School Photo "Farewell" on 24 Nov.

Last day at the school and a farewell group photo for the memory, after 2.5 months of enjoyable time teaching the children some English. I think they still remember some!!? Oh, and a parting shot of our tent and palapas the day before we left on the 25th. Totally self-contained and secluded apart from the constant crowing of cocks!!! We shall miss all that!

Tannya and I on beach at Corralis

On Nov 18th we were taken out for the day for lunch at Corralis by our special friend, Tannya. She is the manageress at the Hotel Mayto, next door to our camp, and has been so good to us. We had a great lunch and even sampled the local firewater, tequila, which went down a treat with sprite lemonade! We shall miss her but will be keeping in touch, of course by facebook etc.

More photos - continued.

More Photos as promised, I hope!!

Setting off on boat trip on 12th November to see basking adult turtles. We teamed up with some visiting students from Guadahajara. Perfect day for it.

Farewell to Camp Mayto and onwards with our adventure.

Yesterday we left the Turtle Conservation after almost 3 brilliant months. Sad to go but ready for the next 2 phases of our trip , namely the Panama Canal cruise from Cabo San Lucas to Fort Lauderdale and the South American leg from Quito to Santiago. Strange sleeping in beds last night at our volunteer flat in Puerto Vallarta after almost 3 months in a tent on blow -up mattresses, but, boy, did we sleep well!! We set off tomorrow afternoon to Mazatlan and will stay there for a couple of days, sight-seeing, etc before taking the Passenger Ro/Ro ferry across to La Paz in California Sur on 30 Nov. We pick up the cruise on 7 December. I do have some more photos to upload but have been having problems uploading in Mayto and time is short this evening. Food time but will try tomorrow before we set off. Ciaio for now. J.

Only a week to go before we leave Maito Turtle Camp

Hi everyone. I had hoped to put some update photos on since 10 November but the internet is really slow tonight and taking for ever to upload images. I'll try again later in the week or next week when we return to Puerto Vallarta. We are into our last week almost and have mixed feelings about moving on. We have been so happy here but have been really busy since the girls left and concentrating on clearing many nests of baby turtles and releasing them to the ocean, but have also suffered dog predation, i.e. dogs digging up the nests prior to completion of incubation and eating the eggs. Most frustrating and I have been frantically fence repairing where they have forced their way in. It upsets us alot when this happens, of course, but we are still releasing about 2000 baby turtles a week. Marilyn and I are a bit concerned that at times the staff here are not always dilligent to this cause. They are more concerned that it isn't the camp dog but alas, it has been on occasions!!?? Turtle conservation means the world to us. Anyway, enough of that! We had a nice day out last Friday with a visiting group of students and teachers from Guadalajara, and went afloat for a boat trip and seeing the turtles basking in the sun. This was followed by a luncheon at the restaurant in Tehuamixtle, a nearby bay where we boarded the boats. After lunch we visited a bat cave and saw 3 different species of bats, including the vampire bat!!

Yesterday was my penultimate day at the local school where I've been teaching English 2 mornings a week to 6/11 year olds since mid-September. I organised a sports running competition in the playground with prizes afterwards! I had to give them to everyone as there would have been the usual squabbling if I hadn't!! Lovely kids - shall miss them when we've gone. It's been an interesting experience.

We leave for PV next Thursday, and after a 2 day stay in the volunteers flat, will make our way to Cabo San Lucas to join the "Island Princess" for our 14 day cruise through the Panama Canal. Sightseeing etc on the way, via. Mazatlan and La Paz. The ship arrives on 7th December.

No other real news. I'm out on patrol tonight for turtle nests and we may be lucky and seeing a Leatherback turtle - very few in existence and I'll let you know the outcome. They are almost 2 metrs long and weigh up to 650 kilos. One came up last night 3 kilometres from here but didn't lay and we only saw the flipper tracks - huge like tractor tyre marks. Well, time to return to the camp. Will report back soon. Jon.

Some recent photos this last week.

Marilyn above in her new hammock position. We moved tent last Friday after the girls had left so we could be near to the turtles nests corale. (Cannot rotate it, sorry!!!?)

Our new residence under the hand-made palapas which was done by Israel, the camp boss, and Jorge, his assistant. Note the sand door mats!! Still plenty gets into the tent.

Farewell luncheon last Thursday in nearby restaurant with the girls, Cybil and Sammy, plus Tannia, the hotel mangeress who has become a really good friend, and finally Vanessa next to Marilyn from Vancouver, who also joined us for the day. Brilliant seafood lunch!

Photo of Marilyn bird-watching, plus Vanessa, Tannia, and the girls, on the beach approx. 10 km from Mayto. Also last Tursday, 4th Nov.

Shopping in El Tuito today

Hi guys. Today we are shopping in El Tuito and visiting the Bird Nature Reserve at Rancha Primervera after lunch, so thought I´d just update this end. No photos today as I'm in a internet cafe with a screen that has no access to memory stick. I'll post some photos next week or at the weekend.

All is good here as we enter our last 2 weeks at the Conservation Camp. The girls (Cybil and Sammy) left us last Friday to return to the USA and Costa Rica respectively, so Marilyn and I are the only volunteers now and we are really busy with turtle egg night patrols and minding the nest corale next to our tent where alot of nests collected by us in September are now hatching and we are releasing baby turtles every night after sunset to the ocean. 45 days is the incubation period and on Saturday, we expect 12 nests to be ready for clearing!! Thus, the mid-week visit to El Tuito. We have had our problems recently with dogs predating nests in our corale, despite our best efforts to keep them out! 2 last night and it makes Marilyn and I very sad. They find a way in, either under the netting, or breaking it and jumping over. Most frustrating but we still feel we have done our share for turtle conservation despite these set-backs.

We move off to Puerto Vallarta on the 25th to the volunteer flat for a couple of days and then travel to Cabo San Lucas via Mazatlan ferry to La Paz on the 27th. Sight-seeing and staying at hostels on the way. The "Island Princess" is due in Cabo San Lucas on 7th December. 2 weeks of luxury after 3 months of sleeping in a tent on the shore! A comfortable bed is something to look forward to!!

Well, my time is up so I´m off to the shops with Marilyn before lunch. Take care followers and more photos to follow. Jon