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.