As I am coming to the end of my time here, I thought I would look back on some of the highlights of my time in Madagascar of which I may have missed or forgotten to mention in past posts. This seems like the right thing to do as a lot of shows usually have highlight episodes at the end of a series and also I can't think of anything else to write about...
Jeffrey
Until around January, ReefDoctor had a weigh station set up on the beach just outside the site. Here, people would bring their catches of the day which we would weigh, measure and identify, it was an easy way for us to collect data on the state of the fisheries and it was an easy way for the locals to get some free rice. Win win. This has now moved into the village and many others have opened up along the coast to get more detailed information about fishing habits. However, from around October until December the little weigh station at ReefDoctor gained itself a mascot in the form of Jeffery.
Jeffery came from a village across the salt flats called Tsivanowey. Each day he would travel across the flats to sit near the weigh station and watch us at work. Now and then he would wander over to inspect the boats before returning to his spot under the tree. When we closed the weigh station for lunch, Jeffery would ensure that it was cleaned thoroughly with a rag he would reveal from one of the pockets of the huge black jacket he would wear.
Many times we would try and offer him a bit of lunch or a drink both of which he would refuse only ever taking a single cigarette from Pepin only for it to be found that evening wedged in the fork of a tree. There was only one other thing he ever accepted. When Roderick was still here he presented Jeffery with a ReefDoctor T-shirt which he gratefully took and then proudly wore for every other one of his visits to the site. Since the cyclone Jeffery has not returned to the RD site though he has been occasionally seen in Ifaty still proudly wearing his RD T-shirt.
Beach Clean Ups
The coastline around Ifaty has been generally used as a dumping ground for rubbish that comes out of the village even though the people here come across as being considerably more resourceful than people back in the developed world, to see that you only have to look at the floats on their nets made out of cut up flip flops or the market stalls forlorn with car parts ranging from the smallest nut and suspension springs to steering wheels and windscreen wipers.
The main reason for this is that there is really no where else for it to go. What they can use, they use, but anything else is either burnt or discarded on the beach. Because of this ReefDoctor has begun to run a monthly beach clean up. This consists of a rubbish collection along the stretch of coastline in front of Ifaty. We have had it running now for a few months with a lot of positive support from the community with kids coming and helping to collect trash.
We collect data from the clean ups on the rubbish types allowing us to see what materials are most often dumped and then we can look at options for other methods to dispose of them. There are also hopes to further expand the beach clean up project to possibly include a small educational presentation afterward for the kids to teach them why it important to care for their coast line.
I actually surprisingly enjoyed doing these clean ups, usually anytime in the past where I have been in a position of having to do one I groan and probably don't put as much effort into it as I should. However here we usually have a great time getting the local kids involved and since we began you can really see a difference along the beach front and maybe over time the people here will think twice before dumping rubbish on their coastline.
The Sunsets
I will let them speak for themselves...
The Routine
Sometimes at ReefDoctor the days can be very long and tiring. They can consist of a 4am start to go out to do expert survey dives consisting of 6 separate transects. You then return around 11am to do data entry including putting that data onto hard copies and then entering it all into the excel database. After lunch there may be a staff meeting followed by a volunteer meeting. Then finally rounding off the working day with working the compressor to fill tanks for the next day.
This is what makes the routine so invaluable. The routine was created by myself and Dominic (one of the dive instructors) as a way of relaxing at the end of the day. It begins at 5pm exactly at which point we return to our respective rooms. Once there I get some music on and have a chilly bucket shower to re-awaken myself after a long hot day. Once this is complete a fresh set of non sweat saturated clothes are applied and the we return to the front porch where a beer is cracked open and we watch the sunset slowly sink into the horizon infront of us. Sometimes it is at this point where Julien and I will continue our ongoing Pétanque competition usually ending with Julien victorious and me in a bad mood.
Around 6pm dinner will arrive and if we are lucky it will be zebu night which shall be the perfect end to the day though the debates regarding how much zebu each person should take can get rather heated...
Finally here's what Scuba Smurf has been up to...
When telling diving stories it is important not to over exaggerate as you can bore both people and chameleons. An important lesson that scuba smurf learnt the other day.
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