Tortugas

Mike and Pat sent a message inviting us to go with them to Chantli Mare, a small hotel up the coast from Melaque. We have been there several times but this time was more memorable.

That’s our table in the corner.

We had just finished lunch when one of the waiters came to our table and excitedly said “Tortugas! Tortugas!” We looked over the side of the deck we were on and saw a whole bunch of baby turtles heading out for the water. There must have been fifty or more of them by Mike’s count. We grabbed our cameras and headed down to watch.

The thing that got me was that the locals were as excited as we were. I’m sure they have seen this many times before but were genuinely loving it. One of the young waitresses dove under the deck and was helping the little guys out of the hole their mum had laid their eggs in. She was also righting the ones who got turned on their backs and had trouble getting back upright. I did a few too; it was cool.

We followed them to the water’s edge and I was surprised by the speed that they moved. Also, the fact that they knew where the water was. I followed one all the way to the water’s edge and we became such close friends that I named him Tommy Tortuga. He wanted to stay with me but a wave came in and ended the discussion. Unfortunately not many of them make it to adulthood there are just too many predators.

After Mike and Pat dropped us off we contacted Gerry and Elaine and went to their new location to see how they were doing. They have a great location two houses away from their old one.

When we got home we tried a trick that Mike had told us about dissuading mosquitos. Down here they burn coconut husks to make a smudge pot. Mike told us that egg cartons burn slowly and do the same thing so we tried it out. As we had no coconut shells handy (tomorrow we go looking for some) I lit an egg carton and blew out the flame and sure enough, we had a really smoky mossie deterrent. It worked great. It smouldered for about two hours. Thanks, Mike!

I hope it works on large ants also. Last night I was sitting on the patio minding my own business when I felt something land on my head; not unusual as all sorts of things fall from above. However, this one hurt. I brushed it off and at the same time felt a stinging pain on my noggin. I noticed that it was a large ant and later as it revealed itself I taught it a lesson. I hurt for about half an hour but eventually the pain went away. We are living in a semi-tropical country after all.

This guy survived because he has attitude.