10th July 2010 Today Aaron and I arrived in Mukhaestate, Georgia, after a very long journey from Kefalonia, Greece. The warm welcome we received from Olegi, Mzia and all the famliy made the trip worth while. On the 1st July Aaron and I caught a bus from Ratzakli, Kefalonia to the port Poros where we took a ferry to mainland Greece and another bus to Athens. We spent two nights in Athens, so that Aaron could collect his passport with his Indian visa thankfully granted. Although Athens is renowned for it's history and culture and for being the seat of democracy, Aaron and I were not so enamoured with the city. It was covered in graffiti, dirty and we saw thieves being arrested and prostitutes on street corners in the middle of the day. Having said that the new acropolis museum was very well designed, the archaeological museum really interesting and we found a charming restaurant for dinner. We stayed in the Ionis hotel which was more luxurious than we had become accustom to and s...

1st July 2010 As the huge ferry ploughed away from Kefalonia it churned up giant waves in it's wake and the wind whipped hair into my eyes. Today, after six weeks, Aaron and I left the Katelious group volunteer project and began the next step of our adventure, making a journey over land and sea to Georgia. Liz, Ueli and Peter also left on the same ferry to mainland Greece, having been with the group for four weeks. As Aaron and I made our way back to Athens we reflected on what a wonderful, but exhausting time we had experienced in Kefalonia. Starting the project in May had been ideal since there were not many volunteers at that time, so we got to know each other and the group leader Manu and his wife Fiona well. When we arrived we started with just the Mounda beach patrol and the school shift, before Koroni, night patrols and other activities were added. This gave us a great opportunity to become familiar with the work and the area. At the beginning of the season the Mounda...

23rd June 2010 When we first arrived in Kefalonia Aaron decided that during one of his once weekly days off from volunteering with the Katelious group he wanted to hike to the top of the highest mountain on the island, Mt Aenos standing at over 1600m above sea level. Everyone who knows me will know how much I enjoy hiking, but seeing as we do an awful lot of walking on our 'work' days the prospect of wanting to do something even more strenuous in our spare time seemed crazy to me! During our first two weeks in Kefalonia Aaron didn't have a map and so fortunately didn't risk the trip. On his third day off he kayaked about 20km to Zakinthos Island with Manu and Marcus. By the fourth week the impossible finally happened...Aaron managed to tire himself out and spent most of his day off sleeping! On my first day off I got the bus with Elina who's from Finland, to Argostoli, the capital of the island. There we saw the picturesque, colourful harbour and spent most of the...

17th June 2010 After ten nights with virtually no turtle activity on Mounda beach myself and the other Katelious Group volunteers were beginning to tire of the long night patrols where we walk the beach from 10pm to about 6am. Manu reassured us at the last meeting that this was less activity than usual for this time of year, so he expected it to pick up again soon and we all hoped so too. Sure enough two nights ago other volunteers saw the third nest, followed by the fourth and fifth last night. Tonight I was patrolling Potamakia beach with Jon, from Oregon and Aaron was patrolling Kaminia beach with Vanessa, from Ireland. Both Jon and Vanessa arrived with the Katelious group just a couple of days ago. As we strode out across the beach the quarter moon shone brightly in the clear sky, I was excited at the prospect that I might get to see a turtle nesting again tonight and I was hopeful that the light would make our patrol easier. However Potamakia has a steeper incline than Kaminia...

 June 28, 2010 Movie night at the villa went swimmingly last night. After my Koroni morning shift I spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon scouring the mini markets from Katelios to Skala for popcorn kernels. I finally struck pay dirt at the Galaxy mini mart in Skala, the self ascribed "Best mini market in the galaxy." Caroline and I had selected seven titles from the movies my Dad had digitized from our old VHS collection and saved and my laptop. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade won out in a vote over the likes of There's Something About Mary, another Harrison Ford vehicle The Fugitive, a cautionary tale about the conservation Star Trek IV, Maverick, another cautionary tale about conservation Aliens, and Top Gun . Manu and Fiona brought over their projector and speakers so we all wouldn't have to squeeze in around the ten inch laptop screen. I popped up loads of popcorn experimenting with a garlic and curry flavored batches. They were interesting....

10th June 2010 By Jean It's a whole different world from ours, so close to us, yet so far away. When walking on the sandy beach all you can see of the sea is the deep blue of the sky reflecting off the shiny surface of the water. However only a few meters away from the sandy shore, underneath this blanket hides rocks, plants and animals nothing like those we are used to seeing in our everyday lives as we walk on the dry crust of the earth's surface. Kefalonia is where I had my first snorkeling experience which allowed me to peer into the exciting world of the reef in Mounda beach. On my first trip I got hooked and have been going every free evening I have since then. Today I was eager to go snorkeling again, for my third trip, but no one else wanted to go this evening so I headed down to the beach on my own. I waded slowly out into the sea, the cold water tingling my skin. Once I was out far enough I strapped the snorkel onto my head tightly and plunged into the sea. It w...

June 22, 2010 A storm rolled in last night bring with it huge surf that flattened out Mounda beach according to Ueli. James and I cycled to Koroni this morning and the normally placid Ionian extremely furious. We found remanents of three body pits and some tracks. Unfortunately, the waves wiped away most of the signs of the activity making it data collection difficult. I took a scenic route back cycling through the villages of Thiramonas and Mavrata and was caught in a fast moving thunderstorm. Most of the clouds burned off by the time I reached the villa. The waves were still coming in hard and heavy so I took a broken boogie board the girl's had in their apartment and did my best to 10-4.