Island life really suited us. We awoke each day buzzing with what the day had in store. Breakfast and lunch were provided by JTP and all the volunteers ate together, so there was always lots of chat and stories.

The ethos of JTP was to promote the conservation of turtles and educate visitors, local businesses, schools and islanders about the plight of turtles, coral regeneration and the environment in general.

Each day, there would be one morning boat patrol, and various beach patrols throughout the night: looking for turtle tracks which would hopefully lead to a turtle nest. The boat patrol was to two neighbouring small beaches which were beyond the reaches of human intervention. Any signs of turtles tracks  and any nests were searched for. If time permitted we’d jump overboard and snorkel in the magical clear waters.

Turtle Facts: The mother turtle would dig a huge pit, about a metre in diameter, around 15 cm depth and in the middle she would dig a nest, about 80cm deep and 40cm in diameter where the eggs were laid. Only Hawksbill and Green Turtles inhabited Tioman, other spieces were long gone due to human development of the island. The Hawksbill Turtles laid about 120 eggs in a batch, and would nest between 2-7 times in a season (April – October) every year.  The green turtle would similarly nest 2-7 times in a  season,  but only every 4 years, each batch being about 150 eggs.

If a nest was found, we would have to very carefully collect the eggs into a container and transfer them to the hatchery which was situated on the beach. The eggs would then be reburied, and the conditions of the nest where they were taken from was replicated: sun/shade, size, depth. Data was taken and recorded. It would take around 6-8 weeks for a nest to hatch, and when it did it really was a sight to behold.

We were fortunate to see two hatchings. The first was one morning around 8 am, when after a check of the hatchery a volunteer had seen that one nest had come to life. Once one turtle pops to the surface, the rest of them join and they are all up scrambling about eager to follow their natural instincts and get to the sea. Our job was to release them from the hatchery into the sea as soon as possible, collecting data before doing so.  It was so liberating and quite emotional to release these little creatures and watch them scuttle down the beach, falling into footprints and reemerging in anticipation of finding their new home. By protecting them in the hatchery and safely releasing them once hatched, we had eliminated a few of the risks posed by natural predators during this incubation period, but seeing these tiny creatures take their first paddle into the vast ocean, it was easy to see how the survival rate is only about 1%, so any turtle reaching maturity really is a miracle

There was also an ‘Animal Welfare’ centre that had been set up as a separate arm of JTP. It’s purpose was to look after stray animals on the island, and more importantly sterilise them in order to keep the  population down. There were only cats and kittens there, and each day medication had to be given to certain cats, the centre had to be cleaned and the cats fed. This job was a huge hit with Rico and Tiana, who volunteered to do this everyday. They would ride the 1.5km on bikes or scooters on their own to join the senior volunteer on duty at the Animal Welfare shelter and spend a good two hours with the cats.

It really was an idyllic couple of weeks, but it had to come to an end, much to the dismay of the children who had bonded with their feline friends and had been a huge hit with the other volunteers being the only children at JTP. It was time to move on, reconnect with the outside world and plan our next adventure.

We’ve seen a lot of Monitor Lizards on our trip so far, and suddenly they have become a source of amusement for us all and a song has been born!