Swimming with turtles
08 April 2011 | Tobago Cays
Catherine
We left Bequia a day later than anticipated, simply because the kids were having a great time with Bella and so why not stay another day?! At about 9.30am we left for Tobago Cays - a horseshoe shaped reef in turquoise water - simply beautiful. We are anchored in about 2 metres of water just West of the island that has a turtle sanctuary buoyed off where you can snorkel but not anchor. Even before we had anchored we had seen three turtles and so the kids had their swimmers on before the engines were turned off and they checked that the anchor had dug in, before heading off to the buoyed area. All four of us snorkelled for about an hour before I inevitably got cold - well, the water is 31 degrees, 7 degrees off a hot tub's temperature! I took a little wander on the uninhabited island and was delighted to see both tortoises and iguanas. Lochy was desperate to see some after Samba saw a load in Martinique after we left. So, I quickly got the kids and Mark out of the water and we were mesmerised by the 7 or 8 iguanas we saw, all about a metre or so long. Unfortunately we didn't have the camera with us so we will go back tomorrow in the dinghy with an empty memory chip at the ready. On the way back to the boat, we swam with some turtles and saw a stingray - just a baby one. Mia and Lochy were excited to see Oscar on Copihue when we arrived and we joined them on the beach, and after on their boat, for drinks. Simply a beautiful beautiful wooden 60 foot one design ketch with teak throughout - a far far cry from our plastic fantastic. The owners have spent 10 careful years refitting her exactly for their sailing trip and the detail is just wonderful. So, tomorrow will be a David Attenborough kind of day, both on land and in the sea. Can't wait!!