Week 7

Ok so it's had been massively hectic this week so haven't had a chance to write a post but here are a few photos so you know I'm still alive here

Over the next few days I am travelling to mainland to visit a few of the national parks, roughing it sleeping under the stars in the middle of the forest so highly doubt I will get any Internet so speak in a few days !

Week Six

A bit late this week but been so busy I haven't had chance to write, had to keep notes until I had a chance to write this all. 

- too busy here !

The week started well with a couple of dives and best of all compressor training, the dives are getting better and better as I get to know the sites better and it's great to be able to identify the marine life you see. 

But it's not all about the marine project here in Madagascar, we have a great forest conservation team that walk day and night collecting data and searching for new species. I had a bit of a quiet day last Tuesday so decided to take up the offer of a forest walk to site three which follows a dried up river bed up the mountain towards Lokobe nature reserve, we were undertaking an active search so had to note down any life we saw I was lucky to see a snake, lots of frogs, geckos, chameleons and lizards along with butterflies and birds. It's amazing being in the forest, you feel like you are in the amazon with so much going on around you, noises coming from all directions and a thick canopy above you. I had a great time time the forest and will definitely be going in again however I am a mariner at heart so you won't keep me away from the water that long !

As you may imagine rice and beans for every mean all this time has got a bit boring so when the staff offer you in on their burger night to say goodbye to minty you don't pass that up! All the guys were on meat duty making some hefty burgers along with bread, salad, chips etc. It was a great night, sad to say goodbye to minty but starting to get used to seeing people go now. We did have an entertaining night though that ended with us all forcing Margaux to draw things for us, I had a portrait done which I must say looks just like me !

It was Fred's last week and he had decided to undertake his Padi Rescue Diver course which was great news for us as for his exam we had to make his life as hard as possible which of course we did very well. Sadly we didn't make it hard enough as he passed with flying colours but had to leave us on Friday morning. 

Mornings are normally early here however the past few days Kirsty and I have decided to do some sunrise walks up to site 8. The views are spectacular, the sun rises over the mountain ranges of main land and really makes you feel like you are in the lion king!

Cardiff would be very happy to hear that I am actually using my degree out here! Once our new D.O heard what I had done at university we started discussing the possibility of finding a new deep dive site for her training dives. After looking at our current nautical charts we realised they were pre 1980 and half in fathoms and half in meters, therefore I was tasked with finding us a new set. To town it was and after trolling the old university sites and a few new sites we managed to find some more accurate data, now with this we can go on some adventure trips and find some deep water. 

 

Week Five

Well it's been a long time here now and in some ways it does seem like I have been here for ages but already I know I won't want to leave. Before you get here everyone says how hard camp life will be, being stripped back to the bare minimum but it is incredible everyone is so friendly you manage to forget everything that is going on in the rest of the world and make your own little bubble here. Malagasy life is so laid back and easy going its hard to think of anyone that wouldn't love to spend time here and to think that I am here doing some good, trying to get the coral reefs protected to let more people see what I am lucky enough to see every day out here. 

- slatey sweet lips at Tanikelly

This week started off very busy, after the quad biking all last weekend I had offered to cook Chinese for the whole camp, I have cooked for a lot of people before but doing that on and open fire with one pan makes life a bit difficult, but with a few sous chef volunteers the night was a great success especially my beef satay skewers which were a favourite of my housemates at uni. Sadly Sunday was another goodbye day with lots of great people leaving to get back to the real world but it was lovely to spend the last weekend with them in town.

- The August deployment

On Monday we had a new deployment of volunteers which is so strange after seeing so many of the original lot leaving, there are only 4 of us left from the August flight !!! I had been warned that its a bit uneasy when the new people arrive as I guess it would have been when we burst onto camp, the people that have settled there don't like change. It was a bit different but it's great to have new people on camp, lots of different characters and plenty of new friendly faces. 

Monday was also another day of tinkering, this time it was our Big Daddy compressor which we use to fill our dive tanks so kind of essential for us mariners!! On Sunday Tom reported peculiar noises which we decided to investigate, after taking the whole thing apart and trying to contact Bauer (manufacturer) we were told the nearest engineer was in Dubai so if we could just pack it up and ship it to them they would have it back to us soon, which would be fine if we didn't need it or have it now concreted into the ground for protection :-/ but after another friendly email to a friend of a friend we got some clear instructions and got underway problem solving. After a full day she was running sweet and sounding fine !

- Health and Safety first !!!

- Very technical analysis

With our new group of volunteers we also received a present in the form of a new Dive Officer to replace Katie that sadly had to leave us, so Tuesday was a fun dive for me, Tom and the new DO, a great dive with lots to see including TURTLE! even though you see loads out here you still get so excited when you see one.

As well as the very important science that we do out here there are a number of fun projects, this week I was lucky enough to be asked to help Tom film his job application video which was a work of art by the time he was finished with it, any job out here is just made fun because of where we are!

