It's a tiny hop, skip, and a jump on a local boat next door to the island of Gili Meno, where we stayed for two nights to check out the smallest of the Gilis. This is apparently the most bypassed island of the three, but why! It is super relaxing, peaceful, and quiet, and home to a special little turtle sanctuary where we learned more about the friends we have been snorkelling and scuba-ing with for months now.

When the turtles lay their eggs at the beaches here, the hatchlings are immediately threatened due to cats, birds, and general human ridiculousness. There is a very poor chance of the baby turtles hatching safely and then making it out to the water to start their seafaring lives. A volunteer on Gili Meno brings the eggs from the beach to a shelter where they can hatch under his watch, and then raises them in tanks until they are about 8 months old and can be released back into the ocean. So we spent some time with the wee, sweet turtles and made a wish for as many of them as possible to be able to make it back to, and flourish in their future ocean lives.