Wednesday:
We've just taken a walk into the village to buy some supplies. It's easy to forget when you're on site (Coco Beach) where you are in the world - you just know you're in a wooden hut, by the beach. About half the people you see are your fellow staff or volunteers (mostly white europeans or north americans). The rest are the coco beach staff (all malagasy). It's mainly when you take a walk across the village beach right into the village that you're reminded about exactly where you are - in a very remote part of Madagascar.
The village has no electricity, no sanitation, and underfoot is sand, shells, and dead coral. Walking is therefore quite hard work. Especially during the heat of the day. People smile, wave and say salama (hello) whenever you pass. There are loads of kids of varying ages, with even fairly young looking children - around 8 or 9, carrying smaller children or babies. This time, there was a tiny child of about 2, waddling along ahead of us with just one flip flop on. On either side of the road (remember, no actual road. Just a sandy corridor) wooden fences separate the road from the people's yards. The main road stretches no longer than 100 metres. Perhaps a little longer.
As well as the main 'supermarket', there are a few other 'epi-bars' - small shops selling a few food items. They're pretty scarcly stocked - mostly just coca cola, bottled drinks, beer and packet noodles - but I haven't looked too closely. Everything looks very dusty and very sandy. There are also a few small wooden tables on the side of the road with people selling 'fresh' items. At the moment, this means a number of different kinds of dried beans, rice, monkey nuts (looking quite shrivled and tired now as it's the end of the season), onions and maybe some home made doughnuts, bhajis or fish samosas. And peanut sugary biscuit things. Oh, and of course some fish too. Today, I bought tomatoes. It might not seem much, but this is very exciting as we don't have a lot of fresh fruit or vegetables in the main meals at Coco Beach. There were maybe around 30 tomatoes on sale altogether, and I managed to get four which looked pretty reasonable. It's quite a stark contrast to the abundance of UK grocery stores or huge supermarkets. If I'd have bought the same number of tomatoes that I might buy from the Unicorn grocery at home all in one go, I
would be in possession of over half of all the tomatoes in the whole village. However, as there is no refrigeration in our huts, there's no point buying any more than you're going to eat the next day anyway.
There are pretty much no vegetables on sale at all. The only fruit around at the moment (other than the tomatoes) are zebu heart (like a custard apple) and mangoes - which aren't quite in season yet. And that's it. That's the sum total of the 'fresh' food available to buy in the village. As far as clothes are concerned, there are a few 'stalls' (well, sarongs spread on the sand) with an assortment of clothes in a pile. They look like the clothes that Oxfam and the like ship overseas for people. Most people's clothes come from such sources. The supermarket stocks more luxury goods - mainly aimed at us tourists. That means boxed juices (no added sugar), Pringles, imported chocolates (mars bars etc.), Madagascan chocolate (mmm), a few sweets in jars, and a few bottles or jars of condiments, jams, marmalade, mayonnaise etc. They're very dusty. And very expensive. Just to give you a bit of a price comparison. A twix costs 2,000 ariaries (about 70p). A box of pringles costs 8,000 ariary (about two pounds fifty). A mango costs 100 ariary (approximately 4p?). The 4 (tiny and very warm) tomatoes we bought cost us 200 ariary in total. About 7p. Meanwhile, the average day's wage for a local fisherman is around 10,000 ariary. Perhaps less on a bad day, and slightly more on a good day. If that was your sole day's earnings with which to feed yourself and your (ever expanding) family, you're not going to blow it all on a box of Pringles are you? Anyway, back to the supermarket shelves. There's also some hardware, washing powder and the like. Oh, and of course, alcohol. Mainly Madagascan beer (THB) or dodgy local rum in plastic bottles.
Should we run out of anything substantial, there's pretty much no way of buying it here. I knew all this before I came, but somehow it doesn't really sink in until you've been into the village a few times just how little there is available. Everything that you see here has to get here by road or by boat - unlesss it's fished out of the sea. The nearest bigger town (Morombe) is about 40km away. It takes about four hours by 4X4 to get there on the sandy road. More if it is the rainy season. By boat, it takes between 6 and 12 hours depending on the wind. There isn't any public transport from this village as such. Other than the 4X4s which cost a lot to hire, there are the 4X4 trucks which are the things that actually transport the major items - such as fuel and beer - or zebu carts - carts pulled by the Madagascan cows.
Obviously this isn't a viable form of transport for any great distance - unless you're definitely not in any hurry and have a few days to spare.
By sea, the main transport is a pirogue (small wooden outrigger canoe with sail). They're fun for a short journey, but I'm not sure I would want to do a 12 hour journey on one. Thursday: It's windy again. Which means that there's no diving.
Sometimes the wind gusts are so ferocious that I half expect to see a hut flying past our window, or one of the skinny cats being carried up and away. And we're not even in cyclone season yet. There's no diving when the wind is like this. The boat journey is too rough, and the wind stirs up the sand and sediment, giving poor visibility, which makes doing 'science' too difficult.
As most of the volunteers are here for the diving aspect of the trip, they can go pretty stir crazy when there's no diving on. We're trying to keep them occupied with a few other non-diving related projects though and most have been really helpful with them.
I took myself off on a little walk yesterday afternoon. This job is great for the social aspect, but it's easy to get peopled out, especially as Justin and I are sharing a hut. We're careful to make sure each other has some space, but there's pretty much someone always around. So yesterday afternoon I took my water bottle, camera and ipod and headed off into the spiny forest. The spiny forest's main distinguishing feature is its spinyness. The arid climate here means that all the trees are spiky and spiny to conserve water. I got mugged for my ipod by one tree, as the headphone wires got caught around some spines. No damage done though.
There's mostly sand underfoot as you walk through the forest and the trees themselves are sort of muted greens and browns. It's quite mediterranean in colour and tone. There are lots of birds in the forest (we went on a birdwalk the other day which was pretty inspiring), and I saw a kingfisher and a sunbird. There are also heaps of crickets/locusts/ and a few large spiders too. It's easy to get lost - everything looks the same and the path isn't always easily defined. Nevertheless I used some natural navigation (the sun) and a far-off water tower and managed to find my way to one of the beaches just south of our village. It was completely deserted. I climbed up on the rocks alongside the cove and sat in the shade. Peace at last. :)
Saturday: We got up and had an early breakfast today to go down to see the opening of the new (only) basketball court in the village. It's quite impressive actually as it's the largest surface area of concrete in the entire village. They were going to slaughter a zebu (Malagasy cow. It has a hump and two big horns), to bless the court and then have a catholic priest do his blessing afterwards (thus covering all spiritual bases). The whole village clubbed together to pay for the zebu. Only somehow it didn't get organised and apparently the zebu in question has now escaped (you would, wouldn't you?) into the spiny forest and so there'll be no zebu killing now until Tuesday. This means that there'll be no basketball playing til then either. Still, we did get to watch a troop of children dancing around on the court for a while. :) It says something when the local insects (cicada like) are louder than the amplification system. They were watched by many of the village children - all cheering when the group did some tricky moves. All the important people in the village were also out for the slaughter. They included the nun who was part of the organisation committee (there is a catholic mission here), the Italian guys who own the village's other hotel and who 'donated' the basketball court to the village and Mr Naseem and his family. Mr Naseem, by the way, is the businessman who owns the supermarket. He also owns the only decent 4X4 pickup truck in the village (apart from Mr Ilias, who owns Coco Beach). The village president was not there. He was busy trying to find the zebu.
