(Photo: Some of our volunteers sampling the water and mud around our plot area)
After another day fencing and levelling our area is now ready for planting. The preparation process has taken longer than anticipated but we now have 75 metres square ready for planting 2,000 mangrove plants.
We are not sure if there will be enough time for us to plant all these mangroves however there is another group of Earthwatch volunteers, a group of locals volunteers, who are following us. So we are confident all the planting will be completed by the end of May.
The time is going fast and I have already been in Sri Lanka for one week. I have finally settled into Sri Lankan time which is not dissimilar to Fiji time or African time - where things do not happen quickly. There is always lots of discussions before even the simplest decisions can be made.
Tonight after dinner we are going turtle watching at a local beach. This turtles are expected to come up to the beach between 9.00pm and midnight to lay eggs - quite a special experience to witness.
We have arranged to play cricket against a local team from the village near the mangroves tomorrow afternoon after our planting is finished. I have been made coach of our very international, but generally inexperienced team. Being Australian and knowing a little about cricket helped in the selection process.
I am hoping I do not suffer the same fate the Pakistani coach suffered when his team lost at the World Cup. If this is the last blog you receive from me, you may have to send in the ICC (International Cricket Committee) investigators !!!!!
