Turtle Safaris – Saltwater & Scepticism

These days, I take promises of viewing exotic wildlife with more than a pinch of saltwater. Particularly endangered species. To find pandas I had to travel for days. To glimpse a tiger, I shivered morning and night under a blanket of frost.

But to see turtles in Barbados? I only needed to hold my nose and leap from a gleaming white boat. Armed with only a bikini and a snorkel, I’m surrounded. These tiger-striped, glimmering beauties close in. And they are not shy. I gulp and choke on the burning seawater as my head drops below the surface. I don’t want to swim for fear of damaging them with my flailing limbs.

But something extraordinary happens.

The romantic inside me wants to believe that they saw I was struggling; the cynic says I was in the way. Whatever the reason, a stately giant glides skyward from underneath me and keeps on going. So much so that I am standing on its back, my head lifted above the water to breathe.

It seems that I am shy – not they – and I have to wonder who is viewing whom.

For more on viewing endangered species, click here. For more on Barbados Turtles, see the Barbados Sea Turtle Project.

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