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!