We have had hatchlings galore over the past week – 2 nests;  98 and 166 hatchlings respectively, plus another 50 over various other nests that we have been digging on Anse Papaie and Grand Anse. Over the 2 ½ weeks that we have been here, we have still yet to have a Wurtle walk (that’s a turtle walk to you guys) without seeing any hatchlings, which is fantastic.   All the hatchlings have been Hawksbills, and we have been loving helping any straglers that get stuck in the nests.  A couple of us were also lucky enough to see a Hawksbill attempting to lay on Anse Cematiere, where we managed to get some lovely close-up photos.

The Coco de Mer record was broken on Curieuse this week, with two volunteers managing to record 90 trees in one morning, beating the previous record number of 88 – much bragging and amusement followed this conquest, though this diminished when we had to enter all the data in the afternoon!  We have been rising at 4.15 in order to get to the hills for sunrise, which gives fantastic views of the Turtle Pond and the one time of the day to get cool weather, which makes the long walk more enjoyable.

We have also been working hard in the mangroves, with over a kilometre of transects covered in the last week.  Another record broken with 408 recorded in one morning.  (Brag Brag) The mangroves are made more amusing by the sounds of giant tortoises mating carrying through the trees – mating season has begun on the island.

Having had our EFR - Emergency First Response training this week, learning about first aid and emergency care, we were given two sessions – one on primary care and one on secondary – before taking a test and practising our skills in a very dramatic scenario acted out by the base staff. Luckily, all volunteers passed!

During our weekend off on Praslin this last weekend, all four of the terrestrial volunteers decided to enrol in our PADI Open Water course at Octopus dive centre in Cote d’Or.  Three of us had our first underwater dive, where we took the boat out from Baie St. Anne, and had 40 minutes exploring the corals and fish. We also had two long pool sessions where we were introduced to the necessary skills to gain the Open Water certificate. Our dive was an introductory dive, where we could test out if we enjoyed being underwater, and were then able to use it as one of our four necessary open water dives prior to gaining the certificate. It was a fantastic experience, we’d all recommend it to future volunteers!

So a fun packed, record breaking week has been had by us all, what will next week bring??  Watch this space…………………………