As we arrived on the pitch black beach at about 10pm, one turtle had just laid eggs and was covering up the eggs while another had just begun crawling up the beach, away from sea. They leave remarkable trails as they crawl along. It almost looks as if a massive tractor has driven straight up out of the sea. It's an agonizingly slow crawl, an exhausting half an hour by a creature not as well adapted to the land.

The turtles require a sense of solitude while they make their way out of the water. If they detect a human, they’ll abandon their attempt and return another day.  We stood it utter silence and darkness quite a distance away to give her the privacy she required. The turtles eventually make their way towards the shrubbery at end of the beach, and choose a spot for their eggs which is safe from the water and (hopefully) predators. 

Once our turtle reached the top of the beach, she spent about another 45 minutes digging an enormous hole.  During that time we sat down the beach enjoying the sound of the crashing waves and the beautiful vibrant night stars.  Kingsley saw no less than 5 shooting stars that evening, I somehow always seemed to miss them...!

The silence of the night was occasionally broken by periodic thrashing and the sound of great clouds of sand being scuffed up. As she began to lay eggs, we could finally creep a little closer to watch, although all we could see was her backside with eggs which looked like ping-pong balls-periodically popping out in twos and threes. The process can take over 30 minutes, during which the turtles remain absolutely immobile and in a kind of trance which makes them unconcerned or perhaps unaware of the presence of humans nearby. 

A typical turtle will lay between 70-150 eggs in one evening.  She will then rest for a bit, fill in the hole, eventually crawl back down to the sea. It is an epic effort, the sight of which made the whole evening-long experience incredible.