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