Back home

One last week at the beach in Varkala to soak up the tropical warmth and sunshine.
A final shopping binge at the beautiful textile shops (6 floors of silks!) in Ernakulam.
A fare well drive in an autorickshaw to the Cochin airport.
As a nice souvenir, crazily bitten by the ferocious mosquitoes during the overlay in Mumbai airport.
A warm welcome at Schiphol by Harry and Ieske and a gentile spring sunshine over Amsterdam.

After five months of great adventures in Australia and India it's good to be back home ;-)

Kerala

My last month in India I spent in the cultural center 'Vijnana Kala Vedi' in Aranmula, a little village in the backwaters of Kerala. Here I learned about the basic principles of Ayurveda, how to cook Keralan cuisine and to make kolam patterns with rice powder (see picture).
It's a great way to get some deeper insight in this incredibly rich culture as the teachers shared not only their knowledge of and passion for the different art forms, but also their personal experience. A nice surprise was receiving the sandalwood powder and herbal oil treatments as part of the Ayurveda course, in the Ayurveda village hospital.
As Kerala is very traditional, we enjoyed several festivals in and around the temples with many elephants, loud fireworks, dancing, drumming and all night Kathakali performances.

Conclusion

All of a sudden the end is nearing fast, too fast. I'm flying home on Monday so it's time to write up some conclusions.
First of all the going away party was very cool: 15 elephants in procession at the temple and a lot of drummers for over 2 hours!
What I'll definitely miss from India will be the food. It is so easy to get tasty food ready made just about everywhere. Of course the good thing about going back to Holland is the better coffee without the sugar, something we could get in Australia but hardly in India; all the best coffee is for export and the culture is more about tea anyway.
The pace of things is nice and slow, all the buses and trains hardly ever make a top speed of over 60 km/hr and on average maybe 35.
India continues to surprise: I'd never thought changing a tire on a bus because the thread is completely gone would be done in the middle of its route but that's India! Luckily it takes just 10 minutes as the the wheel with the new tire is already there.

Anyway, Goa was great, as was Mudumalai, Mysore, Hampi and Kerala too.

That leaves the north of India for a next trip in the hopefully not too distant future...

Tea and spices

After we spent an afternoon being canoed around the backwaters of Alleppey we head for the Cardamom Hills. Here is the spice garden of India. In our guest house we get directions to hike to a biological spice farm halfway up on the hill behind the village. It is set in the forest, all the different spice plants grow in between the trees. Harry, the German farmer, doesn't believe in mono-culture, where they clear the land and plant only one kind of crop. He's a very warm host, fixing us a cup of tea with a mixture of his home grown spices. Today he has time to talk with us, as his workers didn't show up this morning. It often happens on mondays, he says. We get a tour around all the different plants and Harry explains how the spices grow, are harvested and prepared for usage. He had to find out about biological spice farming all by himself. In India all the farms use crazy amounts of pesticides and fertilizer. And even after many years working for him, his workers still don't understand why he just doesn't spray. We enjoy listening to this passionate man and walk on to the top of the hill and down passed the tribal village with a bag full of beautiful biological spices. (www.naturalshakti.com)

Textile Candy Store

We are in Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram), the capitol of the southern state Kerala. The city has nothing of the allure of a capitol city, just your normal Indian chaos. We follow MG Road, as most main roads are called in every city or town in tribute to Mahatma Gandhi. Some luxurious western looking shops and offices are interspersed between little dark workshops and local produce stalls. Then we pass a big building spitting out saree clad ladies laden with big orange plastic bags; 'Vishnuram Textiles' I read. I gotta go in there! Inside there are four floors stacked to the ceiling with all different textiles; lunghis, dothis, sarees in silk, cotton or mixed, house hold textiles, too much to name. First we go downstairs where we select some beautiful checked lunghis, after we go to the first floor where they sell the silk sarees. I'm like a little kid in a candy store, overwhelmed by all these colours and gold embroideries. Harry is joking that he'll order a sea container for me, but I keep my cool and only select one spice coloured saree. We still have some more travelling to do and have to carry everything we buy on our backs.

