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| おはようございます。 今日はヒッカドゥワの隣の町「コルコダ」にウミガメを 見にやってきました。 ヒッカドゥワからバスで45分。 海沿いの道を通ってコルコダの街に到着。 ウミガメを見に行く前に腹ごしらえ、ということでランチタイムは またしても「ライス＆カレー」で。 お客さんのまったく入っていないレストランだったけれど、 ここの「ライス＆カレー」おいしいぞ！！ Good morning. We came to a town next to Hikkaduwa to see turtles. It is located 45 minutes away from Hikkadua by bus. A bus running along the seaside arrived at the town. Before seeing turtles, we had a meal for lunch, which was “rice and curry” once again. No customer was in a restaurant, but the “rice and curry” was very good. |
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ウミガメの産卵は満月の日を狙っていかないと見ることは難しい ようです。 今月の満月日は1月20日、ということで今回は産卵を見ることは断念。 このあたりには「ウミガメの保護センター」がいくつもあって、 ウミガメが産卵した卵を、大切に孵化させて、 生後1週間程度まで育てた後、海に子ガメを放します。 そのウミガメセンターを目指して、おろされたバス停から、 てくてくと歩くこと３ｋｍ・・・。 バスの運ちゃんが間違ったところで僕たちを降ろすから、 長々と歩く羽目に・・・。道途中はこんな家々が立ち並んでいます。 It is usually difficult to see a scene of turtles’ egg production apart from the night of the full moon. The night of the full moon is on January 20th. So we gave up seeing the scene this time. There are a few “center of protecting turtles” around here. They are taking much care of the turtles’ eggs. They hatch eggs, nurture them for a week, and release them to the sea. After getting off the bus, we started walking a 3-km-walking-distance to the Center. We got off the bus at the wrong place which the bus driver told us. As a result, we had to walk such a long distance. On the way to the center, we saw houses like these. |
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歩くこと1時間ちょっと。 やってきました！ウミガメセンター！ まず見せてもらったのは「ウミガメの卵」。 ウミガメの卵の大きさはピンポン玉くらいの大きさで、 とってもやわらかい！！ 僕も持たせてもらったけれど、今にもつぶれそうな柔らかさで、 パパとママは「つぶさないで～～～！！！」と、 大騒ぎ！ After one hour walking and a bit more, we arrived at the Center of the turtle. First of all, we saw eggs of turtles. The egg size of the turtles is as large as that of a ball of ping-pong. Very soft! An egg was as soft as seemed to be easily broken. Daddy and mammy told me, “Don’t break it!” We made a great fuss. |
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見てみて！ 生後3日のウミガメです。 Look, look! This is a turtle after the first three days of birth |
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ウミガメは120年～150年生きるそう。 どうやら、万年は生きることはできないようです。でも長生き！！ こちらは8歳のウミガメ、まだまだこれから100年以上も 生きるんだね。 この後、ヒッカドゥワに戻って街でお買い物。 明日は宝石の街「ラトナープラ」に向かいます！ It is said that turtles live for more than 120 years. In Japan, there is a legend saying turtles can live for ten thousand years. In reality they cannot. But, at any rate, they live a long time. This is an eight-year-old turtle, which can live more than 100 years from now on.After this, we get back to Hikkaduwa and go shopping. Tomorrow we are going to go to Ratnapura called the town of jewelry. |