Wednesday 31 October 2007
Thursday 25 October 2007
First science dive...
I did my first science dive today and it was fantastic! :) The boat(along with Marcellin, the boat driver) took myself, two staff members and four volunteers out to a site that we haven't dived very much. I was the 'boat marshall' for the first dive. This means sitting on the boat, taking GPS readings (with a depth sounder) periodically while the divers are under, and of course being the first point of contact for them in case of any problems.
For safety reasons, each diving group carries an SMB (surface marker buoy - basically, an inflatable attached to a string which they hold onto underwater) which floats on the surface while they're diving. There were two groups on this dive so they had two SMBs altogether. Of course, on the surface, you have no idea of the topography and life underneath you so it's quite surreal seeing two yellow inflatable balloons dance around on the sea seemingly randomly, coming together and meeting up for a while, and then going off in opposite directions again.
As well as taking the GPS points, I spent my time wisely - looking on the horizon, trying not to feel seasick, and also doing short stints of meditation. It was so peaceful. All divers came up safely (phew) and after a surface interval, during which I felt very seasick, it was time for the second dive.
This was in a similar spot, but one where the scientists seemed to think had some good reef. And they were right. It did. There was some really big coral colonies, and quite good diversity of coral species. It's the best dive site I've seen since diving
here, and we got to see a turtle too, swimming away from us speedily.
After a bit of a swim around, during which I wrote down the names of all the fish I saw and recognised, it was time for the 'science'. My buddy (who has only been diving for three weeks!) and I laid out a transact (a badly behaved tape measure), tying it to a rock at one end, and swimming out with it for 20 metres, tying it up again at the other.
We then had to give the fish a couple of minutes to settle down, and my buddy's job was to count them along the 20 metres, while my job was to swim along the tape for ten metres and write down the name of what was living underneath it every 20cm. It's the first 'proper' one of these that I've done on this expedition (though actually I've done it before with Operation Wallacea, and for the marine conservation society), and I really enjoyed it. There were quite a few different varieties of coral along the tape, as well as some algae and soft coral. We got to have a bit more of a swim after this, admiring the coral, fish and invertebrates, and then surfaced after our alloted dive time.
I always love diving, but I especially like diving sites with good coral coverage, and plenty of fish to look at. On top of that, I just really enjoy the gathering of data so I'm pretty happy today and it's good to finally feel useful underwater. Hopefully I'll get many more dives like that before the year is up.
For safety reasons, each diving group carries an SMB (surface marker buoy - basically, an inflatable attached to a string which they hold onto underwater) which floats on the surface while they're diving. There were two groups on this dive so they had two SMBs altogether. Of course, on the surface, you have no idea of the topography and life underneath you so it's quite surreal seeing two yellow inflatable balloons dance around on the sea seemingly randomly, coming together and meeting up for a while, and then going off in opposite directions again.
As well as taking the GPS points, I spent my time wisely - looking on the horizon, trying not to feel seasick, and also doing short stints of meditation. It was so peaceful. All divers came up safely (phew) and after a surface interval, during which I felt very seasick, it was time for the second dive.
This was in a similar spot, but one where the scientists seemed to think had some good reef. And they were right. It did. There was some really big coral colonies, and quite good diversity of coral species. It's the best dive site I've seen since diving
here, and we got to see a turtle too, swimming away from us speedily.
After a bit of a swim around, during which I wrote down the names of all the fish I saw and recognised, it was time for the 'science'. My buddy (who has only been diving for three weeks!) and I laid out a transact (a badly behaved tape measure), tying it to a rock at one end, and swimming out with it for 20 metres, tying it up again at the other.
We then had to give the fish a couple of minutes to settle down, and my buddy's job was to count them along the 20 metres, while my job was to swim along the tape for ten metres and write down the name of what was living underneath it every 20cm. It's the first 'proper' one of these that I've done on this expedition (though actually I've done it before with Operation Wallacea, and for the marine conservation society), and I really enjoyed it. There were quite a few different varieties of coral along the tape, as well as some algae and soft coral. We got to have a bit more of a swim after this, admiring the coral, fish and invertebrates, and then surfaced after our alloted dive time.
I always love diving, but I especially like diving sites with good coral coverage, and plenty of fish to look at. On top of that, I just really enjoy the gathering of data so I'm pretty happy today and it's good to finally feel useful underwater. Hopefully I'll get many more dives like that before the year is up.
Wednesday 24 October 2007
Week four: settling in
This past week has been the first full week that I've been in charge without
the previous expedition manager being around. So far, I really like it. I am
surprised to find that things that could cause me stress had I been at home, just do not seem to be doing so here. It's almost as if someone has pressed the 'mute' button on my stress response. I don't know if it's down to the sun, the scenery, or just the people. Whatever it is, I'm enjoying it at the moment, because who knows when things might shift.
The past manager seemed to be permanently stressed and anxious about the job and everything associated with it. I can see why, but I also know that I have a 'choice' about how I respond to things, and I'm just choosing not to be too anxious.
I'm finding all the staff really helpful and nice and that definitely contributes to my ability to deal with the day to day workload. I've not passed any more tests - been too pre-occupied with the new fuel
system, still working on the accounts and on general logistics and personnelly stuff. We did have a lovely day off this week where we.... Relaxed! For a whole day! I didn't look at the site funds spreadsheet once, and instead read, took photos of the kite and went out to the posh italian resort on a pirogue (local boat, sort of like a large wooden canoe with sails) with some of the volunteers and had a yummy lunch. The place looks really posh compared to our, quite basic, accommodation, and I'm seriously considering of using it as an occasional bolt-hole, when the basicness just
gets too much.
I mean, mostly, I'm fine about sleeping in a rubbish bed, with permanently slightly damp sheets. I'm getting used to the fact that there's sand pretty much everywhere, most of the time. And I'm even coming to terms with the fact that despite putting my toothbrush away in its little plastic travelling case and putting that in a washbag every night, each morning it's still covered in tiny ants. I'm even starting to be less bothered about said ants running around the white bread baguettes of varying staleness that we get each morning.
It's just that I can see that after a few more months of this, clean, white, crisp (DRY) sheets with no sand on them, and nice, tiled floors and running water (possibly even 'hot') might be a welcome change.
