It's Turtle Time!

-
Remember those trips I have been making to Oistins recently, well fish is not the only marine life I have been checking out!
A few years ago, I accompanied some schoolchildren to the Belinda Cox Fish Market on a tour for Social Studies (yeah! field trips are vitally important) and discovered the turtles that have made the jetty their home. Smart turtles I say, what better place to settle than a fish market. They are always certain of a meal since fish vendors and fishermen alike make time daily to feed their fish scraps to these adopted turtles.
You can read more about the habits of turtles and the relationships with fishermen here: http://www.barbados.org/barbados-turtle.htm#.U59ZeJRdVIE 
Luckily, the fishermen and vendors have no problem with allowing visitors to help out and are very happy to give you a bag of scraps and send you off along the jetty to feed the turtles. The walk along the jetty as insignificant as it may seem is a pretty impressive one. I just must say that BARBADOS IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!

  The old jetty still stands






        When we arrived with our grocery bag of scraps,we were met by a fisherman feeding handfuls of fish to the turtles to the amusement of a visiting Italian family. While Daddy  appeared to be having the time of his life,this little one clung for dear life. Maybe she didn't know turtles could be that BIG!

My children have swam with turtles before off Folkstones Beach,but this group seemed like a family,with two very mature and large hawksbill and varying sizes of smaller trutles. They were quite the sight as they frollicked and fed.



 Hope you enjoyed the impromptu Bajan reporting as my family chattered away....lol.
The trip was short and sweet, after all we went for potfish not turtles, but what's life if you never go offtrack to discover some new adventure?
Speaking of which these two will find adventure.........oh to be a child again!!!!


Bye from Oistins. If you are in the area,please stop by and feed the turtles, they'll appreciate it and you definitely won't forget it.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Looking for bush

-
Image
What is it with this woman and bush, you may be wondering, but I love me some greenery! I love bush tea, I could eat bush rice everyday (seriously, I could), I study bush (herbology), I plant bush, I bathe with bush sometimes, a brother calls me Bushwoman as if it were my real name and I even call myself Wonderworld Bush for goodness sake! I am known to carry a camera and a plastic bag with me everywhere just in case the opportunity presents itself to take cuttings or at the very least to capture a pic of new plants for later research. My "condition" is so well known, that last summer I was asked by the Nuwaubian members of my community to accompany them on a walk to identify wild plants in our area. We walked for a good hour or so and it was quite amazing to note the many things I myself discovered for the first time. In fact I was so impressed that I wanted to see what I would unearth a little closer to home. I literally went on a ten minute walk around my house and wow
Read more

Bush Tea

-
Image
All week I have found myself gathering herbs for bush tea. I grew up on bush teas! I don't know about you but growing up I hardly ever visited a doctor outside of vaccine schedules. Bush teas were our cleansers, healers, tonics, nourishment and much more. They were also a part of our culture. When we had colds we were instructed to pick cerasee, mosquito bush, soursop and pear (avocado) leafs. For stomach aches, we had ginger, bayleaf, aloes or sweet basil. Heads were wrapped in oil leafs (castor oil plant) for headaches or rubbed with coconut oil for head colds. We drank fitweed, flower fence, lemongrass and a host of other "cooling teas". With development, a lot of our local bushes are all but gone and very hard to find, so when I come across an old familiar bush I make a point of bringing cuttings or saplings home to transplant. Today I am so happy to have a few essential Bajan bushes in my yard.     Cerasee is definitely a must have bush despite its
Read more

Breadfruit ...... So Many Ways

-
Image
I have a confession to make. In 2005 when I returned to Barbados, I ate breadfruit every week! Well, to be perfectly honest I ate breadfruit multiple times a week. Yes, I was overdosing on breadfruit. Reason being it was so hard to get the real fresh deal in NYC. Breadfruits do not travel well! Eight years later, we still love breadfruit. Much to my delight they are easy to come by all year round and are absolutely free . EVERYBODY knows somebody who has a breadfruit tree. Breadfruit is so very versatile and easy to cook. SO, today I bring you all things breadfruit.
Read more