I Love Turtles!
I want to share my experience of volunteering with Projects abroad in Mexico! Monday ...We got collected by the same person who picked us up from the airport and then he drove us to the bus station about 40 odd minutes in busy traffic. At the station he would buy our tickets and we met up with another mum (Kendra) and son (Harry 9 years old) who were also going on the trip, I was very pleased with this as my son had company and he was already more excited! Our driver left us and then we all got onto the coach and were told to get off at the last stop and to get comfy as we would be on this coach for over 5 hours :/ luckily it had air conditioning an nice seats and it wasn't your typical bus that you would imagine it to be like off films with all of us standing up holding on and swinging around sweating full of kids, goats, chickens, no sides, loud talking and Mexican hats lol. We had several stops at service stations where you could go to toilet buy something to eat etc. We finally arrived at our last stop and Paolo met us, we then all got into the van and he drove us to the beach house. It was absolutely stunning not modern more eco but still perfect being right on the beach. We met some of the team Jennha, etc and they showed us to our rooms, put down our stuff and then a little while later they showed us around, lunch was already there waiting for on the side we all had something to eat the food was delicious and cooked by a local whose husband worked for the group and his wife would cook fresh every day. It was so healthy and delicious. We also had fresh food in the fridge, tins etc in cupboards and sugar... but be careful an make sure you secure things as the ants will be in there for sure. They got into the sugar an cereal boxes and were everywhere the little naughty’s. We sat outside on the bench by the beach and went over everything we would be doing for the following week it was very exciting indeed. While we were getting our brief my son Jake and Harry were jumping in and out of the pool and living their best life! Later we went on a beach clean and all of us collected lots of rubbish on the beach after that we got back and relaxed, then Pablo an the team surprised us with our first hatchlings with Jake and Harry got to count and pick up the babies and place them onto the beach and we watched them go off into the ocean. What an experience to witness! We took as many videos and pictures as we could capture the moment but it is up there in our memory. Later that evening Amy my friend was on her first night patrol where she would luckily see two turtles laying her eggs, how wonderful to experience this on the first night. It was out of season too! She collected the eggs as to keep them safe back & they would take them back to the conservation camp away from poachers.
The next day we woke up and had breakfast and have to all be in the van by 8 a.m. unfortunately that evening my son Jake had developed a fever which he could have got from sunstroke lots of travelling, food or perhaps a bite? So we had to stay home and I looked after him while the others went to the camp. I was very disheartened that this has happened but that is life. The next few days he was very ill. I managed one afternoon when he was sleeping, so I gave him meds an got to go with the crew and go on the riverboat and experience some wonderful birds fish crocodiles etc it was truly beautiful. We have to count how many birds we could see in one area to try and build up some data. Of course the lovely Jennah stayed at the beach house to be there to watch Jake, it was perfect timing as he awoke when I arrived back an mumma was ready to look after him again.
On the third day (Wednesday) Paolo took me and Jake to the doctors as his temperature was still high and his throat was killing him and he was very weak. There and then they issued him an injection in his buttocks and it really hurt him but within an hour he felt great. In the injection was a potent mixture of antibiotics painkillers and something else, I wonder why we don't have this back in the UK obviously money reasons but it was amazing. As he didn't have to wait to feel better after days getting antibiotics. Over the next few days he did have to have other antibiotics and painkillers but he improved massively and then we could finally start to enjoy the experience. On my first patrol I went out on the second night when my son was ill Amy looked after him, and unfortunately I didn't see any turtles laying eggs but we did witness a turtle and she was trying to do it, but couldn't it, was simply amazing on the quad bike going up and down the beach with all the glistening stars. I was looking up an in disbelief at how many more there were in the sky due to no city lights.
