Week 4 - Ifaty Reef Doctor

So it is my last week of volunteering before Stew comes out to meet me on 15th November and then I will have to do the more luxurious bit. Although a proper shower and no rice or beans ever again appeals to me, I am torn to leave the environment that I have been living in the last couple of months. The people in Madagascar are beautiful people, so poor yet so proud and although they should be angry at what is done to them they are the happiest people I have met. When I came here on holiday 13 years ago I said that I came here to enjoy the lemurs but fell in love with the people and my opinion hasn't changed, my sentiment is only stronger. Life here is so hard but that doesn't stop anyone saying hello to the 'Vazaha' (white people) and their beautiful smiles.. Or the children running along side you wanting to hold your hands up the beach or to play a game,I will really miss this but am so honoured and privileged to have been involved in both NGOs and to work with the Malagasy 

people. The holiday piece or this trip will gloss over the issues here....

Week 4 started with windy weather in the afternoons again so all diving was centred around early mornings (diving at 5am so kitting up starts at 4.15). I dived seven times this week (two double dives) which consisted of two point outs (one fish and the other benthic/inverts), a coral clean and the others were doing an artificial reef construction. 

We also built a ‘reef ball’ or ‘polyp pyramid’ as it was deemed by the time that we built it. So to build a reef ball you have to mix up some cement (bottles of one cement, two and, three stones mix) and then find a hard structure (pyramid), cover it in wet sand, add the cement, put some pipes in to make holes in the cement for the fish to be able to swim in and out of it and add some dead coral to make it look pretty. Leave it to dry and then when the sand dries between the structure and the cement you can just lift off the hard cement structure and there is your reef ball. We left it to dry so we could take it on our artificial reef construction dives.

The reef construction work was brilliant, you go down to the bottom of the ocean (8 metres) with extra weights 2-3 kgs on so that you can walk on the bottom without drifting away. Once you get to the bottom you take off your fins and tie them to an additional weight belt that you take down and then walk around in your boots. Earlier that week the villagers had taken loads of rocks out in their pirogues and dropped them at a site of our choosing (not near any reefs) so that we could dive and make the reef.

We started by moving the reef balls made earlier into position and then we picked up the rocks, that had been dropped down from the surface by the fisherman, and moved them by picking them up and carrying them to the reef balls to start making the reef. The rocks had been dropped a little haphazardly so we had to travel a way to pick the rocks up and then walk them back, while we were doing this the surge/current picked up so dropping the rocks off was okay because we had enough weight, but going out to collect them took all our energy to get there. We put the bigger rocks on the bottom as a base and built up by finishing with larger flat rocks at the top to steady the construction. It is a bit dangerous as rocks and stone fish (very painful to deadly sting) look remarkably like rocks so we had to waft each rock to check whether it was a rock or not. We did have to battle with a lion fish to get the rocks off him as he seemed to be attached to them all, we would chase him off and then he would come back to the others when we weren’t looking! Picking up rocks and moving them under water also takes a layer of skin off your fingers but you don’t realise till you dry your hands and it takes days to stop the sensitivity, I couldn’t pick up a warm plate or cup for days!

Walking on the ocean bed must be very similar to walking on the moon, or that’s how I felt, as you have to push yourself up and try to jump to get your next step - swimming is no good as you go nowhere! We did this on two different days to make two reefs and the first reef already had new homeowners three days after us building it!

I got involved in a sea grass project which is trying to transplant the grass and grow it in other parts of the sea. If it is successful we will work with the villagers, especially the children, to do the same in their area of the sea as they are degrading the sea grass around the village beach as they drag their boats through the sad and trample all over it. The ocean needs sea grass because of its vast biodiversity and sensitivity to changes in water quality inherent in sea grass communities makes sea grasses an important species to help determine the overall health of coastal ecosystems. Sea grasses perform numerous functions: Stabilising the sea bottom and providing food and habitat for other marine organisms. We went out to the sea grass beds when the tide was low and identified the sea grasses that we needed. We picked the sea grass including its roots and took it to a patch of sand and replanted it in a test bed with a rock and buoy so that we could recognise the area when we went back to it. We planted one sort in a circle as we only found six plants and then the rest was planted in six rows and we photographed it. As we were leaving the kids from the village asked what we were doing and the aquaculture manager told them and warned them not to touch the rock or buoys, to me that was asking for trouble! Now we need to wait and see whether the grass will grow or not, obviously I won’t be here but I have asked for an update on the progress.

I also walked around the village taking photos which I am going to get printed and laminated to send back to RD to give to the villagers.

Now that Stew is with me I have admitted that while I was at RD there were two alleged bandit attacks in the next village, some of our people were sent back to the camp from the village in the dark and told not to put their lights on so as not to attract attention. Another night we had to lock the camp as they were around, but luckily we didn't come face to face with them! 

My last act at RD was to go to Jose’s for leaving drinks with some of the guys, I am sad to leave but have a new adventure coming up and will back to seeing lemurs and land animals for a while. I have decided to keep my blog going while on the holiday part of the trip so please read on if you are interested. More anon…..

Chloe and me at Jose's

Group photo for last drink at Jose's

last dive :-(

Mango and fish stall in the village

table football in the village!!

Veg stall in the village

last sunset 

Artificial reef crew

Ready to go under

bye bye

Huge butterfly 

this tree shows how windy it is as it has grown this way

Mofo taking it easy

looking for the right sea grass

cement mixing for reef balls

building the reef ball

finishing touches

building the reef - I'm the one with the green fins

reef ball in the middle of the 'reef'

it's getting bigger

and it is finished - I'm second from the left