Turtle Nests Destroyed

Throughout the night of February 13 (the day of the Good Hubby's accident), we could hear the surf pounding the shore, even though we were about a mile inland.

The next morning, we visited Gibbs Beach again and noticed that there were smashed turtle eggs all over it.

Our host, P.H., told us that there are usually about 70 hawksbill turtle nests on Gibbs Beach alone. She was very sad to hear about the smashed eggs, as she has taken part in the hatchling release programme, where volunteers shine flashlights to guide the emerging baby turtles into the ocean.

From all I've read about sea turtles (The Voyage of the Turtle, by Carl Safina, is one of my favourite books), I can see that Gibbs Beach is a perfect beach for nesting turtles--at least, when there are not "large battering waves" pounding the shore.

From the website of the Barbados Sea Turtle Project, I've learned that hawksbill nests are usually about 18 inches deep. I guess that gives us an idea of how much the beach was churned up by those high waves.

I also learned that three different species of sea turtle nest on Barbados--hawksbills, green, and leatherbacks. I think P.H. said the leatherbacks mostly nest on the East Coast.

If there are about 70 nests on Gibbs Beach and each nest contains about 150 eggs, that means come hatching season some 10,500 baby turtles make their way to sea from Gibbs Beach alone. The number that survive to breeding age is, of course, only a tiny percentage of that--but still it's an encouraging thought.

I certainly didn't see 10,500 destroyed eggs along the beach that day, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that only a handful of nests were disturbed and that this summer baby hawksbills will emerge out of the sand and take to their ocean home in great numbers!

Sea-U Guesthouse

The Sea-U Guesthouse in Bathsheba is a great place to stay if you can get a room. It's actually about a five-minute walk uphill from the rest of the town, but its elevated position affords great views of the ocean and a stiff, constant breeze.

Breakfast is provided, as is dinner, if you add your name to a list before 11 am. The food is very good (though I usually require more fibre at breakfast)--one night we had an eggplant appetizer, flying fish and macaroni pie.

There are two cats on the premises. They are both very sweet and not at all shy about begging. One has a perpetual grimace on its face, as if to say, "Come on ... but why not?" From the dining area, which overlooks a thick tangle of mangroves, you can see them picking their way over vines and gnarled, adventitious roots. I'm glad our cat Eddie doesn't come with us on holiday or he would think his indoor life very ignominious.

We also had daily visits from a pair of sparrow-like birds called grassquits. The female was quite bold--she would hop her way into our room while her husband watched anxiously from the doorway.

The long verandah with its Muskoka chairs (or Adirondack, depending on where you're from) and the common dining arrangement makes this a rather social place to stay. This is good or bad, depending on what you think of the other guests. Luckily, we liked most of the people we met and came away feeling we had made a few friends.

Our Harrowing Ordeal at Long Pond Part I

At certain points along the Bathsheba coast, the ocean waves have pushed the sand up into berms like this one. These berms can be about four to five feet in height and about a hundred yards long.

One such berm that we came across, north of Barclays Park, held in a body of fresh water that was marked as Long Pond on our map. We figured it must have been a stream that had been dammed up by the berm.

It was a thriving ecosystem. Just walking casually along the top of the berm and looking in the water, we could see shoals of little fish swimming and enormous freshwater crabs lurking about the bottom.

Another species of wildlife we noticed was a tourist madly digging at the berm with his hands and feet, like some sort of demented dog. Apparently it was his bright idea to dig a channel from Long Pond out to the ocean.

Having mentally registered that he was an idiot, we went on our way. About an hour later, we despaired of ever reaching the end of the beach and turned back.

We weren't at all prepared for what we saw next ...

Barbados Wildlife Reserve Part II

This little fellow we saw running around in the reserve. I thought it was some kind of marsupial at first, but upon reflection I realized it was an uncommonly large and charming rodent.

I think it is a mara (not native to the Caribbean). Like the capybara, the mara is a large South American rodent and a close relative of the guinea pig. It is also sometimes called a Patagonian cavy or a Pampas hare.

Anyway, I had never seen one before visiting the Barbados Wildlife Reserve. Perhaps I ought to watch Planet Earth or The Life of Mammals again to see if I can learn something about them.

Barbados Wildlife Reserve Part I

The Barbados Wildlife Reserve turned out to be smaller than I thought it would be, but as we have learned, size isn't everything.

I wasn't, for instance, prepared for the large number of tortoises clattering about underfoot. Each of them seems to have its own, somewhat opaque agenda, but at close to 2 pm they all head purposefully for the feeding area.

The green monkeys (who don't necessarily live in the reserve but are free to come and go as they please) also know that it is feeding time. Since the ground is thick with tortoises, many of the monkeys will just perch on the tortoises' shells and reach for fruit over their heads.

The reserve is also home to a strange animal whose existence I'd never suspected prior to my visit. But that is for another post.