I'm not doing much diving at the moment, mainly because now all the volunteers are pretty much 'science enabled' they're therefore useful and able to get some surveying done. I passed another test, but I still have quite a way to go before I am 'fish enabled'. Still, I did get a nice dive when I did one of the surveys as I found a leaf scorpion fish - one of my favourite kinds, and Im still chuffed about that four days later! Sadly, it's not one of the ones that we have to be able to identify for the science.
I now know around 60 of the 120 species that people need for the 'science'. I hope to be fish enabled by the next expedition though. We had an eighties themed night here on the last party night. It was pretty fun - I'm always impressed at how much effort people put into their fancy dress, despite the limited resources. I splashed out on some lipgloss stuff from the local 'supermarket' (shop the size of a small corner shop, but with much fewer items on sale), which looked like it had been there since the eighties. It was hideous! Lots of people improvised with their exisiting wardrobes - I particularly liked one outfit - a sort of jane fonda getup, where the volunteer just wore a swimming costume as leotard, with some leggings underneath and a headband. There were plenty of mid-rifs on show and not just the women's either! Five of the staff dressed as the village people. I was sure the Village People were a seventies outfit, but as I'm one of the few people who was even alive in the seventies, no one was really around to verify this.
Sadly, most people were also far too young to appreciate my tasteful eighties mix (Julian Cope, Talking Heads (they'd never heard of them!), etc. etc.) and just wanted bad cheesy eighties ... No wonder they all thought it was shit decade. Oh well.
In fact, a lot of my cultural references that occasionally come up in conversation just go way above people's heads. I'm definitely feeling old!!!
I'll be briefly english and tell you about the weather, just in case you're interested. It's sunny. Every day. The sun rises at about 6am (we're mostly awake at that time), and sets approximately 12 hours later. Both sunrise and sunset are pretty. Sometimes there are clouds. Sometimes there aren't. It's pretty hot by about 7.30am and you don't want to be standing around in sunlight anytime after breakfast. It's humid, but in a sort of subtle way, so that you don't quite realise it. The wind picks up in the afternoon and the breeze cools things down a bit. Sometimes, you even want to put on a cardigan or long sleeved clothing item. Once the sun goes down, it's a little cooler. Yet, in our little hut, it's hot enough to sleep naked with just a thin sheet over you.
The sea is also warming up - some of the volunteers aren't even bothering with wet suits any more. I'm still in my 5mm suit, but am not wearing either a hood, or a rash vest. Saw lightening the other night way way away on the horizon. But no rain yet. When the wind really picks up (which it has done a couple of times), there's no diving.
Our hut moves about quite a bit and I'm hoping it will survive the cyclone season which starts in around december. That's it for now. I can't believe we've already been away for a month. It seems to have gone so quickly, and at the same time, it almost feels like we've been here forever
the previous expedition manager being around. So far, I really like it. I am
surprised to find that things that could cause me stress had I been at home, just do not seem to be doing so here. It's almost as if someone has pressed the 'mute' button on my stress response. I don't know if it's down to the sun, the scenery, or just the people. Whatever it is, I'm enjoying it at the moment, because who knows when things might shift.
The past manager seemed to be permanently stressed and anxious about the job and everything associated with it. I can see why, but I also know that I have a 'choice' about how I respond to things, and I'm just choosing not to be too anxious.
I'm finding all the staff really helpful and nice and that definitely contributes to my ability to deal with the day to day workload. I've not passed any more tests - been too pre-occupied with the new fuel
system, still working on the accounts and on general logistics and personnelly stuff. We did have a lovely day off this week where we.... Relaxed! For a whole day! I didn't look at the site funds spreadsheet once, and instead read, took photos of the kite and went out to the posh italian resort on a pirogue (local boat, sort of like a large wooden canoe with sails) with some of the volunteers and had a yummy lunch. The place looks really posh compared to our, quite basic, accommodation, and I'm seriously considering of using it as an occasional bolt-hole, when the basicness just
gets too much.
I mean, mostly, I'm fine about sleeping in a rubbish bed, with permanently slightly damp sheets. I'm getting used to the fact that there's sand pretty much everywhere, most of the time. And I'm even coming to terms with the fact that despite putting my toothbrush away in its little plastic travelling case and putting that in a washbag every night, each morning it's still covered in tiny ants. I'm even starting to be less bothered about said ants running around the white bread baguettes of varying staleness that we get each morning.
It's just that I can see that after a few more months of this, clean, white, crisp (DRY) sheets with no sand on them, and nice, tiled floors and running water (possibly even 'hot') might be a welcome change.
I'm not doing much diving at the moment, mainly because now all the volunteers are pretty much 'science enabled' they're therefore useful and able to get some surveying done. I passed another test, but I still have quite a way to go before I am 'fish enabled'. Still, I did get a nice dive when I did one of the surveys as I found a leaf scorpion fish - one of my favourite kinds, and Im still chuffed about that four days later! Sadly, it's not one of the ones that we have to be able to identify for the science.
I now know around 60 of the 120 species that people need for the 'science'. I hope to be fish enabled by the next expedition though. We had an eighties themed night here on the last party night. It was pretty fun - I'm always impressed at how much effort people put into their fancy dress, despite the limited resources. I splashed out on some lipgloss stuff from the local 'supermarket' (shop the size of a small corner shop, but with much fewer items on sale), which looked like it had been there since the eighties. It was hideous! Lots of people improvised with their exisiting wardrobes - I particularly liked one outfit - a sort of jane fonda getup, where the volunteer just wore a swimming costume as leotard, with some leggings underneath and a headband. There were plenty of mid-rifs on show and not just the women's either! Five of the staff dressed as the village people. I was sure the Village People were a seventies outfit, but as I'm one of the few people who was even alive in the seventies, no one was really around to verify this.
Sadly, most people were also far too young to appreciate my tasteful eighties mix (Julian Cope, Talking Heads (they'd never heard of them!), etc. etc.) and just wanted bad cheesy eighties ... No wonder they all thought it was shit decade. Oh well.
In fact, a lot of my cultural references that occasionally come up in conversation just go way above people's heads. I'm definitely feeling old!!!
I'll be briefly english and tell you about the weather, just in case you're interested. It's sunny. Every day. The sun rises at about 6am (we're mostly awake at that time), and sets approximately 12 hours later. Both sunrise and sunset are pretty. Sometimes there are clouds. Sometimes there aren't. It's pretty hot by about 7.30am and you don't want to be standing around in sunlight anytime after breakfast. It's humid, but in a sort of subtle way, so that you don't quite realise it. The wind picks up in the afternoon and the breeze cools things down a bit. Sometimes, you even want to put on a cardigan or long sleeved clothing item. Once the sun goes down, it's a little cooler. Yet, in our little hut, it's hot enough to sleep naked with just a thin sheet over you.
The sea is also warming up - some of the volunteers aren't even bothering with wet suits any more. I'm still in my 5mm suit, but am not wearing either a hood, or a rash vest. Saw lightening the other night way way away on the horizon. But no rain yet. When the wind really picks up (which it has done a couple of times), there's no diving.
