The marine environment

is not for me. I had a great couple of weeks assisting with the marine research done by GVI in Kenya – watching (and collecting data on) bottlenose and humpback dolphins, humpback whales and hawksbill turtles. But even here, 4° off the equator, the wind can be cold. Especially when it is raining, and you have just got out of the sea following a 400 metre snorkel as part of the turtle survey. It was as I sat there shivering, clinging on to the edge of the boat as we tossed about on the swell, that it briefly crossed my mind that I would prefer to be, at that moment, sitting in an office working on some report.

I’m just not cut out for this kind of life. You have to have good balance to deal with a constantly moving boat and strong arms to lug all the heavy equipment about, as well as being able to cope with the cold rather better than I do. An earlier dream I had of finding some kind of work in this field has well and truly gone!

I could, however, happily base myself somewhere with a view like the one we had from our camp