Et Voilà : in Maupihaa.

"Theo and I love to walk with Isabel along the beach. One morning we noticed that there were tracks from the ocean, up the sand and into the bush. We followed them and saw a turtle nest… sea turtles were nesting! We decided to come back that evening after dinner and see if we could spot one. We knew it was a long shot, but well worth a try. We went around 9 o’clock pm. About 10 minutes down the beach, just as we turned a corner, we were shocked to see a giant green sea turtle just emerging from the water! I will never forget the feeling I had when I saw her. I was so, so grateful. We watched in silence as she heaved her body up the sand. She was about 400 pounds, she would go forward a few times and then stop and rest. Just hearing her breathing was enough for me. It was about half an hour before she reached the bushes, then she proceeded to go pretty far in. Once she started digging the sand where she wanted to lay her eggs, we all settled down on our bellies to watch. She was about five feet away from us. She worked for another half hour, but she hit some roots in the ground and decided to find another spot to lay her eggs. After a few hours, we reluctantly decided to leave and let her finish in peace. I do not have any photographs, because the flash on my camera would have spooked her. I will never forget this experience…ever! The next morning, we jumped in the dinghy to go find where she finally laid her eggs. She had dug two holes before she dug a third to finally make her nest. She must have been working until the early hours of the morning. Incredible. Later that day we went snorkelling, I was swimming back to the dinghy when I heard what sounded like a child crying. When I got out of the water and asked someone if they had heard it. They said, “Yes, it is a whale”. A few minutes later I turned and saw a Humpback Whale breach out of the water. This place is magic."

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