Tetepare Turtle Fun:

After a 2 hour snorkel on Sunday morning (very tiring but gorgeous – only 5 sharks this time) we had a quiet afternoon because we were going out to camp on the turtle nesting beaches overnight.

The boat left late afternoon, arriving at the beach in a very eventful way. Because of the big waves, the guides had to skilfully surf the waves in the little motorised boat till we landed on the sand; at which point we had to all jump out and drag the boat up the beach. Because the boat could only take 3 of us at a time, it had to be done 3 times, and we were all soaked and laughing by the end.

By the time we were all out and on ‘dry’ land, it was sunset so we all stood taking lots of pictures until it was time for dinner in our little shack. Dinner was all cooked and laid out from the resort, so no making fires or any of that hassle – roughing it in style – yum! The medics amongst us also spotted the whale vertebrae just dotted around the jungle which nobody else had ever noticed.

Then we all took a walk out to the end of the beach (about a mile down the way) and settled down in the sand for the night, to wait to see if any turtles came to lay some eggs. Whilst we were unlucky with the turtles (as none came overnight), as far as the experience goes, it was well worth the lack of sleep:

The beach sand is volcanic, so is actually black, and it glistened beautifully in the moonlight. The stars were beautiful and it was just so peaceful to lie back and watch them, while listening to the waves on the beach a bit below.

Finally, on the last day, they saved the best activity........Turtle rodeo!! The guides have to measure and tag turtles so luckily for us, they let the guests watch the show. What happens is that the guides stand on the roof of the front of the boat, and look for a turtle in the water (the water is so clear that they can see them). Then they chase it around for a bit i(with the boat) until it gets to a shallower area and close enough for one ranger to literally jump on top of it. Then he kind of hugs it and holds on to the flippers and passes it into the boat. Once they have 2 or 3 like this, they head for a beach to put them down onto so that the measurements and tagging can be done. Such a brilliant experience!