First of all, I think my number is as follows; 0055 84 9691 0686. I´ve got Brazilian SIM card, but who knows if it works for you gringos.
I´m safe, happy and set up anyway. I´ve lodged myself in a nicely air-conditioned internet cafe, and a fizzy guarana working on my insides, so here goes with the aul blog.
I presume anyone reading knows what happened with my previous attempt to enter Brazil, and I really don´t think I could go over it again, but there was no problem this time other than the hour and a half line to get through customs, which had my stomach in bits, as I had no idea what they were going to say this time. But no problems. I managed to get Crazy Stupid Love as the plane movie again, which I had seen 3 times on the last failed attempt to get into Brazil, but even the oh so slick Ryan Gosling couldn´t deflate my spirits.
I got into Natal via Salvador and Frankfurt around midnight, and got out to David´s house immediately. He is in good form, but has aged somewhat. He has quite bad Parkinsons, and has trouble with his balance. He is still an idealist, and told me about his great plans for the ecological sanctuary in the future. Along with doing some regular duties, his main hope for my stay is that we can redo the front entrance to the sanctuary, and shove it people´s faces as they come into Pipa.
I got out to Pipa the next day and set myself up in the house again. The TAMAR (turtle project) volunteers were there, and the study of hawksbills in this region is now a lot more intensive. It has spread along more beaches, a longer season of study, and more information is obtained. But more on those guys later.
Pipa has grown, as one would expect in a country that is doing as well as Brazil is. The prices are up slightly, but the visitors are mostly Brazilain these days. Everyone is excited about the world cup, and Natal is getting a white elephant of its own in the form of a large new stadium.
It turns out that TAMAR now rents the cottages within the sanctuary outright, to use a base for the research, so technically I am there guest. This means I am kind wondering how to divide my time with the beach patrols and sanctuary, but I think I should manage. The sanctuary is as beautiful as ever, but it really does need someone with a good business brain to help it. It owns all the land around a huge beach, and could make a fortune charging people to get down there, but David, being a sensible English type, doesn´t want to ruin it.
Due to a missed flight, and a late rebooking, I have a friend from Dunmore out here for a couple of weeks. James and I went out for a few bevvies to celebrate anything and everything, and I believe we may have ended up in a bit of a hoop. Feeling a bit sorry for ourselves the next day, we jumped on board the TAMAR train to the beaches they patrol at night, Minas, Sibauma, and my old stomping ground, Chapadao. Chapadao is small, so we weren´t ecpecting much, but maybe we would be able to shake off our ressacas there. Within a couple of hours we were bringing down the equipment to tag, weigh and measure a ´gravid female´, and she came in at around 78.3kgs, if my memory serves me well. The two Irish boys were delighted with themselves, and there splotchy sunburnt heads beamed through the whole process. Daphne is a new volunteer working with TAMAR, and she is studying hormones from blood samples. When unloading a unremarkable box from the car as we started the night, she shouted in my direction: `ah!, be careful with my blood´. She took samples from the turtle, and we helped wind a manual centrifuge to separate the samples. I saw those spinny thiongs in shows like CSI, but I did´t think they actually did anything. I had a good run around on the quad, and after a few shifts patrolling, we all left the beach at around 4:30am. A great first night, especially for James on his first turtle watch ever. Pictures to follow.
That was last night, and not much else to mention really. I have regular hours at the reception, regular nights on patrol, and a few other small bits to do here and there. I´m healthy, happy, hearty and hale, as I hope y'all are too.
Kish.
I´m safe, happy and set up anyway. I´ve lodged myself in a nicely air-conditioned internet cafe, and a fizzy guarana working on my insides, so here goes with the aul blog.
I presume anyone reading knows what happened with my previous attempt to enter Brazil, and I really don´t think I could go over it again, but there was no problem this time other than the hour and a half line to get through customs, which had my stomach in bits, as I had no idea what they were going to say this time. But no problems. I managed to get Crazy Stupid Love as the plane movie again, which I had seen 3 times on the last failed attempt to get into Brazil, but even the oh so slick Ryan Gosling couldn´t deflate my spirits.
I got into Natal via Salvador and Frankfurt around midnight, and got out to David´s house immediately. He is in good form, but has aged somewhat. He has quite bad Parkinsons, and has trouble with his balance. He is still an idealist, and told me about his great plans for the ecological sanctuary in the future. Along with doing some regular duties, his main hope for my stay is that we can redo the front entrance to the sanctuary, and shove it people´s faces as they come into Pipa.
I got out to Pipa the next day and set myself up in the house again. The TAMAR (turtle project) volunteers were there, and the study of hawksbills in this region is now a lot more intensive. It has spread along more beaches, a longer season of study, and more information is obtained. But more on those guys later.
Pipa has grown, as one would expect in a country that is doing as well as Brazil is. The prices are up slightly, but the visitors are mostly Brazilain these days. Everyone is excited about the world cup, and Natal is getting a white elephant of its own in the form of a large new stadium.
It turns out that TAMAR now rents the cottages within the sanctuary outright, to use a base for the research, so technically I am there guest. This means I am kind wondering how to divide my time with the beach patrols and sanctuary, but I think I should manage. The sanctuary is as beautiful as ever, but it really does need someone with a good business brain to help it. It owns all the land around a huge beach, and could make a fortune charging people to get down there, but David, being a sensible English type, doesn´t want to ruin it.
Due to a missed flight, and a late rebooking, I have a friend from Dunmore out here for a couple of weeks. James and I went out for a few bevvies to celebrate anything and everything, and I believe we may have ended up in a bit of a hoop. Feeling a bit sorry for ourselves the next day, we jumped on board the TAMAR train to the beaches they patrol at night, Minas, Sibauma, and my old stomping ground, Chapadao. Chapadao is small, so we weren´t ecpecting much, but maybe we would be able to shake off our ressacas there. Within a couple of hours we were bringing down the equipment to tag, weigh and measure a ´gravid female´, and she came in at around 78.3kgs, if my memory serves me well. The two Irish boys were delighted with themselves, and there splotchy sunburnt heads beamed through the whole process. Daphne is a new volunteer working with TAMAR, and she is studying hormones from blood samples. When unloading a unremarkable box from the car as we started the night, she shouted in my direction: `ah!, be careful with my blood´. She took samples from the turtle, and we helped wind a manual centrifuge to separate the samples. I saw those spinny thiongs in shows like CSI, but I did´t think they actually did anything. I had a good run around on the quad, and after a few shifts patrolling, we all left the beach at around 4:30am. A great first night, especially for James on his first turtle watch ever. Pictures to follow.
That was last night, and not much else to mention really. I have regular hours at the reception, regular nights on patrol, and a few other small bits to do here and there. I´m healthy, happy, hearty and hale, as I hope y'all are too.
Kish.
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