Our hut moves about quite a bit and I'm hoping it will survive the cyclone season which starts in around december. That's it for now. I can't believe we've already been away for a month. It seems to have gone so quickly, and at the same time, it almost feels like we've been here forever
Tuesday 16 October 2007
Animals and wildlife
Baby goats keep getting born. They stay with their mum for a day or so and then disappear. Not into the pot we hope (they eat a lot of Bengi here (goat))... I've been reliably informed that they're being taken for safekeeping so that they don't get eaten by the local pack of dogs (who I've yet to see thankfully). Meanwhile, the yellow beaked kite has a habit of flying right past our hut, and then disappearing whenever I get the zoom lens on my camera. It's such a beautiful bird and is regularly either hassling or being hassled by the troupe of black and white crows who
regularly patrol the beach. Today (Sunday) there were four of them out there vying for the lucrative territory of the beach and kitchen area.
The kitchen kittens are growing up a bit and venturing around the dining table at night. They're pretty cute, and a couple of the other cats are cute enough to say hi to. But I draw the line at anything more than a brief stroke on the head. Much as I love cats, these lot are just a little too unsavoury looking.
Yesterday, Evil Levi (white and ginger. A skinny scruffy version of Tofu) decided to pee on me while we were eating dinner.... Luckily, my shoes (those croc things) are easily washed. Phew!
Under water, there's still plenty of animals to identify. I passed my in-water invertebrates test this week. Hoorah. :) Now, I've got the fish species to learn. 120 of them all in all. I'm gradually working my way through the different families. It's a lot to learn, but eleven years of diving means that I'm pretty good at identifying them already to the family, and just need to learn about half of the species.
This week's underwater favourite is the mantis shrimp. Blown up to 200x its size, it would not look out of place in an episode of Dr Who. It scuttles about, looking alien, with iridescent colours on its head, eyes and shell. I locked eyes with one on one dive just before it scuttled away.
Meanwhile, the volunteers are getting on top of their science - passing their tests and for those learning to dive, advancing to becoming advanced divers. They're giving us presentations each mealtimes about the fish - mostly pretty standard, but it's great to have had some creativity too. Party night brings an excess of alcohol for many of the volunteers (and most of the staff too, it has to be said).
There are often sore heads the following day, and sometimes, due to accidents walking back to accommodation in the dark on the rocks, sore other bits too.
In fact, most accidents on site seem to happen on party night. They wouldn't be such a big deal at home, but here, unfortunately, a cut, graze or worse can keep you out of the water for quite a few days. I'm not such a big drinker at home, and thus far here, I've felt even less like drinking alcohol than usual. I have quite a bit of problem staying hydrated as it is in the heat (over 30 degrees most days) and whilst diving, without adding alcohol to the equation. Mostly, we're iodining the local water to supplement a water filter which is supposed to be for the staff and volunteers but nowhere near provides enough water for us all.
I just thought I'd also make a comment that the shirt that I'm wearing is supposed to have been treated with some sort of insect repellant and yet I have an antcrawling on it.
Thankfully, thus far, I've been spared any close encounters with any screaming cockroaches, but I did see a very large, shiny beetle on the way to the toilet. Happily, the hut resident gecko (though, we could have more than one I guess, they do look pretty similar!) is pretty much on the case of hunting down any cockroaches. :) It's reassuring to hear its little periodic chuckle and know that it's still there, looking out for us.
Send us any emails to: www.blueventures.org/messaging we receive once a week. We haven't heard any world news since we got here. I think it's a good thing, but if anyone has any news you think that we should know (is Britney Spears pregnant again? Has Cliff Richard retired from pop music, that sort of thing), then feel free to pass it on!
Baby goats keep getting born. They stay with their mum for a day or so and then disappear. Not into the pot we hope (they eat a lot of Bengi here (goat))... I've been reliably informed that they're being taken for safekeeping so that they don't get eaten by the local pack of dogs (who I've yet to see thankfully). Meanwhile, the yellow beaked kite has a habit of flying right past our hut, and then disappearing whenever I get the zoom lens on my camera. It's such a beautiful bird and is regularly either hassling or being hassled by the troupe of black and white crows who
regularly patrol the beach. Today (Sunday) there were four of them out there vying for the lucrative territory of the beach and kitchen area.
The kitchen kittens are growing up a bit and venturing around the dining table at night. They're pretty cute, and a couple of the other cats are cute enough to say hi to. But I draw the line at anything more than a brief stroke on the head. Much as I love cats, these lot are just a little too unsavoury looking.
Yesterday, Evil Levi (white and ginger. A skinny scruffy version of Tofu) decided to pee on me while we were eating dinner.... Luckily, my shoes (those croc things) are easily washed. Phew!
Under water, there's still plenty of animals to identify. I passed my in-water invertebrates test this week. Hoorah. :) Now, I've got the fish species to learn. 120 of them all in all. I'm gradually working my way through the different families. It's a lot to learn, but eleven years of diving means that I'm pretty good at identifying them already to the family, and just need to learn about half of the species.
This week's underwater favourite is the mantis shrimp. Blown up to 200x its size, it would not look out of place in an episode of Dr Who. It scuttles about, looking alien, with iridescent colours on its head, eyes and shell. I locked eyes with one on one dive just before it scuttled away.
Meanwhile, the volunteers are getting on top of their science - passing their tests and for those learning to dive, advancing to becoming advanced divers. They're giving us presentations each mealtimes about the fish - mostly pretty standard, but it's great to have had some creativity too. Party night brings an excess of alcohol for many of the volunteers (and most of the staff too, it has to be said).
There are often sore heads the following day, and sometimes, due to accidents walking back to accommodation in the dark on the rocks, sore other bits too.
In fact, most accidents on site seem to happen on party night. They wouldn't be such a big deal at home, but here, unfortunately, a cut, graze or worse can keep you out of the water for quite a few days. I'm not such a big drinker at home, and thus far here, I've felt even less like drinking alcohol than usual. I have quite a bit of problem staying hydrated as it is in the heat (over 30 degrees most days) and whilst diving, without adding alcohol to the equation. Mostly, we're iodining the local water to supplement a water filter which is supposed to be for the staff and volunteers but nowhere near provides enough water for us all.
I just thought I'd also make a comment that the shirt that I'm wearing is supposed to have been treated with some sort of insect repellant and yet I have an antcrawling on it.
Thankfully, thus far, I've been spared any close encounters with any screaming cockroaches, but I did see a very large, shiny beetle on the way to the toilet. Happily, the hut resident gecko (though, we could have more than one I guess, they do look pretty similar!) is pretty much on the case of hunting down any cockroaches. :) It's reassuring to hear its little periodic chuckle and know that it's still there, looking out for us.
Send us any emails to: www.blueventures.org/messaging we receive once a week. We haven't heard any world news since we got here. I think it's a good thing, but if anyone has any news you think that we should know (is Britney Spears pregnant again? Has Cliff Richard retired from pop music, that sort of thing), then feel free to pass it on!
