On its way to Boa Vista by sea

Colourful snorkelling equipment, used hospital bed mattresses, various turtle decorations and a few desk chairs – all these items have one thing in common: they are currently on their way to Boa Vista. Because this year it was that time again; over the course of several months we acquired a number of items that are now on their way to our colleagues at Fundaçao Tartaruga. At the headquarters in Cologne, a large freight container was packed with numerous items for our Cape Verdean sister, since many of the things the team needs on a daily basis are difficult to obtain locally.

In the end, almost 700 items made it into the container, including a new vehicle for the Dog and Drone Team’s missions, numerous items of equipment for the upcycling workshop Lixo Limpo, such as an industrial sewing machine, irons and a used sales counter. The shopping list also included swimming goggles for the free swimming course on the island and reusable container bags for the next beach clean-ups.

Inside the freight container for the Fundação Tartaruga

Did the first sentence make you prick up your ears and take notice of the hospital bed mattresses? We owe you an explanation. These are travelling to our camps on the Cape Verdean island as sustainable equipments for the beds. In the past, such donated, still intact mattresses from care homes and hospitals have already proved their worth in the beach camps. Just imagine what an ordinary fabric-covered mattress would look like after a season on the beach … The washable items can easily last for more than one season because they are particularly robust, easy to clean and resistant to sand and salty air.

Container packing in Cologne (archive picture from last time’s packing in 2021)

Recently, the container, filled to the brim, set off on its journey, first by land to Hamburg. There it will be loaded onto a ship that starts its journey to Boa Vista.

We now expect the journey to take two months, followed by an additional month for customs clearance on the island. This means that the team in the Boa Vista’s capital Sal Rei will probably be called to unload at the hopefully before the end of the year.

Would you like to support the next container purchase for the Cape Verdean Turtle Foundation? Your personal donation will enable the local team to add a needed item to the shopping list.