parallel to the water, she knew the sand was not right for nesting but was determined to find somewhere rather than returning to the sea. eventually she got stuck in the sand and was unable to move so me and the soldier lifted her out a little and helped her backdown to the ocean. You dont really want to be doing this usually but she would have been poached or just died if we had not. I really hope no others got stuck after we left. Only 1 out of 1000 hatchlings will make it to the age of 35 and 35 is the age when they are able to reproduce and nest, this is why our work is so important!!!

Walking down the beach in pitchblack darkness is amazing here, following each foot step you get splatters of glimmering light from the plankton on the wet sand, wow!

I awoke early and went for a walk as I was worried bout the nests following the high tides the previous night. As i got to the beach I was shocked and sad to find 20 eggs washed up on a patch of the beach. I opened one up to check what stage the eggs were at; very close to hatching. I got Amanda to come down and we re-burried the other eggs just incase, sadly there is not much hope. I dread to think how many nests we lost that night.

Later that day we had some crazy rain storms, the rainy season is officially here.

Yesterday was my first night off and the storms continued. I was picked up at 4pm and usually it would take 40 minutes to get back to Sal Rei. On your day off you can choose to be taken here, back to civilisation.The journey ended up taking closer to 5 hours. We had to try crossing the desert and many alternative routes as the floods consumed most roads and crossings. We crossed through 2 rivers with caution and saw pickup trucks which had just been washed down with their owners stood on the roof for safety.

The last crossing we had to wait for a few hours as it was way to bad, 3 beers later (mmmm had been a long time coming) I was happy :) and we were on our way again.

Later that evening I was taken to the Turtle Foundations apartment which is over looking the sea, here I was given a real bed and took a real shower. It was lush :P Its funny but it had only been a week or so since my arrival at this point and in some ways it felt like I had been away for months, and in another way as if time had gone very fast. Get your head around that one.

There were three of us staying at the appartment, Ukie who is a really good guy and a top host, he lives in the appartment through out the season. Mark an American volunteer that had just arrived from a neighbouring island and myself. As we arrived Ukie and I agreed we would need or maybe I should say want a bottle or 2 of wine to unwined. We consumed these and decided to go for a quick drink at one of the local bars- as it was ladys night at Unico.

The following day it is fair to say I had a slightly sore head and felt like I had undone the weeks healthyness in a very short ammount of time, this is not the case (really?)
Later that day I had booked a scuba dive at a wreck just off the coast, but sadly following the previous conditions the water was too choppy and visability too poor. I will be rebooking this for my next day off (in 3 weeks :O) The day was spent exploring Sal Rei´s bars, shops and beaches. There are millions of chinese shops that sell pretty much everything. It is really expensive here, somethings just shy of english prices and some way over. This is due to being a desert island, practically everything has to be imported. Fish is really cheap and one of the main sources of food, yummy fresh fish!

Today (10092010) I have had a nice chilled out day, when I got back to the Turtle foundation office I was pleased to see Amanda had turned up, but then switched to feeling a bt gutted as our soldier had just borded the boat back to the military base, I was truely gutted as did not get to say by and get some photos with them. They were really funny guys. The soldiers spend 30 days on the project, 10 days at each camp, they the get replaced by another group after the 30 days are up, I am sure the new group arriving later will be just as cool. Any way that just about brings me up to right now. I did just get a Boa Vista hair cut and had to be quite clear not to bic it straight off as that is the general cut here, the guy was really nice, as are most of the Cape Verdian I have met so far.

Any way I will update again in a couple of weeks. I think my next day off will be quite a while away as I took this one quite early and it turned into 2 days following the floods. Miss you all but at the same time there is not much that could make me want to leave here right now lol. Hope your all well and would love to here what you have been up to and how things are going. Big love Sam