- Tom being acrobatic

Thursday was town duty again on the search for boat parts, anchor parts, equipment and a reasonably priced printing shop. I love going into Hellville it's such an amazing town, every time I go I see another part that's hidden away and it's great fun trying to barter with the locals when you know hardly any French, a lot of hand signs and gesturing usually gets you there though. However attempting to source a specific engine part has to be impossible when they try and sell you a wheel bearing when you are asking for a fan belt. Being out here has definitely made me want to push my languages and make more of an effort. 

- Oasis Cafe for breakfast

Saturday was another treat, after a 1 1/2 hour boat race between me and Victor (I won) we arrived at the Tanikelly nature reserve for a great day of diving. Tan makes a change to our normal diving which rarely exceeds 7 meters, we even had to do a safety stop this time! But as normal I was amazed by the marine life, with a massive school of ruddies surrounding us, 5 turtles, scribble file fish, a massive black marble grouper and lots more it was probably my best dive since I got here. After the dive it was time to chill on the beach, I thought it would be a great idea to try and buy a few bananas from one of the locals, but when I tried to give him 200 Ar (6 pence) for 4 he would not take any money until I forced him to, then as I was walking away he called me back and thrusted a large black bag in my hands which I then found out was full of fresh pineapple, so in the end for 6p I bought a bunch of bananas and about 5 pineapples, not bad really !

For my treat to camp this week I decided to cook beef casserole with mash potatoes and crepes for desert, a Sunday trip to the market in town saw me come away with 8kg of potato, 5kg of zebu rump steak and a load of other veg/ingredients which was to feed 30 people for £30!!! Again with help from a number of sous chefs we pulled off what can only be described as Michelin star quality food, better than anything I have made at home, maybe I should start cooking on open fires when I get out on the boats for work ? As the meal was such a success I have already been assigned the duty for next week as well which I have decided will be hand made burger, chips, salad, onion rings and crepe night, everyone is so excited already so you can tell how boring rice and beans gets out here. 

I'm starting to get worried about leaving this amazing place, I have had such an experience in such a short amount of time I almost don't want to come home but I know I am looking forward to meeting up with everyone when I get back and most of all starting work in 5 weeks !!

So once again goodbye from Madagascar I hope you are enjoying reading this blog, I am having a great time writing it and trying to think of more adventurous things to do to write about so hopefully the next few weeks will be action packed.

Goodbye from me and baby chien my new best friend here at Phillipes !

Week Four

Yet again another amazing week, our boat driver Victor has been on a course all week to gain more qualifications so this week has consisted of a lot of boat driving and tinkering, which when you have a couple of dolphins come up to the boat when your sat there in the middle of the sea singing as loud as you can to some terrible music is quite a surprise !

Monday was a day in town for me to buy wood (explained later), but Monday has to be remembered for the job offer as I already mentioned ! So happy that I now have something set for when I get back. Although I was looking forward to being unemployed and travelling or staying on here as staff but to get the exact job you wanted straight from university can't be bad! I'll still get to travel to some amazing places with work and see them in ways I wouldn't as a tourist. 

One of my tasks this week was to improve the area around the Zebu Trough where we do our washing and wash all of dive kit down, with no drainage it gets a bit muddy! So Fred and I were given the task of improvements, so off I went to town with about 5 words of French in my head to try and buy half a ton of wood !

- hired my own Zebu

After some haggling with the locals and a zebu hire I got the wood I needed so then it was back to camp to start building.

- finished product

After a days hard work we now have a hardwood decking around our trough making the area much better !

Mid week we had a bit of a treat with Sophie and Emma organising a night dive for us, however without Victor it had to be a shore dive which made for an interesting swim out! Even better after about 10 minutes into the dive my torch decided it didn't want to be waterproof anymore and completely flooded meaning I had to share with Minty making it an interesting dive but actually got to see more using other people's beams. But best of all was the swim back lying on our backs looking up at the stars, Milkyway and shooting stars all in all a great dive lead by Tom. 

Yet again another AMAZING weekend, Fred, Sophie, Elliot and I decided to hire quad bikes and do a bit of a tour of the island with the aim of seeing the cascades, crater lakes and get to the top of Mt Passot. Well finding some quads was a fun hunt in the morning but eventually found 3 lovely looking bikes so snapped them up. 

- my toy for the weekend

Our first stop was to back to the cascades where we did the 13 meter jump which was terrifying ! 

- Elliot mid flight

After that we sped up the west coast to the most northern point of the island stopping at a few secluded beaches along the way. 

- biker boys (and girl) of Madagascar

At lunch we found a lovely little bar just off the road to give us a break from the dust. After that it was off to the crater lakes which were a sight I did not expect, apparently home to crocs they just appear out to no where with emerald green water they add another aspect to the amazing landscapes.

- cracking view

Then it was a mad dash up the mountain road to the summit where you can see the whole of North Nosy Be.

- 350m up

The way back down was a different story, after looking at a map and talking to locals there was apparently a dirt track that we could get back to Hellville on. This dirt track turned out the be vertical drops, rock faces, streams and great fun! even though it was extremely scary. But thankfully we all got back safe and sound (only just) with Fred only crashing twice. 

- all still alive

Now sat on the boat back to camp with a bag full of food to cook Chinese for the whole camp tonight so have a busy evening ahead of me so for now goodbye