Doing India Goan style

Arriving in Goa we learn fast that tourism is real business here. Everything is not just a little bit more expensive, but at least two or three times more. Even a little ice cream selling guy is shamelessly asking 50 rupees for a 5 rupee pop. Well you can always try, but it doesn't feel good. Most of the time we're still too soft, but we do learn to haggle. We make a stop in the capitol Panjim and the happening beach spot, Anjuna, before heading to Morjim where I will follow a course in Ayur Yogic massage. I'm happy to see that Morjim is still not overdeveloped tourist wise. That is because at one end of the beach some sea turtles come and nest and they are protected. Hopefully they will keep coming, but their numbers are dwindling fast. This year only 5 came to nest so far.
We find a cozy little cottage some hundred meters behind the beach and at walking distance to the massage school. Every morning after a breakfast with sea view, I walk to my course while Harry starts working on our porch. The course is great. We get taught in a wonderful airy space, my fellow students are a nice divers group of people and the course is from the start good hands-on; massaging and being massaged for 12 days in a row. Real Goan style, we rent a scooter to zip between the villages in the afternoons and evenings. Spending time at the beaches, markets and great restaurants. In our favourite restaurant a whole group of guys from Sikkim, one of the northern states, is working. They really know how to cook and we ask them to prepare lobster for us one evening; delicious.
The last day of the course we have to bring a model and of course Harry is my lucky one and gets the whole treatment I learned. The day after, I treat myself to an Indian rope massage done by a cool British chick in Anjuna. It's a great experience to feel her slide her feet all over me, while she's balancing on a rope above me. That's another technique I would like to learn some other time/ trip.

Across the river

When we arrive late in the afternoon in Hampi, the hotel has given away our reserved room. On top of that they simply tell us, there are no rooms available for tonight in all of Hampi. There should be still vacancies across the river. So we make a run for the last boat across. Luckily we find a good basic room at the third guest house we ask. The attached restaurant is overlooking bright green rice paddies. Not our room, but our bathroom has a spectacular view on the river. It's nice and green on this side of the river. Not very quiet, though. At the dirt road you have to be careful not to be run over by Israeli's on Enfield motorbikes or Honda hero's.
Most of the sights are in and around Hampi, so we cross the river many times in the fun little ferry. The little guy who collects the money even remembers us after a couple of times. The landscape with the river flowing through boulder strewn hills and green patches of rice fields and banana plantations never seizes to inspire. We walk a lot around the many ruins of temples and palaces between the boulders. Sometimes the strangely balancing boulders look like they have been left there by playful giants. We see several climbers trying to concur these giants toys.

Sublime Hoysala style

In Belur we visit the magnificent Chennakeshava temple. The thousands of carvings on this 32 cornered star shaped structure are amazingly detailed. Each sculpture intricately carved out of one stone, it's hard to imagine how the artists have accomplished this with very simple tools. Many of the carvings are missing, being stolen and sold in obscure art trade. But there is still so much to see, getting some explanation by a knowledgeable guide is definitely worthwhile. The front part is decorated with secular carvings, fluid dancers and musicians seem to be alive. The back part is populated by different gods and their many appearances. All the different Hindu gods are already very confusing, but on top of that they all appear also in different forms. It helps to be able to recognise some of the many stories of the Hindu religion.
At the temple complex we meet a very interesting Swiss traveller. He's worked over 30 years in several African countries for the Red Cross and the UN. Over a very bad tasting Indian wine we discuss global issues during a shared dinner.

