Turtle 10k

Thank you for the prayers for sun...though they didn't work :). We took off yesterday on our tour and drove over 4 hours in a Land Rover up to within 10kilometers of Mozambique. We got to the camp site and hit the beach to collect shells. Then had a nice South African Braai as it rained....and rained. It let off a bit and we headed up the beach in the dark....on the hunt for nesting turtles. This area is protected and we had a guide....who walked fast. We walked and walked...I even jogged a bit (no really, I did)....and we would see tracks...but no turtles. We walked more...it rained...and rained...and then there was one...a Loggerhead...the smaller types... More walking....and jogging...and walking...and then another Loggerhead....no nesting.



This one posed with me... You can see how nice and we I am at this point. Nice....really.... Anyway, we kept walking...and eventually decided that we needed to turn back because we weren't going to see anything further down. We walked toward the wind and rain this time...much harder (no jogging from me this time). I was in the back....and I kept praying and asking God to PLEASE let us see a BIG TURTLE..... but I just continued walking...and thinking that I would be sore the next day (which I am).

Eventually I got to where everyone was....and it was a Leather back Turtle about to nest...PRAISE GOD. So Marci and I stood there with our guide for an hour as we watched her dig her nest, deposit the eggs and begin to cover it. This turtle was HUGE...probably 5ft by 8ft....as you can see Marci couldn't even get the whole turtle in the picture.

A big credit goes to Marci for getting any pictures at all in the down pour.... We then walked another 2 football fields to our tent. We walked 10kilometers (over 6 miles) in the rain from 7-10pm.....so you know why I call it the Turtle 10k.

We have one night in St. Lucia and then off to Swaziland (that is country) for a day...and back to Jo burg. Though I have had a blast, I am almost ready to get home to my bed so I can relax. I have posted more pictures on face book you can see them here .