Madagascar: Not all Work Work Work!

22nd April 2007

Not all Work Work Work - though sometimes it does feel like that!

We do get days off. Every 6th day is a no-dive day and a day off in
general. It normally starts the day before with compulsory Boat
Maintenance, which in itself is pretty fun and easy.
Get in the water with mask and brush and scrub all the green/brown off the bottom of the boat. In the boat, remove the wood slats, remove the excess
water and scrub clean the base. On land scrub all the green off the
wood slats then float back to the boat. The hard part is motivating
people to undertake this mammoth task which takes all of 30 mins if
everyone helps out.

Party Night is next on the agenda, the one night in the week when
more than one beer can be consumed. This is most often a dress-up
event and the more bizarre the better, with a new theme chosen each
week. It truly is amazing what people can turn out with the very
limited resources we have here. But each week brings something new
and occasionally a little disturbing. Food is often a little more
special and we have a few awards to give out: Soa Bei and Tie Bei,
and the repercussions of each. More of the party atmosphere generally
ensues until the party is moved to the village to an epi-bar of
choice. Lots of dancing, Malagasy style, with a few of the favourite
fazaha (foreigners) tracks on a loop. Quick nips out to the loo
(beach, behind your pirogue of choice). The evening wears on.

This particular party night saw few of the staff out on the town as
we were planning a staff dive the next day for day off.You cant drink
and dive! Some reconnaissance dives for the new MPA sites.

A 4am-alarm call, dark dark dark, kit ready, boats prepared. Hello
and goodbye to the volunteers not yet gone to bed from the night
before! Off at 5:30am and arrive at the dive site in the Baie des
Assassins as 6:30am. Quite a large swell and some decent waves out,
pretty nippy as well. Five to dive and one to boat marshall (safety
and security are everything here). 27degrees, my how things are
getting chilly. Found the site that we had marked out on a previous
visit and listed coral species, fish and overall topography. A deep
site, 27m and a lot of pretty tabular corals and reef fish at the end
of the dive, whilst the beginning was more large pelagics and schools.

Out of the water and time to collect breakfast in the nearby fishing
village, Antsepoke. A shark and turtle data collection village, so we
got to see photos taken for the project, which included family shots
and a parade through the village, and not so many sharks or turtles
(small reprimand on battery power and the lack of after video clips
of loved ones!). Hmmm Delicious! Bok Bok (bit like a semi-dense doughnut hole)
and tea.

Second dive to a similar site. More soft coral, big groupers, unicorn
fish, nudi-branch etc. Nice diving, but still 4am is an eeeeeeeeeeeearly start!

Had to pop to another village to collect shark and turtle data, to
Laguna Blu to talk to the dive instructors there (possible working
relationship), and then off to lunch at Manga Lodge resort (where we
met all the volunteers who had walked over from Coco Beach). Moody
French patron, but beautiful chocolate sauce desert.

De-kit back at Coco Beach, staff meeting (next day planning),
volunteer meeting, dinner. No power again so early to bed after all
satellite phones and GPS are in the right hands for the 6am dive the
next day.

DAY OFF!