A Beach Like The Somme

Friday 18th October 2012

Rice and beans 3 x a day.

staying in a small shanty village with limited resources. Fruits called Coco-plum and June-plum hint at an english influence in the past. The Swiss, Dutch and 2 Americans leave. Two remain, teachers from San Jose on a long weekend, Paul and Doug. In May 600kg Leatherbacks visit, but now it is the tail end of the green turtle season.

The beach by daylight looks like the Somme, thundering waves, black sand littered with jungle debris and huge tree trunks rolling dangerously in the surf. The top of the beach is pockmarked by turtle craters. Broken eggs litter the sand, poached by turkey vultures. Wide tank tracks lead from the sea to last nights nests. Each green turtle returns to the beach 2 or 3 times a season and then leaves to wander the oceans for 3 or 4 years. They take 20 years to reach breeding weight.

Tramp through the swampy jungle, the mud comes half way up my calves. They have 200 inches of rain a year here, and a lot of that fell today.