Location: Bequia
Today, we awoke bright and early at 5:45 AM, trudged through our morning routine, and then rode off to go and see Brother King at the Old Hegg Turtle Sanctuary. After a short and beautiful open-air taxi ride there, we arrived at the farm where the sanctuary is situated. We were all immediately infatuated by not turtles but baby goats. Marina rushed to one whose name turned out to be “Nice” and picked him up, and before long, everyone wanted to cuddle with the little fellow. A short while after, Brother King ushered us into the small, ramshackle turtle sanctuary, and in it, we saw the largest amount of turtles any of us, except maybe Del, have ever seen in our entire lives. We were then handed scrub brushes and water and sent forth as a horde to scrub all the algae and scum off of the turtle’s backs, which we did with gusto. Everyone pitched in and worked hard, and before long, we were finished. We spent a short time afterward, playing more with Nice, and then got in the taxis and rode back to town. Upon our arrival, we split off. Some of us remained in the town to explore and shop as we saw fit, while others of us returned to the boat to relax and work on our oceanography projects with Kimi. A delicious lunch of grilled cheese and exotic Pringles was painstakingly prepared, and much fun was had by all. At 3:30, everyone returned to the boat, and we began to prepare for our passage tomorrow. Lexi and Ben led us, and immediately, everyone fell in and worked incredibly efficiently as a team, and before we knew it, we’d finished. After that, it was shower time, and then dinner, which was fantastic, and also pasta. As I type this, everyone is finishing up their jobs and prepping for the night out, which will hopefully add more excellence to an already amazing day.