Turtle diary: Return to the wild

Tag : BBC Jackets

"It's been quite noisy in the back; Dink has been wriggling arounda lot - like driving with children, but at least they are notscreaming!" Matt remarks. With the help of Thomas Cook check-in andsecurity, things run smoothly. Wearing fluorescent jackets, we areushered airside to see Dink and James being loaded into atemperature-controlled and pressurised hold. Matt looks a littleanxious: "I hope they will be OK, they are very special to us. It'spretty deafening out here but soon they will be tucked up nice andwarm."
0810 : "I would like to welcome aboard some very special guests calledDink and James," the pilot's message plays over the tannoy beforetake-off. After being awake for around 23 hours, we all try to getsome sleep on the three-and-a-half-hour flight.
Basking in the 26C (79F) temperatures, we watch the turtle cratestrundle down a conveyer belt from the plane's hold at Las Palmas.In a white van, with the turtles in the back, we are whizzed out ofthe airport, bypassing the terminal building. After muchgesticulating and "spanlish", we zoom back into the airport to findour luggage. Recepci