In the wild

It's so good to spend some time in nature again. When we get off the bus in Mudumalai National Park, there's nothing there. Just a crossing, the park office and some basic guesthouses. At the other side of the river are some houses, but no shops, chai stalls, hotels. There is no noise in our guest house room, except that of the monkeys chasing each other on our roof. Just outside our place the elephants are being groomed and dressed for the elephant rides in the park. But we didn't come to ride a tame elephant, but see them in the wild. We get up early next morning to be picked up by Vishnu and our guide. After a chai at sunrise in the next village we are dropped in the bush. Walking around the bush is mesmerizing in the changing morning light. The guide is just beautiful to watch, walking silently on his little flip-flops, going slower sometimes, bending to listen, and signaling us to stop, it all adds to the excitement. We stumble behind him in our big boots, making a lot of noise crackling twigs and dried leaves. Every time the guide spots an animal he makes a happily wide gesture to us, as if offering it to us. In a way he's doing just that. Without him we wouldn't see half as many animals. That morning we don't see the elephants, but we give it another try at the end of the day in some other, more foresty part. Again the walk alone is wonderful in the late afternoon light. And we're very lucky as we not only get to see a lone male elephant but a little later a female group as well. You feel very humble walking so close to these magnificent animals.

Indian sweets

In Mysore we finally give up the idea of losing some weight in India. The food is just too delicious in India. In the morning we start with idly's (steamed rice cakes) or masala dosa (filled pancakes) and fruit lassi (yoghurt drink) or fresh fruit juice. During the day lots of (sweetened) chai and coffee. For lunch and dinner there's too much to choose from of all the tasty veg and non-veg Indian dishes. Fruit and vegetables have so much more flavour here, too. And Mysore is famous for its sweets. It's very difficult to pass by the beautiful sweets-shops without getting at least something. Rich creamy, brightly coloured bites with nuts, dried fruit or exotic spice mixes. And it even tastes better putting the food in your mouth with your fingers (of your right hand only!) as is custom here.

Hare hare, Rama rama

The part of Bangalore we stay in is very westernised. Even autorikshaws are not allowed in the street of our hotel. In between fashion stores with familiar brand names are many coffee places, good book stores and bars with pleasant terraces. The people here are evidently used to westerners, and we don't get so many uncomfortable stares. But of course we do look for a more Indian feel and decide to visit the modern Hare Krishna temple a bit outside the centre. The bus we take here is not really passing by the temple, but a friendly family walks with us in the right direction. We arrive at the moment the gate opens for the evening celebration. After a hefty security check and storing of shoes and day packs we are allowed to enter the long line to visit the temple. Before you enter the holy parts there are 54 lifted tiles you have to step up and sing/say out loud on each one of them 'Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare'. The repetitive chanting works very calming, but as soon as you get inside you are pushed and whistled to get on. Even at the stalls where they share a little free meal you are not allowed to linger. Within no time we are standing outside the gates again with a very mixed feeling. So much for spirituality...

Goa

Goa is the most popular destination in India and not so Indian in many ways. It is very busy with tourists and everything is highly overpriced unless your haggle for half an hour first. Lots of people haven't seen any other part of India and that will give you some twisted idea of this intriguing country.
We'll spend at least two weeks here so we make an effort to find a good place to stay and of course that works out fine: a very nice cottage, 2 minutes from the beach with an ocean-view veranda to work on. We find a favourite restaurant with lots of fresh fish where the guys running it have also escaped winter, in their case from Sikkim in the far north-east Himalayan area of India.
As Lena is learning the Ayur Yogic massage every morning for 12 days in a row, I have my project for the bank to attend to and make good progress in this wonderful, undisturbed setting. On the weekend I take the bus, again through the wonderful Ghats, to Belgaum and see Sheetal, who is my colleague in Holland and meet his family and see his newly built Indian home. It's cool to see each other half a world away and he treats me to the best Bhel Puri you can eat in India!
After a while Goa really grows on us, we rent the obligatory scooter and zoom around exploring the place. All of a sudden our two weeks here are over and it is time to move on but it is easy to see why so many people are constantly postponing their departure and end up staying in this place for years, or at least till the rains come.

