Sitting having our final dinner at Montericco, looking out at the dark beach, we noticed a bit of a commotion and a guy waving at the cars as they raced down the beach. So we decided to take a look and ventured out into the pitch black night. Lo and behold if it wasn’t a Parlama Negra turtle laying her eggs!! How exciting!! She was a good way up the beach, and had dug quite a hole and was laying her eggs into it. There was a local guy collecting her eggs as she lay them and putting them into a bag (about 70 eggs in total) – she appeared to be unaware of us. It was really special. It became less special when she had finished and the guy collecting the eggs took off down the beach in the opposite direction to the turtle hatchery. He was collecting the eggs to sell at the market for people to buy and eat as well as using as a supposed aphrodisiac! Hard to judge him, turtle eggs are worth £3 a dozen and he probably needed the money to feed his family.
Whatever his reasons, all of her efforts were in vain. We waited until she had covered up her empty nest and we walked with her as she made her way back to the ocean for another year and a return journey across the Pacific. As she entered the surf, there was a shower of shooting stars. It was poignant.
Whatever his reasons, all of her efforts were in vain. We waited until she had covered up her empty nest and we walked with her as she made her way back to the ocean for another year and a return journey across the Pacific. As she entered the surf, there was a shower of shooting stars. It was poignant.
