Turtle Conservation Project

Hi everyone - I hope you are all well back home. I've just finished a months' volunteer project working with Sea Turtles on a small island about 4 hours' drive South of Bangkok. Right now I'm sitting at the airport with Bernard waiting for a flight to Phuket where we are doing a week's sailing course (and I've forgotten all my theory - doh!) - but that will all be part of my next update!

Without sounding smug and annoying, I have to say the last month has been paradise compared to the travels so far: white sandy beaches, amazingly friendly local people and temperatures around 35 degrees - a nice change from North China. It has also been like a science experiment to see if I can turn off-white after 4 weeks in the sun: I think I have proved a positive result...although the lighting conditions have to be right!

I landed in Bangkok on the 1st of February and the next day took a coach to where we were staying - I had no idea what to expect and had assumed there would be a number of other volunteers; in fact it was myself and a smashing girl called Jenny who knew far more about turtles than I did from her Zoology degree (I had to rely on mental archives of David Attenborough!). From Monday to Thursday we took a boat at 8.30 every day to what we called Turtle Island. As well as its passengers it was usually loaded up with supplies of food, water, fuel etc for the few scientists who actually stayed there. After a half hour crossing we'd arrive and then make the 10-minute walk to the Turtle Sanctuary, a government-funded project for baby and injured adult turtles.

And I can tell you now they kicked out a right PONG! Whew! Monday morning, after they'd been in their enclosures all weekend, was a really dirty job. We had to drain the water out, turning these graceful underwater creatures into beached behemoths (a few of the adults weighed almost 100kg) and then scrub the slimy remnants of their excrement/food/algae off the floor and walls which took a considerable amount of elbow grease - quite a workout!


On Tuesdays and Thursdays it was medicine time for the little turtles. Unlike the adult population of Green, Hawksbill, Loggerhead and Olive Ridley Turtles, all the baby ones were 5 or 6-month-old Green turtles which would be released at the end of their first year. They were amazing little animals, in the water they whizz round like supercharged wind-up bath toys but become more placid when the water is drained and they have to contend with gravity. The problem with the little fellas is they are surprisingly aggressive when in such close contact and are constantly biting each other on vulberable areas - tails, feet, neck and sometimes - the poor little blighters - on their arse. The scabs had to be rubbed off with a towel and then covered in iodine, then a quick wash with antisceptic-soaked cotton wool - ouch!


There wasn't much more to it than that, after a couple of hours on most days we were done and Jenny and I would spend a few hours on the beach snorkelling and reading before catching the boat back at 3.30pm. The great thing about Jenny is she's an avid reader - she read two books by the end of our first week (where I was struggling to get beyond page 60 in Victor Hugo's The Hunchback of Notre Dame). On the second weekend we found an English bookshop where she was able to recommend some brilliant books, one of which is occupying Bernard right now as I'm writing this - what a fantastic scam to get him off the computer!

Halfway through the month Jenny and I went to Pattaya which I've heard people say is the Blackpool of Thailand... another older man with his token Thai bride was surprisingly honest when he chatted across a table in a restaurant, saying it was Disney Land for dirty old men! We went to a really rubbish water park with six slides, two of which were closed. What was really entertaining and mildly disturbing was seeing a LadyBoy cabaret in the evening. I have to say ever since the Alan Partridge episode where he "accidentally" watches Bangkok Chickboys in his hotel room and gets "confused", I always thought they'd be easy to tell from the real thing. Don't get me wrong - in the show we saw - which was tourist and family friendly, kind of pseudo Moulin Rouge - there were individuals with big feet and other strange-looking specimens. But the stars of the show, the top billers... well it was frightening - you really would not know. Even if you did you'd find it hard not to instinctively open a door for one of them. See? I'm confused now! Don't worry it's not a cry for help...

Anyhoo I'd better dash as this PC is on a timer - talk about working to a deadline! After this week I have another 3 weeks before going back to Shanghai to work for a few months and earn some much-needed cash - apart from running out of budget here I've also decided to team up with some guys later in the year for an expedition into South America!
Keep in touch, it's great to hear what's happening back home - will keep you posted on how much damage Bernard and I do to the boat!

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