Beach clean to plant trees & Sea Turtle Festival combo!

SEA TURTLE FESTIVAL 

We kicked off our Saturday (11th August) by joining the annual Sea Turtle Festival which, for the first time ever, was held on Praslin this year. Organised by the Sea Turtle Friends Seychelles - a unique organisation with a committee formed of representatives from a range of NGOs and governmental organisations - the march is all the proof you need that we are better and stronger together! 

We were in absolute awe of the efforts put in by the teachers and students, and it certainly showed in the costumes, artwork, songs and dances! Huge congratulations to the organisers; we're so grateful to have been part of this collaborative and inspiring movement, and thank you for inviting TOP to be one of judges - although FYI it was extremely tough picking a winning school! 

You can read more about the Sea Turtle Friends Seychelles and their activities on their website or through their Facebook page. 

BEACH CLEAN UP WITH GVI CURIEUSE

As if that wasn't enough, we then made our way to Anse Madge for a beach clean up (P.S. good luck finding a Praslinois who actually knows where Anse Madge is, so for everyone's sake, we cleaned up the beach at the junction between the Baie Ste Anne/Cote d'Or main road and Anse La Blague).

The beach clean up was a collaboration with our friends from GVI Seychelles Curieuse who have put on a few beach clean ups on Praslin now in order to raise funds for Terrestrial Restoration Action Society of Seychelles (TRASS). TRASS is an NGO based on Praslin and made up of volunteers who grow, propagate and plant trees all year round, and we were stocked to be helping clean up to raise funds to help TRASS plant more trees on Praslin!

With 30 participants from 13 different organisations, the clean up was a great example of how people can come together to make a difference. Organisations that made it down included - Island Conservation Society Aride, Fregate, Nature Seychelles Reef Rescuers, Seychelles Islands Foundation, La Digue community, TRASS, Sea Turtle Friends Seychelles, Seychelles Sustainable Tourism Foundation, WiseOceans, Turtle Action Group Seychelles and Lemuria Resort. If we've missed anyone - sorry! 

FYI - GVI Curieuse has already raised £245 for TRASS so far and it's not too late to donate, so if you couldn't make it to the clean up (or even if you did), please donate anything you can - any little helps!