Day 141
After our not starter day yesterday, we are up and breakfasted in time for the boat. The ride only costs us £1.50 each and is on a similar boat to the one we arrived on the other day but nowhere near as rammed full. The boat comes in and we head clockwise around the island to see what we can find.
We haven't walked for 5 minutes before we spot the small turtle sanctuary this island is famous for. A local guy spends his time collecting the eggs for the beach and look after them until the they are 8 months and then he releases them. He started it up as the number of turtles around the islands where drastically reducing due to predators, lack of nesting beaches due to the resorts and human interaction. He uses his own money to fund it and relies on grants and donations to keep it all going. We coo at the baby turtles before giving our little donation and moving on.
Meno is, if it was possible, even quieter than Air and we walk for at least half hour before we see anyone else, creepily though this side is full of abandoned holiday huts and it makes it look a little apocalyptic. We've walked about half way round when we get too hot and the sea calls us. Bliss, the water temperature is just right and the sand is so white here, much whiter than on air. We slob for a bit before walking around to get our usual, a refreshing lime shake. The place we stop at is right in front of apparently the best snorkelling on the island, so we borrow some gear from here and set out. Ben hasn't had much luck with snorkels or masks throughout the trip but today he has finally found his perfect match. I, on the other hand, seem to luck out. She hasn't got any small flippers so she gives me little shoes instead so I can walk on the coral but they are so hard to swim and then my snorkel doesn't work, like at all. So I have to spend the time frantically trying to keep up with super fast flipper Ben and trying to hold my breath long enough to take it all in. You'd think because of all of this is would have been a pretty rubbish day out for me but no, one completely awesome thing saved it all. We swam with a turtle. Yeah that's right, I'm just bobbing along checking out the super cool fish and something in my head says start looking in front of you as well as around you and then 30 seconds later I see a turtle about 10 metres ahead.
I call to Ben who normally can't hear me once he's got engrossed under water but I must have sounded urgent ad he looks up instantly. I beckon him over and we swim about 1 or 2 metres away from him and it was just amazing. We didn't want to get too close so we disturbed him as he looks like he could give quite a nip if he wanted to and I can't swim that fast today with my booties on. They move so gracefully and he treated us to about 10 minutes of his company before coming up to the surface for a quick breather and then swimming off, it's got to be the best underwater experience ever, this trip is just getting even more amazing.
After our little meet up with the turtle, I decide to turn back. I keep getting stung my something seemingly invisible and with my lack of flippers and a snorkel it was getting a bit difficult to keep up. The swim back was one of the hardest I've done as the current is just so strong and I was struggling so much to keep a good pace. I rest on the edge before walking over to our towel and then I notice I'm covered in loads of nettle like stings all over my arms and legs and after a little research it turns out I've been stung my loads of baby jelly fish, ouch! The sting is dying down so once Ben's back we hand back our snorkels and go off in search of food. After a little lunch of a Jaffles for me (cheese toasty) and a Gado Gado for Ben we grab an ice cream and finish our day on Meno sunbathing and making silly sand shadows.
The boat taking us back leaves at 4.20 so we arrive at 4 and wait, watching the sea getting more and more rough. The boat back is a little bumpy because of this and I'm pretty glad when we reach the shore. Tonight is another BBQ night and I'm going for prawns, delish!
Day 142
I had a weird night, waking up thinking Ben was having a fit as I could head a weird noise but it just turned out to be an animal in the roof. The adrenaline of thinking my lovely chappie was dying means I can't get back to sleep and I toss and turn for ages. The weird bites from yesterday have gotten really itchy and seem to spread over my chest so it's going to be a lazy day of blogging to see if I can get rid of them. After a bit of research it looks like I've got hives which is unbearable and I've got no antihistamines :( It also turns out sunbathing doesn't help it and the 20 minutes I'm out turn me into a scratchy mess, not cool as all.
The wifi has been a bit hit or miss here so relaxing at the room today means we have a chance to use it whilst it's working for the odd 10 minutes here and there and catch up with everyone. We also hear there's been an earthquake at Monut Kinabula and some climbers and guides are dead, they haven't released any more info yet so we don't know who but the guy we stayed with Uncle Jack is fine, phew. The day is uneventful apart from the fact Ben gets himself a snazzy sarong and discovers the wonders of skirts "It's just so breezy". Dinner tonight is accompanied by Electric Watermelon cocktails which might just nudge Tequila Sunrises off my top spot.
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