“Totally gnarly dude!” as Crush would say.
We had an awesome night sleeping on the beach last night. Yanni invited us to his property to have a sleep on the beach. We were greeted with some of the best watermelon we have ever tasted. Students ate their hearts fill and then played a game organized by Matt called World which gave them a chance to play with sticks while conquering other people’s country.
As the sunset some great pictures were taken as we were blessed with another awesome sunset. Everyone snuggled into their sleeping bags and prepared for a good night’s sleep. The stars were amazing as the Ursa Major, Ursa Minor and Orion were watching over us as we slept.
The Archleon Society asked us to not come as a large group looking for the turtles at night so several of us went out for look with nothing visible as late as 11 pm. Mr DeMerchant awoke at 3:15 am as dew had moistened his sleeping bag and went for a walk. He met with some members of the night shift from the Archelon who were watch a turtle dig a hole for her clutch. He was invited to share in the experience and learned how they measure, tag and check the turtle. 45 minutes later he was back in his sleeping bag.
The next morning the group packed up after a breakfast of baklava and bananas on the beach (we are on vacation...). We found the day shift from Archleon and watched them move a clutch of approximately 83 eggs to a new nest. Students learned how to measure the hole, count the eggs and the process followed by the volunteers. After completing our morning of science we were off for breakfast at the hotel.
After returning to the hotel for a late breakfast and a chance to freshen up (aka brush our teeth!), we braved the midday sun to hike from our hotel up to Old Town Kyparissia and the castle. It was a short (2-3 km) but steep climb, and after a few much needed water stops (and photo ops) we arrived at the local ruins dating back to the 13th century. We had a chance to reflect in the ancient amphitheatre on the 800 years of visitors who have walked the same path. After taking in the amazing view of Kyparissia and the surrounding bay (and a few more photos), we headed downhill to the local triathlon club (NOKY) and their beautiful 50 m outdoors pool. We spent a very refreshing afternoon playing marco polo, water polo and a team relay race. Divyesh’s spider monkey dive was definitely a highlight! We gathered bikes for a quick ride downhill back to the hotel. No pedalling required! We then had some “down time” for students to nap, explore town and relax at the hotel.
The evening ended on an even higher note as Yanni and local children arrived to teach us Greek dancing. More on that tomorrow from the students!
Mr D and Ms Cade
No comments:
Post a Comment