Thursday - the day after the doctor's appointment we got up and we had breakfast and then we went to our first time to the turtle camp we had a little look around and we looked after the baby turtles they were super cute. We had to clean out there tanks, clean them with little toothbrushes, cleaned the tops of their shells and underneath and very gently on their heads. We then chopped up the veg and prepared the food for the iguanas, opened cage carefully & put the iguana food in the iguana containers. We then finished an went to help the others a little, they were cleaning the big turtle tanks. Work was finished by about 10:30am in the morning as the sun was starting to get hot so we headed back to rest and chill by the beach house. Bliss! What chill was involved, well either lounging round the pool, or laying on the hammocks swinging left to right while watching an listening to the ocean & watching the birds flying. I'll never forget it! Paradise. Not a busy beach, just perfect. I hope that in the future they can protect more of the land around the turtle camp, beach and mangroves and make it as a national park to protect animals and humans can then respect the area and just visit but take their rubbish with them. We took it in turns to go out on night patrols either near midnight or at 3am in the morning. Reason for this was to do with the times the turtles lay at this time of year & to do with the sea currents, moon etc. Jake & me went out together twice over the week, he absolutely loved the quad bike along the beach & we witnessed together a turtle laying & bearing her eggs, then we collected them by digging them out with our bare hands & counted them. over 100 ... wow! The eggs felt bendy, but they wouldn't brake easy, they were white in colour & not overly large. Similar to a ping bong ball. It was a truly special moment that I will definitely remember forever. Especially very lucky to do this with my son!
Friday - We had the job of cleaning out the large tanks & cleaning & moving the large turtles. This was a little bit more physical as we had to scrub the tanks with bleach and sweeping brushes and rinse out with water several times and then move the turtles, clean their large shells and their heads & fins gently. They were fairly heavily as they were older turtles so two of us had to do it, one would be at the front by its head and another person at the back to carefully slide them along. It was very difficult to lift them and they also don't like being lifted so we respected them. If a staff worker did this to make things faster, they would flap there fins an look annoyed lol.
Friday afternoon - We moved the mangroves into the van & planted them near the other mangroves already there. I did not know a lot about them before this, but they are very important plants to the areas ecosystem, environment as well as a natural flood defence.We had to dig in the piping hot sun, which was physically hard, yet rewarding; Jake very much enjoyed whacking & digging the mud & chopping up twigs with the axe! I worked with my two friends today, Tina, Amy as well as Pablo & my son, and us girls got bitten alive by mosquitoes as they are always close to water & trees. In total I got bit 16 times in one hour! hahaha. However as it was low season for mosquitoes I was happy about this, as it could of been a lot worse & more of them round by our pool. Next to the mangroves there is a degraded palm tree farm, where the trees have been cut down which has caused the land to become dry and cracked. Also polluted water has been causing the land to become a purple colour. This has had an impact on the local ecosystem.
Nearly every afternoon we had to incubate the eggs from the night before from the night patrols. This involves getting on our hands and knees, taking the sand from the bags in eggs putting it at the bottom of the container and then delicately load in the eggs in with a little gap in between each and then put in more sand in from the beach and doing it in layers. They would then take it back to the camp. But some mornings a certain animal would get in and eat the eggs. This was very frustrating for the team. This is a reason why I and Amy want to start a JustGiving page so they can have money go towards making a proper secure unit or cage for the incubated eggs and so the animal cannot get in. Saturday - One of the last afternoons we had to move tons of sand with a shovel and the bucket was placed on top of the quad bike where one of the team members would drive that heavy load up to the top. This had to be probably the hardest job out there especially as we did it in the hot sun, and we needed to do it within an hour and we were falling down holes and nearly whacking each other with shovels lol. The reason for moving the sand was every few months they had to change it for the incubation, creating a new incubation area.
Tuesday - Our day to leave camp, we hugged and waved goodbye to the team, then Pablo & Jennah drove us to get our tickets an bus purchased by projects abroad. This time took longer, about 6 lonnnnngggg hours. Jake was so tired, he slept most of the way. Think we were all tired. But my oh my, what a trip, what an experience! I would recommend this to anyone.
Why recommend it to anyone? - life experience, learning different cultures, experiencing different food, different countries, meeting new people, working with amazing animals an having a taste of what a zoo keepers life is like, learning new skills & helping towards making the world a better place. Since finishing Projects abroad & adjusting to the UK life again, I am eager to go away more in the future with or without my son or my friends & taking part in more of these fabulous trips. I am now a brand ambassador for the company & will be soon going to local school/college fairs & hopefully doing talks to share my experiences with you all.