0415 Alarm rings and its another early start as the boat is scheduled to leave at first light. With our head torches on, we wander up to the kitchen for breakfast. Its a good day as buk-buk has been made - fried bready nuggets. There's hot water from last night in a thermos flask and we make a cup of tea with condensed milk although unfortunately I have to fight the ants off to get some.
0500 We walk our dive gear down the beach to the boat and head off as the sun is rising. Although it is early, its the best time of day to dive as the wind and tides tend to favour the morning and it is still cool enough to be lugging tanks around with wetsuits on. It is a short ride to the dive site, Rose Garden, which is one of the two protected marine reserves in the bay. Today Leila is doing one of the monthly surveys of indicator species, recording the fish she identifies from twenty specific species along each 5m section of a 25m transect tape whilst two other people are recording invertebrates and benthos (the bottom substrate). Ali is doing some scuba dive training as part of his Divemaster course, today helping a new diver practice some skills.
0700 We return from the dive, wash our dive gear and head back to our room for a shower. The water is from the brackish well on site which is cold and slightly salty but does the job. At least in the luxury of our own bungalow this is pumped to the shower head, rather than just a bucket pulled from the well as is the case for the volunteers in the dormitory.
0800 This is the official start of the working day so we head to the main porch area where we spend a lot of our time reading and studying. People who have been doing surveys copy their data from the underwater slates to paper and then to spreadsheet. We fill the communal water filters with fresh water which is bought in once a week from a nearby village by zebu cart and stored in large barrels. Whilst it is fresh water it still needs to go through the filters and have some chlorine added before it is safe to drink. There is electricity from the generator for just one hour in the day so we try to charge equipment now, although there are solar panels and a wind turbine which provides electricity later in the day, it is more limited.
1200 Finally it is lunchtime. This is always eagerly anticipated, particularly after such an early start and diving seems to make us very hungry. Lunch consists of rice plus one of the following: red beans, small white beans, big white beans, chickpeas, lentils, potato slop or on very good days ratatouille. There is much speculation amongst the group as to which it will be today. Lentils are generally the most dreaded although Ali likes them and so he usually gets some seconds. Sometimes there is a little grated cabbage or carrot on the side and half a piece of pineapple or a crepe for desert. Lunch is excellent although Leila has been forced to give it up rice now as there is only so much white rice that anyone can stomach and she has definitely reached her limit.
1400 This afternoon Leila is looking nervous. After completing all her theory and practicals for her Rescue Diver course she knows now that all that is left is the scenarios. These are staged accidents or incidents that could be sprung on her at any time. Suddenly we are called to say that one of the dive officers has been electrocuted at the tank compressor room and Leila has to coordinate the response. After taking a few photos Ali returns to his duties pumping tanks for the next day's dives.
1530 Its time for a science workshop to fine tune our knowledge of the local invertebrate species which we need to be able to identify for the surveys. This is not so easy for us without a marine science background but there's only 50 or so species to know for the basic indicator surveys and we are pretty familar with them now. With some competitive challenge or game of charades this is usually good fun.
1700 The working day finishes and a couple of teams form to play beach volleyball between a couple of baobab trees. Most of us aren't much good and the local staff are hugely amused. Some of the other volunteers are popping into the village to the local shop and pick up some snacks, phone credit and lukewarm beers. The shop has a bar attached but it only provides a few basics and most food has to be bought in Tulear which is a three hour trip away. However, the samosas from the local street food stalls have become very popular with those who can't wait until dinner.
1800 We all get together around the table on the porch for dinner where we have a perfect view of the sun setting over the sea. Its another clear sky but windy and we wonder if the visibility will be good in the sea tomorrow. The more eagle eyed of us spot a chameleon in the trees and we watch it stealthily crawl along the branches grabbing insects with its tongue. The meat eaters are excited as it is one of the two meals a week where they get meat - in the form of zebu stew, as always served with lashings of rice. Ali's staple alternative on these nights is omelette, which he never seems to get bored with. After dinner its starting to get dark and volunteers relax playing cards, reading by candle light or watching films on whatever battery they have managed to save on their laptops.
0100 Ali is woken by the dogs barking and whilst trying to get back to sleep he hears some scuttling around the bedroom. There's nothing for it and he has to get up and do battle with a giant hissing cockroach before he can sleep. Today he wins and manages to catch it with the broom and sweep it out the door. Ali is convinced that Leila is hugely impressed by his valiant victory, even if she has slept through the whole thing.
The sequence of events has been adapted somewhat...
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