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Archelon
– Sea Turtles
by Karen Servetto, Buenos Aires
I arrived on Laganas Beach, Zakynthos,
after a 24hr trip from my homeland, Argentina. I must
admit this was a great shock to me since I´d left
Buenos Aires on a cold winter morning and arrived to
Greece on a 44°C summer´s day. As I walked
through the sand dunes looking
for Base Camp, still wearing my winter boots because
my rucksack had been misplaced somewhere between Brazil
and Athens,
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could hear my Dad´s last words spinning at the back
of my head, `I can´t believe you are travelling
half way round the world to help sea turtles? Have you
gone completely mad?!´ Maybe I had gone crazy, but
I was soon happy to see that I wasn´t alone.
When I finally walked into Base Camp´s communal
kitchen, I was greeted by a dozen friendly eyes that automatically
grinned at my sweaty appearence in my wollen pullover.
The volunteers immediately welcomed me, lent me appropiate
clothing and made me feel at home. They all came from
different parts of the world and their ages ranged between
18 and 45. There were many languages being spoken at Base
Camp but we communicated mainly in English and became
very close. An international big family that had one important
common goal, Save the Sea Turtles!We had lots of fun working
together during our stay, but we also worked hard under
a boiling sun.Some of us had to wake up very early in
the morning to map any new nests the female turtles had
dig during the night, and to rub out the tracks so that
no curious tourist would decide to take a look inside.Other
volunteers were in charge of patrolling the beach at midday
asking the tourists please not to lie on the nests and
not to use there sun
umbrellas because they could accidentally perforate eggs
in the nests which
would later attrack hungry predators.
We also had to work shifts at the Information Kiosk, situated
at the busy
end of the tourist beach. We would answer all the tourists
questions, give
out brochures and sell merchandise for the cause.In the
evenings we´d give slide shows at hotels, where
we´d ask the tourist please to help us on our cause
by taking care of the nesting areas and the turtles during
their stay on the island. Two other
volunteers would safe guard the restricted nesting area
from sunset until
middnight, when the beach was closed to people. My favourite
job started at middnight and would sometimes continue
´til dawn. Two of us were in charge of spotting
emerging female turtles, while walking quietly up and
down the dark water´s edge. When we saw one, we´d
slowly crawl up behind her, time her nesting process and,
once she´d gone
into the ´egg laying trance´ we´d measure
her and tag her, if necessary. It was a long days work,
but such an incredible experience. You must bear in mind
that all these events took place on a beautiful island,
where the sea was comfortably warm and the clear nights
filled up with millions of stars. We´d always go
to bed smiling, feeling proud of our work and at peace
with our suffering world. There are no words to express
how much I learnt about turtles, human relations and life
away from home.
Doing volunteer work changed my life completely ... and
going back to my father´s question; NO!
I wasn´t crazy, that was one of the best decisions
I took in my whole life!!
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