Turtle Hunting on Paradise Beach

After updating my blog last night, I headed out onto the strip and went for a wander as I haven’t really explored the island properly yet. As I walked along the strip I was amazed by how the strip transformed by night. Firstly, I’m clearly staying at the ‘quiet end’ which isn’t really all that quiet. It’s pumping down the other end (Lourens you would love this place!!). Secondly, come dark, all the street stall venders selling cobs, and street food also double up as drug dealers. The amount of people offering magic mushrooms and pills is unreal!

I soon found a street food market which was jammed pack full of backpackers on a budget, as street food is usually extremely cheap in comparison to the restaurants. I was tempted to get something to eat, however while I waited on the street for Gary & Eileen to rock up, I saw 3 cockroaches running out of there! Decision made - no way in hell am I eating there, even the cockroaches didn’t want to stay!
Turns out I had killed Gary & Eileen the night prior as all three of us were still feeling a little worse for wear and were absolutely nakard. I blamed my jet lag obviously, but we all know it was a hangover really! We went for a little wander and then went back to our hotels for an early night. So glad I did, as I was then up at the crack of dawn today, thirsty for the new day and what adventures it may bring!

I was up and out by 9am and meandered down to the boat port. Today I was determined to see some turtles!! The street vendors selling tickets for the fast boats were charging 100,000 Indonesian Rupees. I however, decided to

wait till I got to the port, and turns out, by buying direct I saved some cash and managed to hop on the 9.30 am boat to Gili meno for only 85,000 IDR! Boom! I’m getting good at this now!
What a contrast Gili Meno is to Gili T!! My jaw dropped when I saw the beach - absolute paradise and hardly a tourist in sight! I was basically the only person on the beach for a good hour, and so, not wanting to waste I moment, I hopped off the boat and decided to trek the entire circumference of the island. Took me about an hour and a half, well 2 really as I was getting snap happy and pratting about with my go pro. Minus the prattinng around, you could probably walk it in a hour at a good pace. Was lovely to see how the scenery changed as I walked along; Ooo and I saw alive starfish! I’ve only ever seen star fish when diving, at a sea life center or dead and being sold as souvenirs, so that was quite cool to see so many starfish on the waters edge.
After doing three quarters of the circumference I decided to stop off and grab a bite to eat and a cold drink. I wasn’t really hungry so only had some spring rolls, but wow – they were divine!!

I then decided to chill on the beach there for an hour or so as the view was so pretty. I wanted to go for a swim to hunt for the turtles, but apparently, they only come in when the tide is high and at this stage the water was shallow as hell. Also to note, the beaches on both Gili t and Gili meno are very rugged and full of coral, so you can’t walk in the water bare foot as you’ll cut your feet up terribly! More so on Meno, but still, just thought I would let you guys know in case any of you plan on visiting in the near future…

It was here that I met Sam. Sam is a fellow photographer, probably in his mid 20’s but had the attitude of a mid 30s guy. He too hated the drunken yobs on Gili T and fortunately for me, had been in Bali for 2 weeks+, so gave me the heads up on what to expect in both Ubud and Seminyak. Bless him, he had

lost his passport and bank cards and was living on a shoe string. I offered to give him some money to tide him over but he was having none of it. I invited him to join me on the beach, so there we sat gassing away about photography for about an hour. He showed me some of his snaps too - blimey! He has a shot of the milky way and my god I was in awe! This guy was so talented! I was gutted more so than anything as Gili T has too much life / light on it to see the stars like that. I’ll see if I can get a copy off him because you guys have just got to see it!

Anyway, my tummy started to grumble, so I said my goodbyes, and off I went in search of food. It was also at this point I thought it a good idea to find out what time the last boat departed the island. Good job I checked when I did! There was a boat at 3.45, 4.45 and then not again until 9pm! So needless to say, I booked my slot for a return and dived into a nearby restaurant to shove some food in my face before the boat left. Now the menu said coconut curry rice. I presumed this was written in bad English and was a coconut curry served with rice. Nope. It was just flavoured rice. I didn’t have time to order a meat to go with it, so chowed the rice down to tide me over and then rushed for the boat before it left without me.

I am sad that I didn’t get to see any turtles, but Sam also said that in the 2 weeks he has been there he hadn’t seen any either, so I’m starting to wonder how lucky and how the hell my friends on facebook have manged to get those amazing shots of them swimming with turtles. Little bit jel…
But it’s ok as I still have tomorrow!

Tonight I am meeting Eileen and Gary for dinner and then hitting the bars. This is their last night here before they move on, so we thought we may as well have another large one before they go. I say that - I am going to eat this time so fingers crossed I don’t get as trashed as I did the other night!

Will keep you posted… eeek!