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Written by Rachel
4th April, Sunday, Gandoca
Because I'm a really cool kid, I always liked to name the turtles that bore any kind of lasting significance. This particular turtle I named Luna.
After getting rudely awakened by my ipod at the crack of midnight, I clambered out of my damp, sand- infested hovel of a bed and proceeded to reluctantly put on my sweaty damp patrol clothes. This combination complemented my fly look of trousers tucked into socks. After bravely jumping over the red ant highways, I groaned inwardly when I realised I was the only volunteer to be with an ´eco- teach´ group. Or geeko- teach as Emily named it. Anyways I knew I was in for a right treat, especially knowing that I was on early sector A, the longest and most tiring patrol!
Only 20mins into the patrol and they were driving me silently mental. They kept moaning about how far they were walking, flashing there red torch lights every 2 seconds when anything remotely hazardous was on the floor, laughing loudly and constantly asking where turtles were. As if they just stroll on out for their own entertainment. Eventually, one was spotted! It really was a beautiful scene, she had lollopped herself ungracefully onto the beach and nestled herself beneath a large palm tree. The moonlight was shimmering off her ancient shell, and since it was a perfectly clear night, all the stars were out. But this woman simply went too far for words.
Not only did she start to jump up and down like a madman but quickly whipped out her hefty camera and proceeded to film her son catching the turtles eggs. She then marveled at how proud she was of her son to do this, and then started crying actual tears! She then nearly stepped on the eggs and even used flash photography… not a smart move. This probably blinded the poor thing. Once the turtle we christened ´Luna´ had finished, she made her way back to the safety of the ocean, probably out of fear than anything else. This woman then waved frantically from behind and cried in a melodramatic way, ´´we will look after your babies´´, which was then followed by her shoving the group together for a video of us just saying ridiculous phrases. So too far!
My highlight was when she was too busy making videos of the avatar steps (a glowing plankton) or the sand or whatever she was doing to notice that the sand suddenly disappeared from beneath her, and she nearly fell into the sea! This hilarious fall was increased in terms of humour when our Spanish guide, Jairo, didn't bother to stop and just carried on walking on his merry turtle way. It was a LOL.
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