Last weekend while we were diving in Tobago, we met some teachers who work at the Canadian international school in POS, Mapleleaf. They invited us to a weekend retreat on the northwestern corner of Trinidad, in Toco, to see the turtles laying eggs. The house they rented was huge and beautiful. It felt like our own private resort filled with only incredibly friendly people.
Late Saturday night, we went to the beach to look for turtles coming out of the ocean to lay their eggs in the sand. After about a half an hour of waiting, a giant mass appeared in the white of the wave. It was fascinating to watch such an enormous creature just appear out of the water and slowly, slowly, start climbing toward you. Once she found a good spot on the beach, she started digging a hole to protect her eggs using her back fins. Slowly, slowly. Then she started her egg-laying trance and about 40 ping pong balls popped out of her into her 2 foot deep hole in the sand. The eggs will hatch in a few months and then there will be babies like the ones we saw in September.
I thought it was a spectacular sight to witness. Unfortunately, so did the other 50 people who were with us and they started taking tons of photos. The guides said that in her trance, the flashing lights didn't bother her, but I couldn't stay long at the scene to watch the turtle paparazzi assault. So, no pics.
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