4th September, First impressions from some of Blue Ventures current volunteers
Carla Reardon:I’ve been here for just shy of 3 weeks now, and what a whirlwind 3 weeks it’s been! In the first week I completed my Advanced open water training and we had benthic lectures and tests. I’ve been on...
More news from Andavadoaka
1st September 2006 News from Alex Mason – BV Project Coordinator: We’re into week three of the expedition here in Andavadoaka. The open water and advanced dive courses have finished, nearly everyone is benthic enabled and volunteers are starting to...
Another expedition begins…
We have a new group of intrepid volunteers on site who have survived a slightly lengthy boutre journey and have spent the last few days getting to grips with benthic life forms, BCDs and bok bok. It promises to be...
Some contributions from two of our new volunteers, Lexa and Stephen
Lexa’s update: What an amazing first six days at Andavadoaka! To begin our expedition we left Tulear by boutre (a sailing boat). To everyone back home this will initially sound like a fairly normal transfer to site, but let me...
Gapyear.com Case Studies
Two of BV’s previous volunteers are featured on GapYear.com. Caroline Gosney writes about how she took a rather unplanned gap year, after she didn’t get the grades she wanted for uni, which worked to her advantage (she found us)– “I...
The Times Gap Year Show
What are you doing on the 17th-18th November? We will be exhibiting (our forthcoming expeditions) so come down and see us at The Times Gap Year Show, at ExCeL in London. We’ll be running the stand alongside the Embassy...
BV’s Polish Fanbase
One of our previous volunteers, Aga, has set up a Polish website, describing her experiences on our expedition, even being interviewed in Poland about her trip. Check out her website here.
Coming to a WWW near you soon
Website redevelopment going well at BV Towers. Maddy, office mascot, provided help in the initial stages of the project, but lacked the impetus to see the assignment through to the end. Old website (left) New, clearly improvedwebsite (right)
A treat for our francophone readers – thoughts from Stephanie Pédron, Blue Ventures’ first French field scientist
Le calme est revenu sur la cité perdue d’Andavadoaka… L’autre nuit, une petite tempete a menacé, le ciel a grondé, comme pour signaler son mécontentement… Le lendemain, ce sont les baleines qui sont passées dans la baie d’Andavadoaka, avec des...
Notes from a Pretty Large Island by Jan….
I’ve now been in Madagascar just short of two months with my girlfriend, Abby, who has taken over the Dive Manager’s role. The remoteness of this amazing place has come as a welcome change from the hectic lifestyle of home....
First Blue Ventures TEK report online
Research undertaken by Blue Ventures’ social scientist, Josephine Langley, between 2004 and 2005 used guidelines developed for coral reef managers to document the knowledge of the local Vezo of Andavadoaka. Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and the process of documenting TEK...
The World Cup might have ended…
Football match this afternoon against the village a splendid victory for the men’s team: 1-0! Women’s team drew 0-0.
Whales – watching platform
And now here’s a blog update from Lea: Once more I wake to a fantastic sunrise with the early morning rays shimmering off the tropical lagoon that lies approximately 20 metres from my hut. However, on this particular morning I...
BBC Radio 4 Excess Baggage
On 15th July 2006, Richard Nimmo, our Managing Director, appeared on BBC Radio 4’s travel programme, Excess Baggage. Listen to it via the BBC website until 22nd July or get it via our website
Some Sciency Stuff
It’s been an interesting weekend in Andavadoaka on the science front, with visiting teams here from the IHSM (the ‘Institute Halieutique et des Sciences Marines’ – the national marine research institute) and from our project partners the Wildlife Conservation Society...