Hampi

In all these places we visit we see very few other tourist. Not so in Hampi, the place is crawling with tourists and travellers and the atmosphere is very different from what we've experienced so far. There is a lot of choice in food, Italian, Israeli, real coffee, muesli and bakeries with assorted breads, cakes and croissants.
Very hard to find your morning idly's with sanbar around here...
Hampi is very nice with boulder strewn hills all around with hundreds of (remains of) temples. To cross the river dividing Hampi in two there is only a single ferry or otherwise just coracles. When we can't walk along the river any further a girl of only about eleven paddles us across in such a plastic covered basket. This isn't so much child labour as it is the girl helping her family with all the tasks facing them in their daily existence. But it does feel a bit funny and the fine line between the two isn't always so easy to distinguish in India.
The days pass with lots of hiking and a swim in the lake (no bathing allowed on account of the crocodiles, it reads on the sign).
In Hospet we have to get to the station at 6 in the morning but the train to take us to Goa is a little late and eventually pulls in at 11.00. You can feel a bit how the Indians build their acceptance of situations and events, they don't get mad or start making demands as people would at home when the train in a little behind schedule.
Luckily we pass the great mountains of the Western Ghats still in daylight and we see the waterfalls of Dudhsagar as the train is slowly pulled and pushed by two extra locomotives up and over the top. We've arrived in Goa.

Belur

After spending a week in Mysore it is time to move on, even though it is a very nice town and hosts our favourite Indian breakfast place. We take a bus to Belur and visit a beautiful temple. It is from the Hoysala period, 12th and 13th century and special for its 32 corner star shape and all the fine details in the sculptures. The nicest temple I've seen and made more vivid by a guide explaining the meaning of scenes and the background of its construction.
There is another one of these temples close by in Halebid but we don't see it as Lena is ill for a day. Instead we go to Jog Falls which is a long and tiring journey by bus but we're glad we went there.
The waterfalls at Jog are the highest in India at 260 meters. We hike down to the pool at the bottom of the falls and feel a fine spray on our faces. We are so lucky that there are absolutely no other tourists around, a very rare event in crowded India, and enjoy the peace and quiet for an hour. Hiking up the cliff is a lot more strenuous than walking down but half way up the refreshments are waiting by a bench cut in the rocks with a great view of the falls.
The local photographer at Jog gives us a picture of the falls during monsoon: a huge wall of water coming down and making the hike down to the pool impossible.

Amongst pelgrims

The tempel on top of Tirumala hill is an important pelgrimage place. The pelgrims walk the path up the hill, 3000 steps in total. And if they're very devout, they bent down on every step to make a little print of sandlewood paste and red powder. Some even lit a little candle on every step. We have to admit, we took the bus to he top. There we looked at the gigantic line waiting to go into the temple and hesitated. We heard that there was a way to cut the waiting short by buying a special ticket, but after asking at several places and being send from one end of the hill to the other side we gave up on paying a visit to the Gods.
To experience some of the pelgrimage we took the steps down. That was beautiful. Because of the powder the steps were intensely colored. On the way there were many small temples to many different gods, each with their statues and rich carvings. Many pelgrims stopped to have a little conversation with us, which gave them a bit of a rest on their heavy way up. They all wanted to know how the God was doing. The first time we admitted honestly that we didn't see him at all. They were so devastated by that answer, that the next time people asked us this question, we told them he was looking great. And we got a happy smile from them and they continued their steps with new encouragement.

To the market

In Hyderabad we visit the famous bazar. Here many people come shop for their marital preparations. Hyderabad is very well known for their pearl jewelry and gorgeous fabrics, most of them with a lot of golden embroidery. You can imagine how shiny an Indian bride and groom will look, like a fairy tale.
We realise we came to the right place. I brought my multi-usage pareo, but Harry needs a cloth to use as a blanket when we take the night train. So we pick one of the many stores, take off our slippers en sit on the white cushioned floor. Within no time there is a spread of many colored and decorated sarees in front of us and the shop keepers are still taking out more varieties out of all the piles along the walls. It's too much to choose from. But a beautifully madras woven dark blue and yellow saree becomes our favorite. And because it is a little shorter than the usual 6 meters we get it for a very good price. They still try to show and sell us some elaborately embroidered silk sarees, but they are not much to our taste.
I guess there is no Indian flavoured marriage coming up...

