I woke up around 04:30 bursting for the toilet and getting out my bed was going to be a bit of a challenge. There was now someone sleeping in the lower bunk bed and I hadn’t mastered the manoeuvre of reaching the floor without putting my feet on the frame of her bed.

It was a ridiculous scene, I was trying to splay my legs like a spider and it just wasn’t working, in the end I just took a leap of faith and crashed to the floor.

Although the sun didn’t rise until 05:25, there was enough light in the sky for me to get to the toilet without using my flashlight.

As I sat there doing what I went to do, all of a sudden there was a rush of dozens of mosquitoes into the open air bano attaching themselves to every little bit of my body that was bare. It was agony and I couldn’t sit still for more than a nano second – it just wasn’t a good experience at all.

Returning to my bedroom, I scratched the whole way knowing that in the morning I’d be covered in huge lumps.

I did consider getting up for the sunrise but I’d like to keep that for the last morning and anyway, I fell back asleep during the thought.

As always my priority was Segway, I hate the thought of him sitting in that cold plastic tub all night. I’ve tried to reduce the chill by sitting him on a towel and partially covering the tub with a lid.

It’s great to see him look up at me in the morning, he knows now it means breakfast is on the way. Putting him into the sun I went to soak the fish in luke warm water. He had become too strong and resentful of being tube fed and this was the only way for him to get enough water.

The fishermen down at the beach and canal knew to keep the small fish they’d otherwise throw back which means for the moment we have a good supply for the hungry seagull.

The day of clinic duties continued and thankfully there were no other Green turtles washed up on the beach although there was a dead one found floating in the canal.

In the afternoon there were two tanks of the most tiniest terrapins handed in by the police who had confiscated them from an unscrupulous street seller. They were minute, probably the size of a 20p piece

There was loads to be done today. I was leaving for Montevideo the next morning and I hadn’t booked a hotel, checked in nor purchased my bus ticket so I opted out of the duties to get organised.

I had put a little plastic table and chair into the sun but even at 8am it was way too hot and they were dragged back into the shade.

Hotel booked, a little bit of luxury before I was condemned to a bucket seat for 12hrs 40 mins

To book the bus, I had to walk to the wee shop at the top of the road but there was an old bike lying in the yard and I decided to take my chances and ride it along the road. There were no gears and only the rear brake worked but if I had to stop quickly I would probably slide in the dirt track anyway.

Dear god, I had no power in my legs to pedal this thing and I began to wonder if I would’ve been better off walking 🚶‍♀️ but I persevered and got there in a fashion of my own

5hr 40 min bus booked for 13:10 on Thursday 5th December, the first step of a long journey, I was finally going home! I cycled back to the centre more confident than I had arrived.

Lunch time was as always was a complete feast. Such an amazing variety of dishes came out of that tiny wee kitchen.

I’ve no idea how they do it. One of the volunteers Sandra from Brazil is a completed genius, she could go into a fridge with only and apple and make 10 different dishes using a variety of spices – I loved it when she cooked!

At 3pm Stuffed and ready for bed, my last duty was to hike along the beach for ~6km with the rest of the volunteers to Monte Verde to do another turtle ocean survey from three different points on the shore. The whole day would take around 6 hrs in the blistering sun but it was a beautiful seascape and time passes quickly.

I have badly cracked heals and blisters on the soles of my feet so it wouldn’t be as pleasurable as I had hoped for. To try to ease the pain, I usually take my sandals off to walk in the shallow water of the lapping sea to cool my feet

Backpack packed: sun lotion, water, hankies, long sleeved t-shirt, binoculars, phone and the all important camera – I had no hat. I never see the need for a skip hat 🧢 but on this occasion I think I should have worn one to shade me from the blistering sun!

The long journey was along beautiful beaches, clambered over rocky headlands and up through scrub. We very rarely saw anyone else on our walk as we scanned the beach for cadavers.

Five and a half kilometres into our journey and out of nowhere these black cloud piled up releasing the most violent storm, thunder, lightening and torrential rain. At this point there was a call from Marcy back at the centre telling us that it was too dangerous for us to be out on the beach in these conditions and ordered us back to base. Good grief, we could see our destination, but like obedient participants, we turned and made our long way back standing in the same footstep we had just made.

There was no fish left for Segway and I had to feed him sausages this morning ( which he adored) so when I saw the fishermen casting their rods I took a Spanish speaking volunteer to ask them if they’d be willing to part with just one of their catch – even a few tiddlers. But as this was a conservation area and fishing was actually banned along this stretch of coastline, they all denied having anything in their covered buckets. More sausages for Segway for tea.

I found a dead fish lying behind a rock near the shore (I was attracted to the swarms of flies) and boy did it stink but I decided to take it back to gut and assess the possibilities. Unfortunately the flies resented my action and I had clouds of them following me all the way back to the suspension bridge. Between the flies and the putrid smell that was making me boak wham the breeze changed, I dumped it in the bushes. I didn’t think it would be good for Segway and heaven knows I’d struggled so long to get him to this level of fitness.

Back at base I took a shower to get rid of the mingin’ smell that was sticking to my skin and inside my nostrils, it was dinner soon and it would overpower taste of anything I’d put in my mouth.

Wee tiny Mar who was collecting data for her PHD project at the centre was putting on a BBQ for my last night – bless!! So I went and bought two bottles of wine, crisps and some beer at the same wee local shop where I bought my bus ticket – and took the same wee rickety bike.

The bonfire was lit and Cheeko quickly took full advantage of the heat

It was a wonderful last night sitting round the campfire and eating delicious food. Alejandro had Spotify and asked me to sing my national anthem. instead of God Save the queen which would have them all running for their bed, I took the phone from him and found ‘Flower of Scotland’ – thank goodness they wine and beer was flowing for the sound that escaped from my mouth was anything but dulcet! Surprisingly enough, some of the volunteers actually recognised the tune and associated it with Scottish rugby 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏉.

Spot the little Christmas bobble on the beams, I bought it in Montevideo bus station and hung it on the rafters to bring them some festive cheer when the time arrives 🎄 🎅

Time to retreat to the top bunk for the very last time, with all that wine on board, the challenge should be easier or at least I wouldn’t care so much about my dignity.

Nite 😘