The Sri Lankan kamikaze mosquitoes don’t play by the rules. I always believed that bare skin is an acceptable target but skin covered by clothes is not. These guys attacked my fully clothed back last night. Not fair!
The big excitement of the day on the beach is when the day’s catch is brought in and an impromptu market set up
whilst those not selling the day’s catch spend time mending and cleaning their nets.
And that’s about it really on this pristine, clean and quiet stretch of sand other than the turtles. These amniotes (that’s what mammals that live in water but breathe and lay eggs on dry land are called) are not quite nearing extinction but they soon will be if more is not done to protect them. The females come ashore to lay their eggs at night on the beach around this time every year. But the ever increasing number of brightly lit hotels puts the turtles off so they are reluctant to come ashore and do their maternal duty. And even if they did, more often than not the eggs are stolen as they are considered a delicacy in Sri Lanka and surrounding countries. However, some help is at hand as there are a number of turtle sanctuaries and rehab centres dotted along the coast.
Here, turtle eggs are moved away from the danger of the beach, marked with species and date of laying and buried in sand in protected areas until they hatch – just as Mrs Turtle would do on an unprotected beach.
Once the babies are hatched they are fed and watered for 3 days
until being released back into the beautiful ocean
at 6.15 every evening in the breeding season!
The other part of this simple centre’s activity is rehabilitation. Turtles get caught in fishing nets. They sometimes damage themselves on rocks. And this poor fellow got his shell gashed by a passing propellor.
Some just need looking after when they are old
and by old I mean really old. Turtles can live for more than 200 years -or so it is claimed.
The proud owner of this place (a retired hotelier) lets parties of school children in free of charge as part of their conservation education.
A splendid man and a very worthwhile retirement project.
It’s been a beautiful day with a few clouds appearing this afternoon. No chance of rain, though, so I need have no fear of ‘lighting and tundaring’.
I ate ‘posh’ last night (£17). It wasn’t the worst meal I’ve had on my travels but it was certainly nothing special. So, tonight I’m going cheap native. The Immodium is already by the bed!
Phileas
thelasthurrahsite 