Moving around

India is a vast place and we're only seeing some parts of south India. In Oz we always had a car or camper to get around. Here we go the large stretches sitting or sleeping on a train for sometimes 12 hours. Shorter distances are okay by bus as well though not nearly as comfortable. To see the Ellora caves we went for 30 km in an autorickshaw that even managed to get up over the mountain.People flock to the cities in search of a better life but they're an unhealthy place to live, crowded, dirty and noisy. Mysore is at least a reasonably relaxed city and all the roof gardens here to have a Kingfisher are a nice perk.
We escape out of the city to Mudumalai national park. It's a serene place where we go hiking in the early morning with a guide to enjoy the great nature and spot some animals. The spotted deer are very common as are the buffalo but we also see a wild dog and, in a flash running by, a black bear with her two cubs. In the late afternoon we go out to a different place near the river to catch the elephants. Big as they are they walk quietly and you won't hear them coming so we're lucky the guide spots the big lone male before he smells us and we make an evasive circle to get out of his way. The lone male is quite dangerous and we're told one has killed 2 people and tore up a car door with its tusks. As the sun is setting and the sky turns to nice streaks of orange and blue we walk along the grassy plain with a mountain backdrop. Lots more deer come out and a big wild boar.It is our lucky day we find as a group of 4 elephants come into view, one still quite small. They cross the plain majestically and it feels very special and exciting indeed to be just walking here among these creatures.

A different world

So, was everyone right after all when stating: 'you should do India first and then hang back and relax in Oz'?It would seem that way when arriving at Mumbai; the hustle and bustle at the airport and taking a taxi into the city. So many people all of a sudden with many living on the streets in improvised tents of plastic sheets, the poverty really in your face.It will take us the best part of two weeks before starting to feel comfortable traveling around in India.
The food is a lot easier. I've always loved the Indian cuisine and here you just get really tasty and fresh made thalis at the most basic looking 'hotels' as they call eating places here (with no beds). The variety is so rich in vegetarian spiced dishes, just order any 2 or 3 interesting sounding ones of a little menu (if there is one) with rice or chapati and never be disappointed. The prices are just unreal it seems impossible that one can get the ingredients, cook the food and serve you for the little sum you pay.
Also quite distinct is the sense of history you get in India after coming from such a young culture as the Anglo-Australian is.Here we walk in beautiful cave temples carved out of rock in the sixth and seventh century and painted with ancient religious stories. Our photos are noticeably more colourful than the ones from Oz.

Standing in front of a dream

From Mumbay we travel by train to Aurangabad. I love traveling by train, seeing the country pass by and meeting nice people. The landscape outside is just as the pictures in magazines you see of India, tinted in a golden brown. I always thought, that those were taken with a special filter. Even the leaves on the trees are not green, but with this dusty glow.

In Aurangabad we take a tour to the caves of Ajanta. The bus ride of only 100km is just scary. Many times you see a truck or bus coming your way on your side of the road, honking their horn and flashing their lights. Motorcycles are being pushed to or in the curb to make way. But every time it seems to fit.

When we enter the horse shoe shaped cliff where the caves are hewn into, I can't believe I'm standing there. This is a picture I saw a long time ago in National Geographic and I thought, 'I want to go there some day'. I didn't even know it was this place! It's magnificent and incredible what the monks have created there. All with simple tools. The caves are elaborately sculpted and painted. You just stand there in great awe.

Watergirl

Just before we left Australia, Harry read a brilliant tip in our Rough Guide to India; purify your own water! So we went to one of the great OZ outdoor stores and got a beautiful ceramic water filter and a tip to buy some chlorine in India. So every time we need some drinking water, we take a liter of water from the tap, leave it for a half an hour with a drop of chlorine to kill all what's alive in it. After that we hook up the filter to the drinking container and start pumping away. Beautiful fresh water with no funny taste. Better for the environment - that is already wasted with too much plastic. And healthier for us, as the Rough Guide mentioned that in a test some of the Indian brands of mineral water contained plenty of pesticides.
So the Dutch milkmaid is transformed to an Indian water girl (can't carry the container on my head yet, though).

