I arrived in Zanzibar after backpacking my way through Malawi and Tanzania, largely undecided as to where I was heading next. During a walk on the beach close to where I was staying in Nungwi, the northernmost village on the island, I stumbled upon Mnarani Turtle Conservation Pond – a natural lagoon stretching over a hundred metres inland, lined with coral rock and mangrove trees. I met two women outside the aquarium, both volunteers who had organised their experience through Global Vision International (GVI), a UK-based organisation with volunteer projects all over the globe. After being introduced to a few of the locaIs who manage the aquarium, I offered my physical assistance and little understanding of marine ecology in exchange for a place to stay. They put me up in a banda (hut) right outside the aquarium, only a few metres from the beach. For the first few days I gobbled up turtle facts so that I could act as a guide for any tourists that visited. The rest of m...