Author: nlpnowcom

After a loverly Spring day in Kingston upon Thames in the UK, the sky darkened as the cloud became black. The weather forecast had predicted heavy showers perhaps with hail stones, and this looked like we were likely to be on the receiving end.

Yet that dark cloud did not cover the whole sky, for in the east, the sky was clear, and the sun shone bathing us in a bright sunshine.

Looking out of the window a wondrous sight caught the eye, a rainbow, in fact a double rainbow, with the end of the main rainbow seeming to end on the top of the block of flats which shone as if it had just been built.

It was in 2010 that a major fire had occurred in Madingley Tower, on the Cambridge Estate, which resulted in a refurbishment of the flats. (click to see video of the fire)

Now finished, and the flats reoccupied, perhaps the fortunes of those residents will change, as I hope there is a Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow for them.

The above photograph has been republished in the Kingston Guardian newspaper.

As a small boy, I had many pet animals, a budgerigar, a guinea pig, a dog and a tortoise, each of them still holding a fond spot in my memory, the budgie sitting on my finger its’ claws holding tight, the big black bulging eyes of the guinea pig, my dog racing up to me with such excitement after we went to pick him up from a weeks stay in a kennel and he pee’d up my leg, to the hard shell of the unfriendly just give me food tortoise.

There have been animals in my life through friends, the media, TV, films etc, Lassie the sheepdog, Kaa the hypnotic snake in Jungle Book, Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, Flipper the dolphin, and then the Ninja Turtles.

Many of my friends had pets, one in particular had a terrapin who I called Fred. Even though Fred showed no friendliness to humans, I had a soft spot for him, arranging for him to have a larger home with a little plastic palm tree and in which we added a “beach” of pebbles so he could, if he wished, pull himself out of the water. 

It was visiting a friends’ and colleagues home in Italy with anticipation, as he had told me he had two turtles. I expected that in his back garden there would be a ornamental pond, very much like the Kek Lok Si, Goddess of Mercy Temple, in Penang Malaysia, which has the Liberation Pond full of turtles.

It was then that I started to wonder, what is the difference between a tortoise, a turtle and a terrapin? What environments do each live in.

The biggest differences between the three is the environments they live in. Essentially a tortoise is a land dwelling reptile, a turtle is a sea water, ocean dwelling reptile, whereas a terrapin is a freshwater or brackish water (river estuary) dwelling reptile. Although in many countries there is no distinction made between the three species, they are all referred to as turtles, or testudines, or chelonian, which the latter is often used by veterinarians and scientists. In Spain for example they use the word “tortuga” for all three, but add-on the the descriptive word of “terrestre” for tortoise, “marina” for turtles and “de rio” for terrapins.

Another distinction can be found in their feet. Tortoise have short stubby legs whereas, turtles and terrapins will have webbed feet, with ocean going turtles having developed flippers to propel themselves through the water.

For the northern hemisphere countries where tortoises are not a native animal or reptile, they are a protected animal, and only held as pets, but in hotter counties it is common to see wild tortoises roaming the countryside. It came as quite a shock to me the first time I saw a wild tortoise in Gaziantep and Antalya (Turkey).

So recently I saw the tortoise in the photograph below roaming my back garden in Bukit Mertajam, Malaysia. I have never seen a tortoise with markings on its’ head, two yellow stripes. 

Can anyone tell me the breed of tortoise please?

I never expect praise or criticism, although both are welcome, neither do I seek feedback unless the participant or client is willing to give it to me. I know intuitively how I have down as I continually test and monitor my work.

Back in 2004, I ran a Mind Map course, along with other courses on that visit, one of many Mind Mapping courses I have given to the public, schools, businesses, and individuals. I had indeed forgotten that trip.

Today I received an email from Kamani Gunathilake which says:-

Just that simple message has given me such a boost, just reminding me that any little thing we do, any little piece of information, any help that we give to others, can have a profound influence on their life.

Just that simple little message has given me the drive to deliver more to as many people who wish to engage me in whatever country it may be.

Thank you Kamani.