I saw this post on Facebook from my colleague and friend Smaro Touliatou, who has been working with ARCHELON, the Sea Turtle Protection Society of Greece, for many years.  It made me smile as I recognised so many things that working with turtles has brought me too, so I thought I would share it with you. The original link can be found here.

Why are we coming back to ARCHELON every year… - 16/08/2012 "Well done, you are doing a great job, you are sacrificing your holidays in order to save the turtles".

Many comments of people we are talking to, look like that. However, I have never considered myself as someone who is doing sacrifices and by no means I am the saviour of the world. The motivation of conserving the reproductive environment of the loggerhead sea turtle remains strong but no lies here, someone must have found more things that keep him coming back to ARCHELON for 6 years and make him have the same enthusiasm with the first time.

So, why are we coming back every year?

- because when you help the turtles, you also learn to respect all the other animals...
- because we like to sleep under the shade of an olive tree...
- because we like to come face to face with turtles that have travelled all around the Mediterranean before coming to Zakynthos to lay their eggs...
- because swimming with a turtle is a the best cure for stress…
- because we meet people with the same ideas as ours…
- because we learn to appreciate simple things in life, like a glass of cold water after morning survey or a soft sleeping mattress...
- because we have no internet, facebook, TV or news from the outside world…
- because we see shooting stars during night surveys…
- because we like to dance without shoes, any time, any place…
- because we don't care too much if we discover a stain in our clothes…
- because we share our enthusiasm about turtles with tourists and local people…
- because we want our children and grandchildren to have the same experiences with us…
- because the contact with foreign volunteers opens up your mind…
- because as I am writing this article in the boat, I am looking back at Zakynthos smiling and
the rest of the passengers think I am weird!

Kostas Papafitsoros