And it’s not the last of them either.
Our second morning, we (as in, Mike) had plans to be up early (as in, before the sun). We didn’t quite make that deadline but it was an early morning nonetheless. There aren’t too many people on the beach at 7am… better for photos.
Before too long we were in the back of a tuk tuk heading towards a turtle hatchery. Turtle eggs are a tasty treat to some in Sri Lanka. To help dissuade people from enjoying this delicacy, the hatcheries pay the locals to collect the eggs on the beach and bring them to safety. The turtles are able to hatch in a protected area, safe from predators.
The turtle keeper let Mike hold a big one…
but just the little ones for me.
Baby turtles are pretty cute.
The owner offered to let us release a baby for a “donation” but we declined. According to a few articles I read before the trip, this is bad practice because it has a negative effect on the life of the turtles, which normally would not enter the sea in daylight. The focus of the hatcheries should be on the turtles… not pandering to tourists (in my opinion). But enough of that.
After the hatchery we happened upon more turtles! While we were walking along the beach back towards town, a self proclaimed “Turtle Man” guided some giant turtles into shallow water. He handed us some seaweed and pulled us in. It was a very awkward moment of privilege to have this man completely ignore the giant group of school children (in uniform), who were also there to see the turtles, in favor of catering to us. When I offered to let a child feed the turtle, Turtle Man told me the experience was just for us. I guess he knew who had the money because a tip was requested shortly thereafter.
We continued our walk along the water and sought out some breakfast. Once there Mike could barely keep his eyes off of this guy:
xo, jill
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