In the morning we had patrolling training. We made such a big leatherback sea turtle out of the sand on the beach.
After that Wade (our project leader) used the turtle made of sand to teach us how to take measurements and what to take note when we spot turtles coming up on the beach to lay eggs during our patrolling duties.
Have a bit of a break before lunch and we chilled at the station. Really simple life here. I guess it's good for detox but I need some civilisation to keep me sane from time to time. 2 weeks here is good enough hahaha. Can't stay here for too long.. I'm too used to the city life.
Went back home for lunch. Today we had the usual rice and beans and sides kinda lunch. I was sitting on the sofa reading but found myself falling asleep. One of the project assistants (a local guy) was saying hola hola to me while I was found asleep on the sofa. lol so embarrassing. He came to pass something to my host mom but she was in the shower then.
I couldn't take it anymore so I went to took a nap that made me even more tired when I woke up for hatchery training.
I thought the hatchery will be like a greenhouse with nice temperature in a little house. But nah, it's just an area separately by net and pretty much we will be looking after the hatchery from the outside sitting on the sand, and going in to check every 15 minutes. It's to see if the baby turtles have been hatched and made their way out of the sand. After that our training also included digging out a turtle hole where they lay their eggs in. The depth is more than my arms' length. I had to squat till I have to lay my belly on the sand to dig the hole man. Not an easy job!!! And the width of the hole must be kept constant throughout, which was really hard to maintain! And when the depth is good enough, we have to dig a chamber at the bottom of the hole! Hard work it is!!! Haha we were just complaining while we were digging.
While walking back to the station we spotted another turtle laying eggs same turtle as the one yesterday, but not the leatherback. Apparently it's a critically endangered species and it was going to extinct this year, but they extended for another 2 years if i didn't hear wrongly.
So it's pretty rare to see them. Hope to see some laying their eggs during my night patrol.
Played some card games at the station before heading back for dinner. Dinner tonight was super carbs meal. Rice and beans and mashed potato cake thing with my host mom's homemade chilli sauce! Oh gosh I love her chilli sauce!!! It's like water dipped in hot little chilli with lemons or limes. The sour taste makes it so good. I love sour food :p Yumz.
It's only 9.35pm and host mom says lights out!!! :( otherwise the insects or animals will be hanging on the rooftop or trying to get in I think... Sad. Tasha is on patrolling tonight and I'm alone in the dark room now.
It's really different here. I have to do dishes and wash my own clothes by hand too. Back in Heredia, the host family treats everyone like kings and feeds us like we are gonna die tomorrow.
Anyway I have to hang my bras in the bathroom because the water kept dripping. I hope I won't forget to bring them into the room later otherwise when Tasha gets back later and wanna get a shower she'd have a real shock of her life.
Hopefully the spiders won't get on my bras too.. :(
Anyway, bugs/insects are way better than a mouse anytime. So I'm sleeping pretty well here. And with this ridiculous lights out time on this ridiculously remote city, I'm getting more sleep now before tomorrow when my shifts come in together in a clump. I have one 12am-5am patrolling shift and a 6am-9am hatchery shift. The rest of my shifts are in a decent time of the day. But we only got the roster till next Monday. So I can expect more ridiculous shifts after our day off on Tuesday! Time flies ey? Soon we'll be embarking on the adventure tour, which I think time will pass by even faster.
But out of so many things, I'm still stoked to be home in Singapore. Cannot wait!! Meanwhile, I will embrace this experience and try my best to make the best out of it.
I thought the hatchery will be like a greenhouse with nice temperature in a little house. But nah, it's just an area separately by net and pretty much we will be looking after the hatchery from the outside sitting on the sand, and going in to check every 15 minutes. It's to see if the baby turtles have been hatched and made their way out of the sand. After that our training also included digging out a turtle hole where they lay their eggs in. The depth is more than my arms' length. I had to squat till I have to lay my belly on the sand to dig the hole man. Not an easy job!!! And the width of the hole must be kept constant throughout, which was really hard to maintain! And when the depth is good enough, we have to dig a chamber at the bottom of the hole! Hard work it is!!! Haha we were just complaining while we were digging.
While walking back to the station we spotted another turtle laying eggs same turtle as the one yesterday, but not the leatherback. Apparently it's a critically endangered species and it was going to extinct this year, but they extended for another 2 years if i didn't hear wrongly.
So it's pretty rare to see them. Hope to see some laying their eggs during my night patrol.
Played some card games at the station before heading back for dinner. Dinner tonight was super carbs meal. Rice and beans and mashed potato cake thing with my host mom's homemade chilli sauce! Oh gosh I love her chilli sauce!!! It's like water dipped in hot little chilli with lemons or limes. The sour taste makes it so good. I love sour food :p Yumz.
It's only 9.35pm and host mom says lights out!!! :( otherwise the insects or animals will be hanging on the rooftop or trying to get in I think... Sad. Tasha is on patrolling tonight and I'm alone in the dark room now.
It's really different here. I have to do dishes and wash my own clothes by hand too. Back in Heredia, the host family treats everyone like kings and feeds us like we are gonna die tomorrow.
Anyway I have to hang my bras in the bathroom because the water kept dripping. I hope I won't forget to bring them into the room later otherwise when Tasha gets back later and wanna get a shower she'd have a real shock of her life.
Hopefully the spiders won't get on my bras too.. :(
Anyway, bugs/insects are way better than a mouse anytime. So I'm sleeping pretty well here. And with this ridiculous lights out time on this ridiculously remote city, I'm getting more sleep now before tomorrow when my shifts come in together in a clump. I have one 12am-5am patrolling shift and a 6am-9am hatchery shift. The rest of my shifts are in a decent time of the day. But we only got the roster till next Monday. So I can expect more ridiculous shifts after our day off on Tuesday! Time flies ey? Soon we'll be embarking on the adventure tour, which I think time will pass by even faster.
But out of so many things, I'm still stoked to be home in Singapore. Cannot wait!! Meanwhile, I will embrace this experience and try my best to make the best out of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment