We were awake at 6am on our first day in Tobago and went to sit out on the balcony. We watched Ruby Topaz Hummingbirds, Bananaquits and Tropical Mockingbirds feeding amongst the many flowers and bushes in the hotel grounds while Brown Pelicans and Magnificent Frigatebirds patrolled over the sea. We strolled down to the beach and had closer views of the Frigatebirds and of the Pelicans fishing. We also saw many Laughing Gulls, a few Cattle Egrets and a couple of White-Tipped Doves.

We returned to our room after dinner that night and while I was sitting on the balcony a hotel security guard shouted up to me. He said that there were baby turtles on the beach (the hotel beach was a breeding site for Giant Leatherback Turtles). I grabbed my camera and we hurried down to the beach, following the security guard in the darkness. We watched approximately fifty recently hatched turtles emerging from the sand and making their way to the sea. Many of them seemed confused by the lights from the hotel and were heading in the wrong direction so we picked them up and helped them on their way into the sea.

Newly hatched Giant Leatherback Turtle