Tuesday 9 October 2007
Madagascar update 2
Well, it's been a bit of a steep learning curve for me this week, but then I
expected nothing less. We've started to transfer the responsibilities over
from Jenny, the current expedition manager, to Justin and I. This has
started with a whole load of accounts and financial stuff. Not my forte. I'm
sure with a bit of practice, we'll be ontop of it all in no time. Though it
does all seem a tad overcomplicated.
Then there are the responsibilities for the expensive (and very essential) pieces of equipment. In itself, that's not too complicated. The biggest pain is the fact that everything needs charging up - the satellite phones, the radios and various batteries. This wouldn't be so much of a problem if a) we had electricity all the time b) the rechargeable batteries were half-way decent (which they're not), c) the
charger was half-way decent (which it isn't), and d) the contact parts for rechargeable bit on the phones and radios were half way decent (which they're not). So, what this all means is that you charge up batteries, and think they're charged but as they don't always retain their charge if they're not used they run out really quickly. OR, you think you've left something on charge, and come back to the room and find out that it isn't actually charging at all because you need to fiddle around with everything!
However, we did find some wire wool in our bathroom and that has helped.
Justin has also managed to mend a couple of the broken GPSs and got to use his dive knife to shave a little bit off our screen door so that it now shuts. He is rapidly turning into Mr Fixit.
The other things we have to remember is also when all of these bits of equipment need to be passed on to people - so for example, although we remembered last night to give the GPS and two satellite phones to a member of staff for the 6am dive, we managed to forget the radio (for communication between the shore and the boats, not for listening to the Archers), and so were woken at 6.10 am with a knock on the door! Oops! But then, we won't be forgetting that again!
As well as the accounts, which pretty much need daily monitoring and logging, I'm also trying to get some in-water training in. So far I've done my scuba review (where I had to show the dive leader that I can take my mask off underwater and replace it and a couple of other tasks) taken my invertebrates test in water. I failed it - but only by one - so I was quite pleased with myself because I haven't had a chance (unlike the volunteers) to go to any of the lectures. My knowledge is basically what I've picked up previously from recreational diving and from doing Operational Wallacea 6 years ago. I have now passed the computer invertebrates test though. Hoorah.
All the volunteers get science trained in their first three weeks - this includes having to learn and be tested on a number of invertebrates and fish species. In the second three weeks, they get to use this science training and help out with the ongoing research. it's therefore important for me know the same information as them so that a) I can help out with future research if it's necessary and if I have time and b) so that eventually I can help with in-water training too. Obviously it's not as essential for me to know as the accounts and logistical stuff, but it's a lot more fun! It seems odd to be bothering with a large volume of tedious admin and accounts from a beach hut rather than a 'proper' office. But that's how it is.
As well as the daily admin, accounts, electronic stuff and volunteer welfare, there's also staff (both Malagasy and overseas staff) and organisational issues to take on board, local village politics, and larger organisational issues that I also need to be concerned with. It's a lot to take on board. I hope to get there at some point! Hopefully before I leave!!!!
The remoteness really is the biggest logistical nightmare. When things break, unless Justin and his trusty dive knife can fix it, they pretty much stay broken (especially electronic stuff) and we rely on them being brought out from the UK (if they can't be bought in Tulear). This means it can take months and months for new things to get out to us. Happily however we're not so remote that we can't buy any 'home comforts'. I have just discovered a small shop in the local village which sells Madagascan dark chocolate - 72% - with Madagascan vanilla. It's also supposedly 'fairtrade' according
to the label. Hoorah. So obviously that's going to make my stay here MUCH more bearable!
Although the remoteness is a pain in one way, it's really wonderful not to hear any news at all. Interestly, I haven't been fussed about the lack of news or not being able to log onto the internet. Anything could be happening in the world and I wouldn't know. Hoorah! Ignorance is definitely bliss.
Other updates: I've been managing to keep up the yoga/meditation - though not every day. But most days, I'm up early and spend between 7 and 8 doing some stretching, breathing and taking in of the view. I've only managed one swim so far. I really ought to try and get three in a week. That would be the plan anyway... ..
Final update for now: We've just heard a pretty unhappy chicken complain about being hung upside down and carried by his legs toward the kitchen. I'm guessing there will be chicken for lunch.
expected nothing less. We've started to transfer the responsibilities over
from Jenny, the current expedition manager, to Justin and I. This has
started with a whole load of accounts and financial stuff. Not my forte. I'm
sure with a bit of practice, we'll be ontop of it all in no time. Though it
does all seem a tad overcomplicated.
Then there are the responsibilities for the expensive (and very essential) pieces of equipment. In itself, that's not too complicated. The biggest pain is the fact that everything needs charging up - the satellite phones, the radios and various batteries. This wouldn't be so much of a problem if a) we had electricity all the time b) the rechargeable batteries were half-way decent (which they're not), c) the
charger was half-way decent (which it isn't), and d) the contact parts for rechargeable bit on the phones and radios were half way decent (which they're not). So, what this all means is that you charge up batteries, and think they're charged but as they don't always retain their charge if they're not used they run out really quickly. OR, you think you've left something on charge, and come back to the room and find out that it isn't actually charging at all because you need to fiddle around with everything!
However, we did find some wire wool in our bathroom and that has helped.
Justin has also managed to mend a couple of the broken GPSs and got to use his dive knife to shave a little bit off our screen door so that it now shuts. He is rapidly turning into Mr Fixit.
The other things we have to remember is also when all of these bits of equipment need to be passed on to people - so for example, although we remembered last night to give the GPS and two satellite phones to a member of staff for the 6am dive, we managed to forget the radio (for communication between the shore and the boats, not for listening to the Archers), and so were woken at 6.10 am with a knock on the door! Oops! But then, we won't be forgetting that again!
As well as the accounts, which pretty much need daily monitoring and logging, I'm also trying to get some in-water training in. So far I've done my scuba review (where I had to show the dive leader that I can take my mask off underwater and replace it and a couple of other tasks) taken my invertebrates test in water. I failed it - but only by one - so I was quite pleased with myself because I haven't had a chance (unlike the volunteers) to go to any of the lectures. My knowledge is basically what I've picked up previously from recreational diving and from doing Operational Wallacea 6 years ago. I have now passed the computer invertebrates test though. Hoorah.
All the volunteers get science trained in their first three weeks - this includes having to learn and be tested on a number of invertebrates and fish species. In the second three weeks, they get to use this science training and help out with the ongoing research. it's therefore important for me know the same information as them so that a) I can help out with future research if it's necessary and if I have time and b) so that eventually I can help with in-water training too. Obviously it's not as essential for me to know as the accounts and logistical stuff, but it's a lot more fun! It seems odd to be bothering with a large volume of tedious admin and accounts from a beach hut rather than a 'proper' office. But that's how it is.
