Tuesday 22 July 2008

The first one....

This is my first blog and I'm not sure about it...whether I'll stick to it or get bored...how people will respond and what others will post. But I decided to have a go and thought a good way to start was just to type.



I was in Tobago recently - an amazing place to visit if you love a chilled life - and one of the thrills was seeing the giant leatherback turtles coming up onto the beach to lay their eggs. Local volunteers patrol the beaches to protect the turtles from all sorts of hazards (mainly tourists!) and takes about 2 hrs for the turtles to dig the 'nest', lay the eggs (about 100 at a time - the size of golf balls) and then camoflage the sand surface before heading back out to sea. The sight of the turtle's silhouette emerging from the sea (they are about 5-6ft long) was completely awe-inspiring - bit like being back in the time of dinosaurs.

What disappointed me most was the disrespect that a proportion of the tourists showed - asked to stand back to give the laying turtle room, some people would stand back only to have others rush in front, pushing and shoving and not bothering about anyone else. It was such a shame that people couldn't just stand there and wonder at how we are able to be that close to such an awesome display of nature..