And she’s back! After several treatments by different doctors, my eye is healing. Although my vision doesn’t seem to be returning to normal, I am hopeful it will be fine. In the meantime, I am back on the island!
So after my little stint in Kuala Lumpur, we packed our bags and headed to TJ – short for Tanjong Jara, where LTTW has a mainland project. Instead of a jungle camp, there’s a cushy flat with airconditioning and a fridge, but the work is entirely different. Instead of patrolling the beaches at night, the team here interact with resort guests to educate them on turtles. Nests can then be bought, and the money is used to buy eggs that would otherwise end up on the markets. As different as it is, I really enjoyed my time here using a more creative approach to conservation.
Just a few short days later I was back on the boat to Lang Tengah. Over a week had gone by and I was eager to get back to island life. Although the doctor had given me strict instructions to not swim and stay away from sand (living on a tropical island that’s easier said than done!), I was excited to get back into the camp. On my first night back, I was patrolling in Turtle Bay when I was surprised by a moving rock – a green turtle! She had just finished laying her eggs and we watched her as she went back to the sea.
A couple of days later we received visitors on the island. Coming over from our AirBnB on Perhentian, they were keen to see the project. And they came bearing gifts – cheese, wine, and snacks were unloaded as well as a boat full of people. It was a hectic but very fun day of showing people around!
New volunteers come and go, so we’ve had a good selection of people around camp. A fellow northerner brought out the Manc in me, and a lot of politics was discussed with the most recent English volunteers (turns out Brexit might not mean Brexit after all).
Entertainment on camp is also never lacking. With a certified yoga teacher on camp, we’ve been doing yoga on the beach at sunset. As idyllic as it sounds (and is!) it does mean sacrificing oneself to an army of mosquito and sand flies. We also have a home cinema (amazing what a sheet and a projector can achieve!), and we build fires. Recently I’ve become quiz master of our new weekly pub quiz, and we often go watch the sunset with a beer. All in all, life is very hard.
Later that week, our greenie from earlier returned once more to lay eggs. I was given the honour to name her (Elly, after my mum) and she has proven to be quite a good mum with large nests! We’re hoping she’ll be back soon.
As a final cherry on top, I was finally allowed to go back into the water (albeit with a mask) and was rewarded with the most beautiful encounter I’ve had to date with a turtle. As the boys were freediving to take photos of a hawksbill turtle, she came up for air less than a meter away from me. For a brief moment we were eye to eye and it was a stark reminder why we are on the island doing what we do. These species need to be protected. After all, they’re our heritage to the next generations.
Faye Vogely 