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Published: December 7th 2010
For not having any nests the last 2 weeks have really flown by. I've kept busy with computer work and other activities and now I can't believe that my time in Bureni is over.
On the Tuesday and Wednesday of the last week of November Charles and I went up to the town of Watamu, about an hour north of us, to stay at the turtle center there and learn about the program they're running. The Watamu Turtle Watch, or Local Ocean Trust, has been operating for around 10 years, and they have a large information center, a house for volunteers, and a rehabilitation center for injured turtles. At the moment there are 4 turtles at the center, ranging in age from probably under 2 years to 5 years. Some of the injuries include damage from nets, swallowed plastics, and fibropapiloma, which are tumors that develop on Green turtles and can only be stopped by surgically removing them. Another cool activity that the Watamu center does is a net-release program. This is an agreement that they have with the fishermen of the area. If a turtle gets caught in their nets they give the staff at the center a call, and they will go to where the turtle is, give the fisherman a small payment, take measurements of the turtle, then release it on one of the beaches. As soon as we arrived we were thrown right in. After a quick look around the rehab center we joined some staff and volunteers to take a recovering turtle for a practise swim, then drove to a fisherman's house to pick up some turtles.
It's funny, there are a lot of Italians in this area so the kids, instead of saying 'hello' as we went by said 'chao.' XD
There were 4 turtles in the banda when we arrived. We measured them, and took their weight. One was over 50kg, that's almost as much as I am! When we arrived at the beach we had a race between the 4 turtles to see which would reach the water first. Mine lost. I also discovered that turtles tend to start peeing when they are carried. XD As soon as the release was over we drove out and picked up 3 more turtles, so it was a full day. I tried watching 'Blue Planet' with some other people that night, but I was falling asleep in my chair by 9pm so I went to bed.
The next morning I woke up to the wonderful time of stepping on a centipede as I got out of bed. I wasn't stung, and the centipede wasn't injured, but I jumped about 6 feet in the air.
That morning Charles and I had a meeting with the staff so we could take notes for the Bureni group. In the afternoon we released 2 more turtles, then went back to Bureni.
On that Friday and Saturday we had 2 beach clean-ups. On Friday it was in Bureni, and our group collected about 15 bags of garbage. On Saturday the clean-up was at a beach near the town of Shariani. This was much bigger, and organized by a company that brings in long term volunteers, similar to the peace corps. There was less garbage on these beaches, but we still managed around 10 bags when it was all added up.
The week after that was mostly quiet. I did lots of computer work, and one morning Charles and I went up to Shariani because he'd gotten a call about a dead turtle washing up on the beach. I think it had gotten caught in a fishing net, and the fisherman didn't want to try to release him and keep the turtle alive so he killed him because it was easier. It was sad.
The other highlight of the past few weeks was getting to go to an African wedding. Margaret, my homestay Mum, had a dress made for me so I would have something nice to wear. That was so amazing of her. I haven't been to many weddings in my life, but this one was different from those that I'd attended. It was at a church in Vipingo, with several hundred people, lots of them kids. One difference that was cool was the wedding party. Instead of just walking down the aisle, they danced. It was awesome. The ceremony was also broken up with lots of singing and people coming up to dance. They also had the cake cutting in the church, after the rings were exchanged. After the wedding party got some cake the rest was cut up and put on trays to be distributed to the guests. The whole thing was really fun and lively.
Now it's been a quiet few days. We tried having a beach clean-up today on the other Bureni beaches, but it was pouring rain all morning, so it was cancelled. I go down to Shimoni on Thursday for a visit, then I'm in Mombasa for a few days, after which Liam arrives. The next few weeks should be fun.
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Liam
non-member comment
Dancing at the Wedding
So are we going to have to dance down the aisles at our wedding, too? XD