As well as the daily admin, accounts, electronic stuff and volunteer welfare, there's also staff (both Malagasy and overseas staff) and organisational issues to take on board, local village politics, and larger organisational issues that I also need to be concerned with. It's a lot to take on board. I hope to get there at some point! Hopefully before I leave!!!!
The remoteness really is the biggest logistical nightmare. When things break, unless Justin and his trusty dive knife can fix it, they pretty much stay broken (especially electronic stuff) and we rely on them being brought out from the UK (if they can't be bought in Tulear). This means it can take months and months for new things to get out to us. Happily however we're not so remote that we can't buy any 'home comforts'. I have just discovered a small shop in the local village which sells Madagascan dark chocolate - 72% - with Madagascan vanilla. It's also supposedly 'fairtrade' according
to the label. Hoorah. So obviously that's going to make my stay here MUCH more bearable!
Although the remoteness is a pain in one way, it's really wonderful not to hear any news at all. Interestly, I haven't been fussed about the lack of news or not being able to log onto the internet. Anything could be happening in the world and I wouldn't know. Hoorah! Ignorance is definitely bliss.
Other updates: I've been managing to keep up the yoga/meditation - though not every day. But most days, I'm up early and spend between 7 and 8 doing some stretching, breathing and taking in of the view. I've only managed one swim so far. I really ought to try and get three in a week. That would be the plan anyway... ..
Final update for now: We've just heard a pretty unhappy chicken complain about being hung upside down and carried by his legs toward the kitchen. I'm guessing there will be chicken for lunch.
Thursday 4 October 2007
From Madagascar
Madagascar looks like lots of countries that I've been to before, and at the same time, doesn't look like anywhere I've ever seen. It has a unique combination of flora and fauna that I've seen in different parts of the world, all bundled up together in one place. So, there's the sandstone rock formations of Australia/Arizona, but in the foreground, the rice paddies of south east Asia. There are palm trees, red earth, and huts made from red earth, banana trees, savannah, like you would expect from Africa - but without the big game animals - and delicate flowers. There are also baobab trees, which for some reason remind me of one of the aliens in Men in
Black. or some other science fiction film. The other incredible thing about
the scenery is that you get all this hotch potch of fauna and geographical
formations that you'd get across about four continents but on the same days' drive. Even, as we discovered today, all in the same walk! In a four hour walk today, we saw sandstone mountains, and high plateaus with vastvalleys, and then beautiful lush green oasis with clear (and very cold) natural
swimming pools. We saw savannah, and scrubland, and cactus and finally, the
famous ring tailed lemurs. As an introduction to a country's landscape, the
three day overland trip from Tana to Tuliar definitely surpassed my
expections. It was particularly great to see how things changed the further
south we got, and the further into more arid climates.
The journey itself was pretty exhausting. There were 12 of us all packed
together in a small bus, with all of our luggage piled up on top. This meant
that it couldn't go particularly fast and we were all pretty cramped.
But it was a good way for us to get to know the other members of the current group
of volunteers- and for them to get to know each other and bond a bit. We also did two walks. the first was on day two and took a couple of hours where we saw our first ring tailed lemurs and also a couple of cool chameleons and some birds and a really beautiful cricket. :) The second was four hours long and pretty arduous in the heat, but really amazing. We saw more lemurs (yay) and some night time lemurs (I've forgotten the names). We saw a few more birds and some people swam in the natural pool - but it was a bit cold for me (It was 8am!).
We got to Tolear on Thursday (I think it was! time has already lost most of its meaning!). The group was pretty bonded by then - mostly volunteers but two other staff members as well as Justin and I. In Tolear, we met some more of the group - two more staff who were meeting us, two more researchers and another volunteer. I was quite ill by then (exhaustion and a heavy cold mainly) and slept early.
The next morning two researchers, Justin and I left separately to the main group on the four wheel drive journey to site. This took us about 6 1/2 hours. It was pretty
amazing with some more really pretty scenery also passing some villages on the way. People waved and when we stopped, ran up to the car to see us and ask for cadeaux (well, the kids did).... It was quite an experience all in all. I was glad that we'd gone in the car though as the rest of the group got stuck, along with their truck, overnight and the whole journey took them about 30 hours !
Justin and I will have to do that journey a few times over the year (accompanying volunteers to and from Tolear) so I was quite glad to have missed out on it that time!
So, we have settled into our new home for the year - a beach hut in front of
the ocean. We have a double bed (which sinks into the middle!), a mosquito
net, two rickety chairs, a rickety wooden table, a set of very unstable
shelves (where we have put our clothes) and a strange cupboard thing which is about the size of a bedside table but which only uses half of its depth
for some reason. so it's almost next to useless. We have a window on three
of the walls with each with a mosquito screen and wooden shutters (no glass)
and a door on the fourth wall which faces the sea. We can see the sunset
from the window, and that's pretty amazing.
I'm quite looking forward to taking the job on properly, though it's not
entirely clear to me what exactly the day-to-day nature of the job is going
to be.
Anyway, so where was I? We've been on site since Thursday and I've gradually recovered. So far, we've mostly been attending most of the briefings that the volunteers get given - about health and safety, diving protocols, duties etc. etc. We met the village elders yesterday and that was pretty cool in one of the local 'bars', Don't try and imagine something like your local pub, it's nothing like that. It's very simple with wooden chairs, tables and that's about it. They did have a stereo though which was powerful enough to blast out some Malagasy music which is really great and lively. It has a soca feel and is very easy to dance to. I love it.
Even some of the British men got up and danced along yesterday! But that's cos the
Malagasy staff aren't shy of getting us all up dancing and are very good at
shaking their bootie!
As well as Justin and I, the other staff are Tristan, Sophie and Garth who
are the scientists, Becky, who is the dive instructor (her boyfriend has
just arrived too), Charlie (who will be replacing Sophie) and Fran (another
scientist who arrived with us), Craig, the medic, and the Malagasy staff,
some of whom are divers, some are scientists and some are maintenance - like
boat drivers and stuff. I haven't learnt all of their names yet, but the
ones I remember are Daniel, Bic, Gildas and Vula (who is leaving as she has
got a new job I think).
The site itself consists of the restaurant which has two stories and an inside dining area and an outside one, two different sets of outdoor toilets for the staff and then further along the rocky beach another set of toilets near the volunteer accommodation. Then there are the huts - a set of brightly coloured staff huts (wooden huts on stilts with verandas that go three quarters of the way round. Ours is quite close to the sea (though not so close that it would get wet at high tide) and the beach in front is sort of rocky and corally. We also have a bathroom with a
sink and a shower but no toilet. The water is on twice a day. Otherwise, we
have to use water from our bucket (which we fill up when the water is
running) to wash with. We have an energy efficient light bulb on the veranda
and in the hut, but these only work when the generator is on, which is for
an hour during the day, and then again from 3 - 10pm.
