A strange bug that kicks you when you lift it up !
I have been taking lots of pictures, mainly above water but I also have a few under water ones. I normally don;t take the camera down when I am doing science training dives but I have had two recreational dives so I took the opportunity. The viz has been really good on both my recreational dives but fish are very hard to photograph :) . I have taken lots of pictures above water too. There is so much wildlife, every time I see something new (I wish I had a more powerful zoom), so far I have managed to photograph 3 different snakes, a huge spider, a strange bug that kicks you when you lift it up (last night), a bird, some local hedge hogs that are called some name that has slipped off my mind and I am sure something else that I cannot remember. Sunsets are also amazing so pictures go very qui8ckly.
On 3rd December is elections day in Madagascar. Apparently there has been a bit of unrest in Antananarivo and Toliara in the past few days. This week I have also been snorkelling to the Mangroves. It was so much fun. They are about 45 mins' walk south from camp. When the tide was coming up there were some currents and we were gliding through the mangrove it was great. I saw a few juvenile fishes. By the way I have also passed my bethic test, both on the computer and in-water which means that I can now tell apart my tunicates from my sponges ;) We have one fish lecture tomorrow then we will start with the fish tests from tomorrow: I think they will be quite challenging however I am already quite happy as I have been suprising myself recognising quite a few families and species during the dives.
There is a lot of work to do and some days I hardly have time to brush my teeth after lunch but it is good fun and I am learning a lot. I have just come back from the village now after giving some 8-11 yrs old English lessons. They really get super excited. There is really no light pollution here. We had a fire on the beach the other day and it was really good fun. When the generator goes off at 10pm it is pitch black! And Tulear had hardly any street lights either so I guess most of Madagascar is like this.
Benthic, Whaffles and Zebu Kebab!
I can't believe a week has gone by since I was last writing an email. Emails are only collected once a week on sundays.
Since last time I wrote we have started diving and going through Benthic (coral and invertebrates) point outs so that we can learn the ones we need to identify. We have our firt Benthic computer test tomorrow. The benthic is definitely easier than the fish (as there is much less to learn) although there are a few exceptiopns (eg: hard coral that whaffles doh!). It is really hard to identify fish in the water!!
We also had our first day off on Friday and the party night the night b4 (on Thur). For the pary night we cross-dressed and it was quite funny to see the guys in women's dresses and lipstick :), we also got some treats (zebu kebabs and cake since it was Yvette's birthday: the medical officer). It is getting hotter every day, the water is 27C!! Yesterday I think it was the worst for heat in the air, I hope it's not going to be like that when we travel around Madagascar because it was really unbereable. We had a storm last night so it was a bit better today. It was great to see the storm arriving with lots of lightining. I was trying to get a photo but it is too hard. Every day is really busy. We have so many things to do on top of the studying. I also saw a couple of interesting big spiders and slim snakes (they are not dangerous in Madagascar). Yesterday we had fish monitoring which consists on shifts throughout the day down at Andavadoaka beach stopping by every pirogue (local boat) that comes in and counting, measuring, identifying and weighting the fish. I did it with Thomas, one of the Malagasy staff and it was good because he knew most if not all of the families and the species so didn't have to look to hard on the book :). The diving so far it's been OK, the viz hasn't been great, apparently it's not good when the breeze is up. I suppose that's why yesterday was the best one with about 18m viz.
Ros.
First Report from Andavadoka
We arrived here the other day by camion and it was quite an adventure, 12 hours on the back of this truck in the heat but I had plenty of water and we had a few stops so it wasn't as bad as I was expecting.
we arrived here for sunset and all the kids in the village started running behind the truck. The camp is great. I am sharing my hut with Emma and although it is basic it is enough in this environment: plugs and shower in the room, electricity from 4pm to 10pm (I think it's a bit of a luxury:)
Half Moon beach and the steps to reach it are just outside our hut: it is an idillic view!!! It is a shame you are not here I think you would really like it. Everybody on the expedition is really nice.
Yesterday I tried my first bit of clorinated water. It was like drinking bleach... After 3 neutralising tablets it was OK but today I put a vitamin C tablet in an it was even better. I ended up washing my teeth with the orange potion which was a bit strange but it it was decent.
Food so far it's been really great. We have a local family who lives on site and cooks for us. We have a restaurant hut with glorious views across two bays.
We haven't started diving yet. We have gone through a lot of briefings and evac procedures for our own safety and we have a number of chores that are assigned on rotation to teams of 4. Normally we should start diving tomorrow but our diving manager is ill. We will be going to visit the islands offshore though and do some snorkelling there. On health side I think I have been very careful and very lucky: so far so good but I expect that montezuma revenge may strike at any moment :)
Ros.
Arrival in Tulear - minus luggage!
Hello,
Managed to get onto qn internet cqfe but keyboqrd q bit diffrent to q bit of strange letters pop in every now qnd then
Just co,e bqck from the airport but our luggage wasn’t there yet. Connection is very slow so I will not stay too long, writing on a word doc whileI wait for it to connect.
So my first few days in Madagascar were not short of surprises. My worst nightmare came true and they lost ny luggage. I qn really looking forward to getting it tonight to finally change into so,ething clean. I hv been sleeping and living in the same clothes since I left England.
Tulear is interesting. A bit dusty but we have been chilling out and I an acclimatising fast
We are setting off to Andavadoaka to,orrow at dawn. Initially we were planning to get there by boutre (the local sailing boat) but the wind was blowing north very stong and it didn’t make into tulear from the north so now we will be going by bus on a bumpy jopurney that apparently will take a good 10hrs. It’s a shame also because on the boutre we would hv had the chance of sighting migrating whales (although it is the end of the season) and dolphins.
We are staying in Chez lala which is a cool chilled out place. Yesterday while sitting in the ct yard I had a geko walking on me and it also jumped on my face it was great.
I wish I could teleport my luggage
Packed: all my essentials for the next two months translate into a whopping 28.9kg of luggage, an immense suitcase to drag around at the end of the expedition (damn diving and other miscellaneous kits). That will make it 45EUR of extra luggage fee with British Midland, stupid airlines who don’t accept that diving equipment IS sporting equipment. They’ll better not lose it. And I am also supposed to pick up some stuff to carry over to the site for Blue Ventures at the airport tomorrow. I think I’ll juggle that one on my head :)
Only a few hours to go before I leave the comfort of my home. I feel a bit weird
I think it's a mixture of exciting anticipation and nervousness. I have been feeling a bit nauseous for the last couple of days. Started my malaria prophylaxis today and so far so good.
My flight to Paris leaves at 10:50 am tomorrow, that is only the first of my 3 flights to get to Tulear.
I will have 4 hours to kill in Paris followed by an overnight 10-hours flight to Tana and then a flight to Tulear some 900km further south from the capital.
This 24-hours trek will not be the end of the line. Tulear is only the pick up point for the last stretch of the journey to Andavadoaka, my temporary home for the next 6 weeks.
And the last segment of the journey promises to be the most challenging.
Madagascar here I come!
