So I'm officially back on the road again. I arrived in Phang Nga this afternoon and made my way to a guest house to spend the night. I am hoping to do an overnight boat tour tomorrow to a Muslim Fishing Village and James Bong Island. It's so weird having internet and electricity again, but nice. I can finally start planning the next stage of my trip.
Unlike some of the other volunteers, I slept on the beach with the field leaders for a second night. We expected more turtles to emerge before we excavated the nest the next morning. THe night was long, cold and buggy thanks to a 1/2 hour downpour we had at 11pm. I went to sleep in soaking pants expecting more rain. When I woke at 1am, I could see a clear sky and decided it was safe to take the wet clothes off and put on a dry sarong. THe rain stirred up all the bugs. The previous night there were barely any, but I am now completely covered in sand fly bites. SO ITCHY!!!
We waited all night for our turtles to emerge, but none did. Fearing that many did not hatch, we expected the worst for the morning excavation. Maxi, who is incharge of the project, began the excavation. We uncovered the hatched shells of 65 sear turtles! that means 58 managed to sneak out the night before we camped out! we were so pleased; only 7 eggs did not hatch, and never developed.
It was an eventfull last few days in Ko Phra Thong, and I was sad to leave this morning. Hopefully I will return one day.