There are also a set of volunteer huts that are further along the beach
area, a classroom down that end and a dive storage room. Then, if we walk
across the football pitch area (sort of scrubland with two sets of goal
posts at each end), we get to the village itself. The village is a
collection of pretty simple wooden huts, each surrounded by wooden fences.
It doesn't have any running water, nor any sanitation - the villages just
pee and poo either in the spiny forest (spiny little tree things) or on the
beach (the kids mainly) so you need to walk around with great care that you
don't step in poo! I'm really glad of my crocs which are lightweight and
really great to have on in the hot weather. Hoorah!
All of the Blue Ventures staff and volunteers get fed three times a day and all eat
together. The diet is pretty monotonous but not too bad - French baguette
bread (in varying degrees of staleness. It was pretty fresh today) for
breakfast with butter, honey, either egg or fruit, and sticky rice (which
people add condensed milk to, to make rice pudding). There's also tea and
coffee and hot water. Everyone has their own condiments to help liven up and
vary the breakfast. I only have a small thing of marmite so it's not going
to last very long. That's usually at 8am.
Then, at 1.30, there's lunch, which so far has been rice, beans, sometimes vegetables, fish or meat and omelette. Tea, at 7.30, is pretty much identical to lunch. There really aren't very many vegetables at all in this diet, so I'm taking vitamins to supplement the diet. I somehow anticipate that I will get pretty bored
of (white) rice quite quickly. I've also been digesting pretty quickly and
seem to get hungry every two hours, no matter how much I eat. I've also started
to eat fish. I decided that it was highly likely that I'd eat it at some
point so I have been starting with a tiny thimble sized amount. I will build
it up gradually. But will probably never eat the meat (usually goat. Sometimes Zebu I think (the local cows)).
Actually, I was surprised to find that I quite liked the fish - of course it's as fresh as it can get (caught each day) and the texture was really nice. It wasn't as fishy as I thought it would be either, thankfully. It's not something I feel hugely happy with - after all I've been veggie since I was 20 - but on the other hand, I
think it's highly likely that I'll be unable to survive the year without doing it,
so I might as well get myself acclimatised to it. So far, I haven't had any stomach problems.
That's a general description of everything. Justin is going to start learning to dive and will learn some of the science stuff so that he can help with research data gathering, but will also share my duties and we've been introducing ourselves to everyone by telling them that we're splitting the role. that seems to have gone down okay thankfully.
It's weird being here though. I don't think I've quite realised how long we're going to be here for. I am enjoying the idea that I'll be running things. The staff are mostly nice, and even if they're not people I'd necessarily be good friends with, I think they'll be fine to work with and hang out with socially. I'm a lot older than most of them, and older than the majority of the volunteers, but I think that's nice and adds a bit more balance to proceedings!
It's amazing to be typing this email up on the desk while looking out of the window and seeing children out on the reef (it's low tide at the moment) catching octopus. The village is really extremely basic - there really isn't much here - and it's so different to home. You can't just pop down the shop and buy whatever you feel like it. The small wooden shops in the village sell a few different commodities, but it's
really quite limited. The weather is nice - hot in the middle of the day, less so in the mornings and evenings. We have our mozzie net up, though we haven't yet been bitten (hoorah).
OH! And then there's the singing. People sing ! I'm really looking forward to learning some of the local songs. You can hear them in church on a Sunday (which today is), but also while out collecting octopus and just while walking around. We were sung into the village by a few of the women yesterday when we were doing our village tour and most of the time they're singing in harmony too so I'm looking forward to maybe finding some songs to teach and to learning songs off them. Malagash (the language) is tricky but I've picked up a few words so far. Not so many, but important words like thank-you, and hello. .
Justin and I are setting our boundaries early. We're trying to set boundaries between us to do with when we can talk about 'work' and when we can't. I want to do yoga and meditate in the mornings (or swim) before I do any 'work' and so far have managed it, but that's probably because I haven't had so many duties to take on as yet). We passed our swim tests yesterday. Hoorah!
Not sure what else there is to say. Finally, after all that packing and stress, we're here and we're relaxed and finally excited. The science and conservation work that is going on here is really exciting and making a difference and so I'm glad to be part of it for that reason. It's so peaceful too with no mobile phones or cars either. The stars are amazing at night and the moon has been full and huge and red when it rises behind our hut, and pretty over the sea when it's setting in the mornings when I get up to pee at about 5am! I'm keeping myself grounded by reminding myself of the beauty each day so that I don't' take it for granted if I get stressed or homesick, and I'm ending each day with a list of the good things to stay positive.
That's all to report for now.
Black. or some other science fiction film. The other incredible thing about
the scenery is that you get all this hotch potch of fauna and geographical
formations that you'd get across about four continents but on the same days' drive. Even, as we discovered today, all in the same walk! In a four hour walk today, we saw sandstone mountains, and high plateaus with vastvalleys, and then beautiful lush green oasis with clear (and very cold) natural
swimming pools. We saw savannah, and scrubland, and cactus and finally, the
famous ring tailed lemurs. As an introduction to a country's landscape, the
three day overland trip from Tana to Tuliar definitely surpassed my
expections. It was particularly great to see how things changed the further
south we got, and the further into more arid climates.
The journey itself was pretty exhausting. There were 12 of us all packed
together in a small bus, with all of our luggage piled up on top. This meant
that it couldn't go particularly fast and we were all pretty cramped.
But it was a good way for us to get to know the other members of the current group
of volunteers- and for them to get to know each other and bond a bit. We also did two walks. the first was on day two and took a couple of hours where we saw our first ring tailed lemurs and also a couple of cool chameleons and some birds and a really beautiful cricket. :) The second was four hours long and pretty arduous in the heat, but really amazing. We saw more lemurs (yay) and some night time lemurs (I've forgotten the names). We saw a few more birds and some people swam in the natural pool - but it was a bit cold for me (It was 8am!).
We got to Tolear on Thursday (I think it was! time has already lost most of its meaning!). The group was pretty bonded by then - mostly volunteers but two other staff members as well as Justin and I. In Tolear, we met some more of the group - two more staff who were meeting us, two more researchers and another volunteer. I was quite ill by then (exhaustion and a heavy cold mainly) and slept early.
The next morning two researchers, Justin and I left separately to the main group on the four wheel drive journey to site. This took us about 6 1/2 hours. It was pretty
amazing with some more really pretty scenery also passing some villages on the way. People waved and when we stopped, ran up to the car to see us and ask for cadeaux (well, the kids did).... It was quite an experience all in all. I was glad that we'd gone in the car though as the rest of the group got stuck, along with their truck, overnight and the whole journey took them about 30 hours !
Justin and I will have to do that journey a few times over the year (accompanying volunteers to and from Tolear) so I was quite glad to have missed out on it that time!
