My earliest memories hearing about turtles was from my Granny Beryl Douglas.

My Granny was born in 1899 on an island off Burma (now Myanmar). The island was called Diamond Island but is now called Thamihla Kyun.

Granny would tell us about how she never wore shoes until she was 10 years old and she and her siblings/ playmates would ride turtles as they went into the sea.

I have since discovered that the island is a nesting place for green and loggerhead turtles. It is now one of the major nesting areas for Green turtles in Myanmar, and since 1986 (nearly 100 years since Granny was born) there has been a conservation station on the island. In recent years the loss of mangroves has reduced turtle nesting sites. Cyclone Nargis, 2-3 May 2008, also damaged turtle nests and nesting.

There is now a wildlife sanctuary on the Island.

Faunal species present in the sanctuary and along the coast mainly include marine species such as Olive Ridley Loggerhead, & Green Sea Turtle. There are also Hawksbill & Leatherback Sea Turtles. The later two are considered extremely rare. The island beach is mainly calcarious, which is suitable for turtles when laying eggs. As of 1999, about 20,000-30,000 green see turtle eggs and 7,000-15,000 loggerhead sea turtle eggs were estimated on beaches every year.

Amazing that I am now experiencing some of what she experienced all those years ago. I didn’t fully appreciate the wonder of her childhood until now.

Granny was a survivor; she survived several tropical diseases such as cholera, Typhoid & Plague. She lost a child to illness and had her house in Burma bombed by the Japanese during the war. She and her family (including my Dad) fled their home to stay with family in India- where my Mum & Dad met.

Today 23rd September is 28 years since she died, so me being here in Costa Rica with the turtles feels like a fitting tribute.