World Cup Cricket Final

The World Cup Cricket Final today eclipsed everything else. Thankfully the online streaming was working when I was up at 6 AM to start watching. Curtis was backing Sri Lanka (even betting against us!) - for shame! Same with one of the other supervisors, though they all say they are backing India to my face. Except one who said I would be crying the next day. Humph. I’m not sure I can talk to them again.

My wonderful husband followed my exhortation to watch the game (and previously the semi-final), knowing what was good for him, since I’ve been an ardent supporter of the Boston Red Sox. I didn’t even buy a cap in Grenada because the only ones available have Yankees logos (there are strong ties here to New York). However, having perhaps watched half a cricket match before in his life (likely in a bar in Ireland), he had no idea of the rules, or much of the game. Not letting such a minor thing stand in his way, he watched the game online, with Wikipedia and an ESPN cricket “explanation blog” open at the same time. If that’s not adorable, I don’t know what is.

My hopes sank to below sea level when Sehwag and then in short-order Tendulkar got out. Yikes, this is the end, I thought. Before I spiraled into despair, Curtis, to his biased credit said “be cool, be cool you guys will be ok”, and Kester checked me by saying “what, you think there isn’t anyone else on the Indian team?! You have many good players”. Indeed. And our team proved him right. We handled our opposing tensions with beer, naturally, even though it was still 10 AM. After all, its sundown in India right now - the place that counts!  The whole house celebrated with me when we won – more perhaps from amusement than anything else. Who’s crying now? Not me, imagining the fireworks that must be exploding across, India!

New Turtle Mama's

There were a number of new turtles on the beach last night. I named two of them after my sister and brand-new niece. New turtles are uncommon, and these two seemed new to the whole chamber-digging experience, in addition to being new to the beach. One dug a hole that was too wide and kept sliding in herself! This made egg counting a challenge.

Use your imagination to see right flipper scooping

The turtles dig their chambers beautifully. It is done with the shorter rear flippers. Here is a brief human-attempt description: Imagine putting your hand in a sock and stretching your fingers out. Then, palms down, form a scoop and pick up some “sand” with your fingers so that you carry it in your fingers (palm still facing down/backwards). Then toss to the side (towards your pinky). If you can understand these instructions – congratulations! You’ve passed the amazing imagination test and may be eligible to win a prize from the amazing imagination society!

The turtles form perfect scoops with their flippers, and systematically scoop sand out first with one flipper followed by the second, so that the hole maintains an almost spherical shape while getting deeper. They will also not do any extra work, so if some sand falls on their flipper they will toss it off before reaching in to dig out some more sand. They gauge the depth of the chamber by the length of their flipper – when they cannot dig out any more sand they stop and lay their precious eggs.

My hope is that by the time my niece is potty-trained, her namesake will have figured out how to dig the perfect chamber.

Seven Sister's Waterfall

Seven Sister's

The entire group went on a brief trip to the Seven Sister’s waterfall in the rain forest for the morning. It’s one of the many beautiful waterfalls in Grenada. It has a particular edge for the adventurous – you can either do an easy walk to the last waterfall or get a guide to the first and then hike through all 7. The catch is that after seeing the first one, the only way to see the intervening five is to jump down each one, the last of which is 30 feet tall. And once you’ve started, you’re committed – there is no going back. The enthusiastic 18-year old (who I am going to call F from now on to stop being ageist) of course was gung ho from the first time we heard of it. Me, well, I’m a tad more cautious given that the only thing I’ve jumped off is the side of the pool into the pool. It seems like quite a leap (ha ha) from that to plunging 30 feet into a rock-filled pool, although I’m as ready to jettison reason as the next 36-year old.

No guides were available that day and the path was incredibly muddy because of the rain. So, despite my reason-tossing capabilities, I decided not to hike up with F. Undaunted, he threw off his slippers (we were told the last waterfall was an easy walk from the parking lot) and proceeded to hike up a narrow, steep hill in the mud barefoot in search of waterfall jumping. Over an hour later, the supervisors went to look for him, and found him tangled and muddy, still searching for a waterfall with enough water to jump down. Instead of returning disappointed, he cheerfully went straight into the main falls and then jumped down the smaller one, which though not probably as satisfying, at least got the job done! I too got into the waterfall pool despite the cold water (eventually), after the ladies gave me a hard time. I have to confess it was wonderfully refreshing - my first swimming in a waterfall experience. 

Mini-jump

My perfect Grenadian hiking slippers....

World Cup Cricket Emergency

Today was the India-Pak World cup semi-final cricket match. A HUGE deal, for those of you not in the know. I was agitating to get back quickly from night survey (the game started at 5 AM, and we usually don’t finish up at the beach till 6:15 or 6:30 AM). While we were clearing up on the beach Kimron talked to some fisherman who were relaying the latest score (India was batting) and debating who would win. Argh! Can we just get going??!! Kimron sped up the hill to the house only for me to find that none of the online streaming sites were working. Double Argh!! Another volunteer of Indian descent from the UK was as frustrated as I.

Kurt's bar: Kindest bar owners in the world

 The only other possibility was of course Kurt’s bar (which opens at 6 AM and has a TV). So, we raced up to the bar only to find that the TV wasn’t getting match reception. Foiled again! (triple argh!) Seeing our frustration, the owner of the bar took us across the road. Not knowing where he was going, we followed dumbly and found a young woman and her mother chopping vegetables outside. He had a word with them, then said we could watch the game there. I thought at first it was a B&B, but it turned out to be their beautiful home! Without thinking too much, I plopped my still-sandy self down on their bed to watch the first innings. Then it dawned on me, how unusual this was – who opens their home before 7 AM for strangers for of all things a cricket emergency?! Both of us were touched beyond what I can describe here, and will never forget the Frasers for their kindness. To top off the “argh’s“ Tendulkar got out 5 minutes after we got there. BUT, it was all worth it because we won the game! Yeah!

I had a minor crisis of confidence on the beach last night. We had three turtles come up one after the other and spent four straight hours with them. I made a few mistakes, and this while explaining things to the new volunteer. Embarrassing! I didn’t get the flipper tag on right, so had to take it off and do it again. So much for being an old hand – it must take years to be as smooth at the supervisors. I am determined to do better the next night, but also accept that I am a novice.I guess there are bad work days even in Grenada.

Flipper tags are put into a soft fleshy part of the two rear flippers, sort of like the area between your thumb and forefinger. The tag itself is like an earring with a number engraved on it, and although the pliers used to put them in look like instruments of torture, it seems to me much like getting your ears pierced. The turtles definitely feel it, but I hope it doesn’t hurt for long. I feel terrible for having to do it twice. Sometimes they come off and leave large holes. Ouch. Poor ladies.

Flipper Tag. Source:www.georgiaseaturtlecenter.org

PIT tags are better. These are small microchips that go under the skin of the turtles’ right shoulder. They don’t fall off or get covered in barnacles, and are reliable and virtually permanent. Unfortunately, Ocean Spirits has not been able to get funding to get more PIT tags (they cost about US$15 each + shipping costs), but we still scan all turtles to get the ID for those who have them (so far most do).