So, we have settled into our new home for the year - a beach hut in front of
the ocean. We have a double bed (which sinks into the middle!), a mosquito
net, two rickety chairs, a rickety wooden table, a set of very unstable
shelves (where we have put our clothes) and a strange cupboard thing which is about the size of a bedside table but which only uses half of its depth
for some reason. so it's almost next to useless. We have a window on three
of the walls with each with a mosquito screen and wooden shutters (no glass)
and a door on the fourth wall which faces the sea. We can see the sunset
from the window, and that's pretty amazing.
I'm quite looking forward to taking the job on properly, though it's not
entirely clear to me what exactly the day-to-day nature of the job is going
to be.
Anyway, so where was I? We've been on site since Thursday and I've gradually recovered. So far, we've mostly been attending most of the briefings that the volunteers get given - about health and safety, diving protocols, duties etc. etc. We met the village elders yesterday and that was pretty cool in one of the local 'bars', Don't try and imagine something like your local pub, it's nothing like that. It's very simple with wooden chairs, tables and that's about it. They did have a stereo though which was powerful enough to blast out some Malagasy music which is really great and lively. It has a soca feel and is very easy to dance to. I love it.
Even some of the British men got up and danced along yesterday! But that's cos the
Malagasy staff aren't shy of getting us all up dancing and are very good at
shaking their bootie!
As well as Justin and I, the other staff are Tristan, Sophie and Garth who
are the scientists, Becky, who is the dive instructor (her boyfriend has
just arrived too), Charlie (who will be replacing Sophie) and Fran (another
scientist who arrived with us), Craig, the medic, and the Malagasy staff,
some of whom are divers, some are scientists and some are maintenance - like
boat drivers and stuff. I haven't learnt all of their names yet, but the
ones I remember are Daniel, Bic, Gildas and Vula (who is leaving as she has
got a new job I think).
The site itself consists of the restaurant which has two stories and an inside dining area and an outside one, two different sets of outdoor toilets for the staff and then further along the rocky beach another set of toilets near the volunteer accommodation. Then there are the huts - a set of brightly coloured staff huts (wooden huts on stilts with verandas that go three quarters of the way round. Ours is quite close to the sea (though not so close that it would get wet at high tide) and the beach in front is sort of rocky and corally. We also have a bathroom with a
sink and a shower but no toilet. The water is on twice a day. Otherwise, we
have to use water from our bucket (which we fill up when the water is
running) to wash with. We have an energy efficient light bulb on the veranda
and in the hut, but these only work when the generator is on, which is for
an hour during the day, and then again from 3 - 10pm.
There are also a set of volunteer huts that are further along the beach
area, a classroom down that end and a dive storage room. Then, if we walk
across the football pitch area (sort of scrubland with two sets of goal
posts at each end), we get to the village itself. The village is a
collection of pretty simple wooden huts, each surrounded by wooden fences.
It doesn't have any running water, nor any sanitation - the villages just
pee and poo either in the spiny forest (spiny little tree things) or on the
beach (the kids mainly) so you need to walk around with great care that you
don't step in poo! I'm really glad of my crocs which are lightweight and
really great to have on in the hot weather. Hoorah!
All of the Blue Ventures staff and volunteers get fed three times a day and all eat
together. The diet is pretty monotonous but not too bad - French baguette
bread (in varying degrees of staleness. It was pretty fresh today) for
breakfast with butter, honey, either egg or fruit, and sticky rice (which
people add condensed milk to, to make rice pudding). There's also tea and
coffee and hot water. Everyone has their own condiments to help liven up and
vary the breakfast. I only have a small thing of marmite so it's not going
to last very long. That's usually at 8am.
Then, at 1.30, there's lunch, which so far has been rice, beans, sometimes vegetables, fish or meat and omelette. Tea, at 7.30, is pretty much identical to lunch. There really aren't very many vegetables at all in this diet, so I'm taking vitamins to supplement the diet. I somehow anticipate that I will get pretty bored
of (white) rice quite quickly. I've also been digesting pretty quickly and
seem to get hungry every two hours, no matter how much I eat. I've also started
to eat fish. I decided that it was highly likely that I'd eat it at some
point so I have been starting with a tiny thimble sized amount. I will build
it up gradually. But will probably never eat the meat (usually goat. Sometimes Zebu I think (the local cows)).
Actually, I was surprised to find that I quite liked the fish - of course it's as fresh as it can get (caught each day) and the texture was really nice. It wasn't as fishy as I thought it would be either, thankfully. It's not something I feel hugely happy with - after all I've been veggie since I was 20 - but on the other hand, I
think it's highly likely that I'll be unable to survive the year without doing it,
so I might as well get myself acclimatised to it. So far, I haven't had any stomach problems.
That's a general description of everything. Justin is going to start learning to dive and will learn some of the science stuff so that he can help with research data gathering, but will also share my duties and we've been introducing ourselves to everyone by telling them that we're splitting the role. that seems to have gone down okay thankfully.
It's weird being here though. I don't think I've quite realised how long we're going to be here for. I am enjoying the idea that I'll be running things. The staff are mostly nice, and even if they're not people I'd necessarily be good friends with, I think they'll be fine to work with and hang out with socially. I'm a lot older than most of them, and older than the majority of the volunteers, but I think that's nice and adds a bit more balance to proceedings!
It's amazing to be typing this email up on the desk while looking out of the window and seeing children out on the reef (it's low tide at the moment) catching octopus. The village is really extremely basic - there really isn't much here - and it's so different to home. You can't just pop down the shop and buy whatever you feel like it. The small wooden shops in the village sell a few different commodities, but it's
really quite limited. The weather is nice - hot in the middle of the day, less so in the mornings and evenings. We have our mozzie net up, though we haven't yet been bitten (hoorah).
OH! And then there's the singing. People sing ! I'm really looking forward to learning some of the local songs. You can hear them in church on a Sunday (which today is), but also while out collecting octopus and just while walking around. We were sung into the village by a few of the women yesterday when we were doing our village tour and most of the time they're singing in harmony too so I'm looking forward to maybe finding some songs to teach and to learning songs off them. Malagash (the language) is tricky but I've picked up a few words so far. Not so many, but important words like thank-you, and hello. .
Justin and I are setting our boundaries early. We're trying to set boundaries between us to do with when we can talk about 'work' and when we can't. I want to do yoga and meditate in the mornings (or swim) before I do any 'work' and so far have managed it, but that's probably because I haven't had so many duties to take on as yet). We passed our swim tests yesterday. Hoorah!
Not sure what else there is to say. Finally, after all that packing and stress, we're here and we're relaxed and finally excited. The science and conservation work that is going on here is really exciting and making a difference and so I'm glad to be part of it for that reason. It's so peaceful too with no mobile phones or cars either. The stars are amazing at night and the moon has been full and huge and red when it rises behind our hut, and pretty over the sea when it's setting in the mornings when I get up to pee at about 5am! I'm keeping myself grounded by reminding myself of the beauty each day so that I don't' take it for granted if I get stressed or homesick, and I'm ending each day with a list of the good things to stay positive.
That's all to report for now.
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