Friday 3rd November

6am start, a quick tea/coffee drink before we embarked on the 20 minute drive back to Sukamade Beach. There we were met by our ranger from last night, and oh no, the annoying girl is there again with her boyfriend. Feck sake!

Eko gave us a bucket with 12 adorable baby turtles, two each to release. The couple were given their own bucket, so at least we might be able to ditch the two of them once we get to the beach. We all fawned over the orange bucket of cuteness. Seriously, it was ridiculous. The poor turtles looked kinda cramped in that tiny space so off to the beach we headed, retracing our steps from last night.

A scrawny cat decided to follow us from the conservation centre. Meowing all the way; I think he fancied himself a free meal...turtle sushi! Despite all our protestations and gentle shooing he advanced onwards with us. Rian had to pick him up and take him back to the entrance while we kept going. “Phew!” said Rian when he caught back up to us and his exclamation was greeted with a familiar whining yowl, the little beggar had followed him again. Ah well, maybe he wouldn’t approach the sand. We’ll keep a sharp eye out.

Eko gave us a quick debriefing on the beach on how to handle the turtles. We had to release them 200m from the water, that way they would hopefully imprint on the beach and the females would return to lay their eggs there someday. It also ensures that they are alert, well able to crawl and so fighting fit, they should also be able to orient themselves towards the water. It’s kind of a process to weed out the runts. We were asked to hold the turtles by their shell very carefully with one finger on each side, and not to touch their very sensitive bellies as creams and our natural body oils could affect the imprinting process for the females. 

I reckon we were all given males to be honest, and meant to ask Eko if that was the case, but got distracted by being able to take a baby from the bucket. Oh my goodness!!! The cuteness was unreal. They were very wriggly and had a lot of power in their flippers. The texture of their skin was absolutely mesmerizing.

This type of hands-on activity is frowned upon by a lot of conservationists; however I think it gives people a chance to connect with the creatures, it raises awareness, you actually feel a wee bond for these doties, and that in turn will help with future conservation efforts surely. Once we placed the turtles on the sand we were not allowed to touch them again. The final rule was, just like last night, no flash from cameras, as that could disorient the babies. Okay, here we go. Eko suggested that we name our little guys too. Send them out into the world with a strong namesake.

I’ll admit I was terribly unoriginal and named my two after characters from a childhood cartoon series, you guessed it: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”. First up was Leonardo coz he was the leader in the TV show and of good strong character; a perfect name for the little turtle in my hand. Holding him just by the shell was very difficult, he was rearing to go, wriggling and flapping his flippers. Not wanting him to expel all his energy I placed little Leo on the sand and watched as he made his way to the water. It was weird seeing them head towards the water edge and then get swept up by the incoming wave and know that they were being pulled out by the backwash. Swim safe little one! 

Next up I dubbed my second turtle Raphael, sarcastic and fierce was the chief traits of the cartoon character, and who knows maybe this little guy too. Sarcasm wouldn’t be a useful trait I know, but fierceness yes!  Anyway I may have spent too long ogling over Raph as he got terribly impatient and wriggled outta my grasp, falling onto his back in the sand. Oh noooo!  Come on little buddy I’m not allowed to touch you anymore. For three long painful minutes I watched as the poor wee Raph wriggled and jerked and tried to right himself. “Eko, can I please turn him over, I’ll find a stick, I won’t use my hands”. Nuts to this survival of the fittest malarkey!! Thankfully, after a traumatic age for both me and Raphael, he managed to turn himself. Off to the sea he scarpered, and just like that, gone forever.

Geoff was highly insensitive with the naming of his two turtles: Appetizer and Main Course. Jeez, I hope he doesn’t give them both a complex now!! Fingers crossed they set out to valiantly defy him. I do hope that some of them made it. The odds are not in their favour. (90% of eggs tend to hatch, with only 1% surviving to sexual maturity; so from the 128 eggs we saw last night, while 115 will probably hatch, only 1 will make it – how depressing is that stat!!!).  

Back to the guesthouse for breakfast, a basic, but very nice spread of bread, fried eggs, watermelon, bananas and apples.  We bid our adieus and headed back to Ketapang Indah, stopping briefly at a pretty viewpoint so that the drivers could relax their tense muscles after the strenuous mountain trail.

Once we hit the asphalt, our driver Banbang let rip, overtaking the second 4x4 and bombing along the road. The vehicle was stopped by security before we entered the hotel, the guard searched all around the bottom of the jeep with an extended mirror – what was that all about like? The hotel is much busier today. There’s loads of cars in the carpark. Hustle and bustle everywhere. No sign of the other 4x4 so Geoff, Jenny and myself checked in and grabbed our rucksacks from the luggage room.

There’s sign up saying there will be a BBQ happening tomorrow, some kind of festival is happening. Maybe that explains the security, might be some hotshot bigwig staying here somewhere.

While having lunch we saw the gardener shimmy up the palm trees barefoot with no rope or harness, armed with a machete. He was chopping off all the dead branches. In the space of fifteen minutes he had tidied up six trees. It was incredible to watch. Back home, Health and Safety would have a field day, there would be harnesses, four or five people involved, maybe scaffolding! Unreal.

He was up like a shot, whack whack whack, and slithered down in about two minutes. The trees were like 15m tall!!! There was a hotel staff member on the ground, however he was not there for the safety of the gardener, oh no, he was there to warn guests to stand clear of the falling branches, coz they made an almighty thud when they hit the grass. Incredible skill!!

Chilled for the afternoon and managed a sneaky call to my little brother in New Zealand. Finally somewhere where the timezone isn’t bonkers for communication.

Dinner was at 7pm and we caught up with Tony, Lu and Robin. They told us about how they had spotted a yellow-throated pine martin on the journey back, as well as a kingfisher and a rather large spider. There had been a lot of sightings in their car; both Lu and Robin are quite the eagle-eyes. They had also stopped off and done some shopping. Robin had only gone and bought a new hat – the man is obsessed with shopping! Gets great enjoyment outta it.

The restaurant was jam packed. I think it’s a good thing we are leaving tomorrow. I’m not able for crowds, they are ruining my peace and quiet vibes. A three-piece band are playing tonight. They are not as good as the duo act from the other night. At 9:30pm we are the last ones to leave the room. The band are still playing and so Geoff and Jenny have a bit of a dance.

Back to Bali tomorrow, more to see.