New Year in India

We arrive on schedule around 8 in the evening at Mumbay airport. As the guide book suggests we get a pre-paid taxi to the city. They are funny looking yellow and black ambassadors. Our driver doesn't know the place, but after a couple of stops and enquiries we find our booked hotel in a back alley. In the street the new years party is already starting up. Lots of young wealthy Indians are grouped around the ice-cream parlour. We crash on our beds for a quick pick-me-up sleep, but when the clock strikes twelve and the fire works crack up the night sky, we're still exhausted and overwhelmed by the chaotic crowds outside. The next morning we regret our laziness.
The first of January we do as the locals do and join the dressed up families strolling around the Gateway of India. We are as much a sight as the impressive arc. We keep walking past the gigantic Taj Mahal Palace hotel right into a colourful shanty town. Ashamed of the realisation that poverty can look so beautiful. All the extremes are here right next to each other and very confronting.
Halfway January the Harvest Festival is celebrated, a little bit New Year for Hindu's of Southern India. We don't get to see the pink coloured streets, but there are plenty of bright yellow cows with golden horns lingering in the streets. In front of the doors there are beautiful intricate chalk designs made as a sign of welcome.

The edge of the outback

Back in Cairns, we still have the camper van for some more days. To make the most of it, we head west to sniff a bit at the outback. First we cross the green wet tropics of the Atherton Tablelands. After we leave Mareeba, the earth turns red and flat. And to make the experience more real, the road is alternately bitumen and red dust. Just before we arrive at Chillagoe, we see a sign with a warning that after this place, the next gasoline station is at 560 mile! We don't have to worry though, Chillagoe is as far as we go. It's quite a pretty place after the couple of desolate villages we crossed. We stay at a nice Eco camp, just out side the village.
The following morning we join a cave tour with a ranger. He's so passionate of working in nature and loves to tell us all about the special features of the cave, the trees and plants surrounding it and the animals that conquer the harsh environment. After the tour we walk around a bit more between the caves, a huge balancing rock and some aboriginal rock paintings. But the heat just takes all your energy, so we cool down in a village bar with a cold beer.
When turning back towards the coast, we get stopped in the middle of nowhere by a cop for a breath test. Luckily the beer had worn of already, so we passed it and continued on a real dirt road crossing some hills. On the map it looked like only 15 km bad road, but we ended spending most of the afternoon on 48 km over tree roots and rocky surface (we didn't tell the rental company).
With the heat and the dust we got a pretty good impression of the outback. Flying over the desert when we left Australia via Sydney and Darwin, it only sunk in how grand this outback really is.

The wet world downunder

After Harry's been doing two days diving practice in the pool in Cairns, we're ready to head out to the Great Barrier Reef. We board the fast catamaran Seaquest, that bounces on the big waves to the magic place. Plenty of people getting sick on the way there (I'm one of them) , but as soon as you get down in the clear blue/green water, you just forget everything. First all the divers get ready at the back platform. After they disappear in the deep, the snorkelers jump in. It's another world; so tranquil and colorful. The reef is just under the surface, so for a snorkeler it's almost as impressive. Seeing the coral in the beams of the sun and all its amazing inhabitants. Following a crazy patterned parrot fish biting bits of coral. Drifting over steep depths to other patches of surfacing reef. Finding yourself surrounded in a school of small glittering fish going one way and turning all together the other way.

After a second time in the water, the catamaran lies alongside the overnight ship. Here we spent Christmas eve. The certified divers go for a night dive. The lights at the back of the ship attract small fish. These attract the big ones and we get a spectacular show with first some travellis and later some pretty big sharks. I'm happy I'm not one of the night divers swimming between these animals.

The next morning Harry has his first dive at 6.30. I go in the water after breakfast and get to see a white tip shark, pretty close! Pity I didn't see the turtles when snorkeling. I did see Harry though, with his diving buddy Felix, moving around way under me. That was fun!

