Well, every day is certainly different here in Karumbe. This morning, as most mornings, I went down to the beach around 6:45am before breakfast. I know the beach is always quiet but at that time in the morning there are so many beautiful birds and the odd carcass washed up on the shore. My initial purpose for the visit was to try to find the snake I had seen the other day as a park ranger had visited the centre yesterday evening and want to take it away for a definitive I.D.

A black dog had wandered into camp and had taken up residence in the yard so I decided to take him along as I would appreciate his company.

I wasn’t hopeful of finding the dried up, stiff little slither as I had left it lying half wall way between the ocean and the tide line so I was expecting it to be washed away.

After 10 mins of scanning the beach, I noticed a seagull sitting on the sand being buffeted by the sea. It was behaving strangely and the dog had noticed it too and began circling and getting just too close but the strange thing was it didn’t run away, it just kept snapping frantically.

So I knew, I knew everything wasn’t well. I approached it cautiously as these black backs were huge and their beaks could be viscous.

Nothing else for it, the dog was harassing the poor creature and wouldn’t leave it alone, so I picked it up and headed back along the beach to the centre holding it at arms length to avoid it’s determined snapping beak which was directed straight at my face.

Segway (as I had christened him) was diagnosed with botulism – poor wee soul. Apparently they get infected from the algae ridden lagoons. It starts from the feet up and progresses to full paralysis. But the good news is it can be cured if caught early and I hope we have. For the moment, rest, oral fluids and medication when we buy it from the vets in the next town.

For the moment, I place him in a large blue plastic tub and put it in the shade until we can figure out a treatment plan.

So, no time to go back to the beach to search for the snake, breakfast is important today as I’m off to do a turtle census. Counting the amount of little swimming circular disk as the pass between 3 points in Punta de Teresa then a 13 km walk back to base.

Backpack packed, water, long sleeved t-shirt, camera, two lenses, binoculars and the all important suncream and we were off in the car to the marine conservation area to start our daily task.

We were each designated a point on the coastline to watch for turtle passing between the shore and the distant island. We sat in pairs and scanned the ocean for bobbing heads for 10 mins, rested for 5 mins and repeated this process for an hour. The sun was intense and because I was given a grassy area, the spiders and insects were many but is was a beautiful scene and I found it hard not to get distracted by all the birds etc flying around me.

My ‘other half’ and I saw 6 turtles within the allocated hour and the boys saw none 🤣. It was blistering hot and I had put sun lotion on everything else by my feet. It’s amazing how intense the sun is at midday and I have bright red feet to prove it.

We gathered all the information and started our long 13km walk back to base. The scenery was absolutely stunning and there were huge vultures soaring in the wind just above my head but I daren’t take out my camera as I was there as an employee and not as a photographer but boy was it excruciatingly painful!

It wasn’t just a random walk back to base, we we still on duty looking out for dead creatures stranded on the sand and we didn’t have to wait long. Unfortunately there were lots of choice of species and lots of each:

Apart from the whale bones and crabs, everything we found had to be measured and GPS location recorded.

We walked for hours but surprisingly it was not tedious or tiring as there were so many things to keep us occupied.

I kept falling so far behind as I stopped to take photos with my Fuji. I just couldn’t ignore the amazing opportunities any more and it was worth every peching trot as I tried to catch up.

I was actually really disappointed when I realised how close I was to being back at the centre. I could have walked so many more km.

I tried to find the snake cadaver that I set out to find this morning but it was well gone so I headed back for a late lunch and to check on Segway hoping that he was still in the land of the living – which he was although I think he was clinging on to life by the nails at the end of his webbed feet……phew

There were so many patients in the clinic which was going to take many many hours to give them the treatment they deserve as well as the poor wee soul who had just been brought in with multiple wounds including holes in his skull and carapace.

I was supposed to be making dinner but that was never going to happen so I quickly prepared all the vegetables, meat and cut the potatoes into small portions to make roast potatoes as I had a stew in mind. Sandra another of the volunteers stepped in and became chef for the evening which was just perfect.

My upper bunk bed buddy Nicola, a lovely, full of fun, young girl from Sidney Oz was leaving in the morning and at dinner, we had a wee photo shoot and a few speeches to say goodbye. I will miss her cheery chats.

It was a day packed full of activities and I went to bed feeling tired but completely fulfilled.

Earlier in the day I had added another mattress to my bed hoping it would cushion me from the wooden slats and I might be lucky enough to get a decent night sleep – fingers crossed!!!

Nite 😘