Sandra and I had volunteered to do the early morning 7am – 9am canal watch. We were always the first up in the morning and it made sense. So made our way down to the beach at 06:30 to resume our position and was quickly joined by Cheeko. Rather than sit on the bank where we were sat last night, we crossed the suspension bridge to the oppositee side to have a clear view of the whole river right up to the bend.

It was a strange morning, it’s as though something had changed. Hardly any fish were jumping, there were far fewer cormorants fishing and after sitting for 2 hrs we only saw 1 turtle head breaking the water. This was so unusual!

Our relief came prompt at 9am and we left – Cheeko stayed for 2 mins then joined us as we walked back for breakfast passing a ray of some sort- another casualty from the sea.

Clinic time, time to treat the patients. The turtles were all doing well, most were eating apart from Plada who was extremely week. The resources here for doing diagnostic test were non existent and all we could do was treat what we thought was wrong and hope.

Segway was on top form. So much stronger and eating like a little seahorse! I gutted two fish the boys had caught in the canal and gave him half of one. He was definitely stronger and I had to stop using my fingers to feed him fish and use forcepts as his beak had become quite strong and he gave quite a strong nip when to took fish.

All patients treated – job done ✅. We had a visit from an German couple who were interested in the centre and they were pointed in my direction which was fab. I felt a sense of pride explaining the work that we did and when they left they very kindly gave us a donation 👏

Unfortunately when the boys arrived back from their canal watch at 1pm they were carrying 4 turtles that had been washed up on the canal embankment – I had my suspicions but didn’t voice my opinion. It transpired the evening before, some people saw locals who were fishing in the canal carry off 4 live turtles. 😡

It’s always a fine balance of foreigners advising the locals of the rules and regulations in their own country, sometimes resentments can raise its ugly head. Saying no more 😢

It was time to make dinner and I always find it stressful. Not cooking for 15 people, but having the inspiration and imagination on what to make from the limited supplies in the larder and it was important to have a variety. So many spices and herbs etc, I have no idea how to use them!!

As there were a lot of vegetarians, I decided to keep it simple and make roast potatoes, sweet potatoes, spaghetti Bolognese, broccoli and a cake as a treat. Everything was going perfectly well and I felt in control but then disaster, the gas ran out and no-one knew where to find a replacement cylinder. After us all searching for almost 20 mins and my partially cooked dinner becoming mush and cold, we eventually found the keys to the locked store, connected the new cylinder but unfortunately the oven wouldn’t light – there goes the cake and keeping the roasties warm. The cake mix ended up pancakes and deep fried doughnuts and the roasties were served as a started – sorted!

Day off tomorrow!

Nite 😘