Although every day is different here in Andavadoaka and we
get out and about on trips and dry land activities on a regular basis there is
a certain rhythm to everyday life as a Field Scientist. Here’s what happened one
day last week (a pretty typical one for mid expedition).
8am Breakfast
Unless there is important dive training to do which involves
a 6am dive, the day starts with breakfast. I usually roll out of bed and arrive
just in time to get to the food before other hungry mouths gobble it up.
Recently some brave souls have been getting up for “Jim’s Gym” at 6:30am which
involves some circuit training type exercises and then a swim/run. Needless to
say this does not appeal to me!
9am Dive Number 1
By 8:45am everyone is fed and kitted up for the first dive
of the day. We always do a briefing beforehand which outlines where we are
going, what we are doing and all the dive protocols and emergency procedures.
Then we all pile onto the boats and set off to the dive site. By this point in
the expedition the volunteers have been learning their fish and other creatures
for a while and so it’s time for tests and revision. The leaders will point out
various underwater animals and it’s the volunteers’ job to identify them. Recently
the visibility hasn’t been great due to high winds during the night. However, I
still managed to get Bianca and Erin finished with their Benthic tests with
time to spare for a fun swim about too.
11am Dive number 2
It’s the same drill at 10:45am (with a short break for
snacks in between dives). I didn’t dive this time but instead was shore
marshal. This meant I had to man the phones on dry land just in case anything
went wrong with the dive and an emergency response had to be coordinated. This
also gave me a chance to catch up on some computer work back at my hut and also
some time in my hammock!
1pm Lunch
Lunch time separates the “diving” and “activities” parts of
the day and is always a welcome time to refuel after a hard morning in the
water. We also have a quick staff meeting to plan for the next day.
2pm Duties
After lunch the volunteers carry out some chores like
sweeping and other tasks that keep everything running smoothly. During this
time I might do some of my own chores in my house or sometimes have a Malagasy
style siesta. On Fridays this gets upgraded to BIG DUTIES which have a few
other add-ons and everyone gets involved. The highlight is scrubbing the speed
boats’ hulls so that they don’t get covered in algae and other biofouling
beasts.
3pm English Lessons
On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays the volunteers meet up
with a Malagasy partner to practice English and learn more about Malagasy
culture. Most of the partners are members of BV staff that work for other
projects or staff from Coco Beach. Their level of English varies and so some
lessons are basic useful phrases while others work on reading books or
pronunciation. It’s great to see how the volunteers attack this task in
different ways and how friendships grow from it.
4pm Study
The rest of the afternoon is taken over with various
activities, many educational but some not so much. The rest of this particular
day was left over for self-study as the volunteers are at the test taking stage
of their survey course. I helped a couple of volunteers with some practice
tests on the computer and ran some for real for others.
On other days this time is used for Malagasy lessons from
Jacks, presentations for other projects, presentations and games from the
volunteers themselves on a topic they have been learning about, diving theory
or just some games on the beach and napping in hammocks. Once surveys are
started this will also be the time for data entry.
7.15pm Vao Vao, Dinner and Tantara
After a relaxing sunset the final scheduled part of the day
is dinner. First is Vao Vao (literally “news”) where Sam or I explain with the
help of our trusty chalk board what will be happening the next day. This is
also where we share any achievements of the day (such as passing tests) and
also meet any new people at the dinner table. Sometimes after dinner we have
Tantara, which means “story” in Malagasy. Here someone shares a game or story
or photos that they have in order to keep us entertained until the lights go
out. Once you have done your Tantara you have the privilege of picking the next
person in the spotlight. Tonight Sanne showed us a video she had made of their
overland tour to get to Toliara. It was great to see that same things I had
done three months ago in a different light.
At 9pm the electricity goes off and the lights go out. This
means that bed time is usually pretty early. I like to light some candles and
curl up in bed to watch a program or film on my laptop before falling asleep
ready to start over again the next morning.