On the way north

We are driving now through mango orchards and banana farms. The caravan parks we share with many traveling fruit pickers. Some detours more inland take us through National Parks with impressive waterfalls and refreshing rock pools. Here we see the funny platypus and the shimmering Ulysses butterflies.
At the Wallaman waterfall, the highest in Australia, we do a speed hike down the canyon to the bottom of the fall and up again. The German couple we meet first on the way down and later halfway up just shake their amazed heads.
The last stop we make before reaching our goal, Cairns, is at Paronella Park. A dream made real by a Spanish immigrant in the 1920's. He build a whole castle next to a waterfall, surrounded by beautiful gardens, a tunnel of love, filled with tiny micro-bats and a lane with good luck bringing Kauri trees. We get a tour by an aboriginal girl, who explains how they used all the different trees and plants. After the tour we get a little show of traditional dance and music. It's all part of a special project sponsored by Paronella Park. Here the aboriginal kids can learn and practice the skills of their ancestors. It's inspiring to see how passionate they search for this knowledge and share it with the audience.

A small disaster, with a happy ending

On route we make a little detour to Agnes Water and 1770 (the name of a village). Here Cook set his first footsteps on Australian soil. I expected something interesting, but besides a beautiful bay in 1770 was there nothing specially note worthy. We did have a great lunch with bay view and very relaxed music. After asking the chef what we were listening to, he wrote a whole list of recommendations. The latest CD of Jon Butler Trio we bought later in a music store and enjoyed much.

A bit more north we cross the Tropic of Capricorn, not that you notice directly.

When we stop at Roslyn Bay to see the beautifully formed rocks in sun setting light we notice an impressive catamaran. A closer look takes us on a pier, where I mindlessly drop the car keys...and they slip through the big gaps between the planks and disappear in the murky harbour water. My panicky yell alarms the couple of the catamaran to the deck. Halfway our story the woman jumps in her bathing suit and snorkel gear and slides in the water. It only takes her two dives and she emerges with our keys! Amazing!

A long wait for the girls

After a short drive through never ending fields of sugarcane we arrive at Mon Repos, a 1.5 km strip of beach where the female loggerhead sea turtles return to every 3 to 4 years, to bury their eggs in the sand. The ranger station just behind the dunes provide a nightly tour so you can see these moving rocks come out of the water, slowly and awkwardly move to the dunes, start digging their egg chamber and start pooping out around 120 eggs each lay. They get very disturbed from noises and especially light, until they have laid around twenty eggs. Then they are calm and the rangers and volunteers can do their research tasks and invite the visitors to stand around the turtle in a big circle.
We sign up for the tour and visit first the interesting exhibit in the station. Then the long wait begins, entertained by movies about the turtles and the research projects on them. As the ranger tells us, these girls live in the wild and come up on their own time; with no guaranties. We sit and wait and almost give up on getting lucky this evening as we notice some excitement in the exhibit hall. Yes, a turtle is coming on shore and so many have gone already so now the whole group can go to the beach. The rumour goes, it's a very special kind, a flat back. But before we get to the beach we hear that she has been disturbed and returned to the ocean.
Another wait sitting quietly high up in the dunes now, we are lucky. Another turtle moves our way, a loggerhead this time. We wait some more till she's busy with her eggs. While we are standing around our turtle two more are coming up on either side of us. So we have to be really quiet now. How exciting!
And the long wait get an extra reward. Our turtle has been a bit lazy and laid her eggs under the high water line. Here the eggs can't survive. Normally the rangers wouldn't intervene, but now the loggerhead is on the edge of extinction, they do as much as they can to keep the turtles survival. So a volunteer is carving out another chamber higher up in the dunes and we get to carry all 138 eggs to this new save place. Maybe one of these eggs will be the one that makes out of 1000 to mature. I would love to come back to see the hatch ling crawl out of the sand and make a run for their little lives to the ocean. Must quite a sight. But this experience was magical also, helped by the full moon coming up spectacularly during our wait in the dunes.