After one bus ride, three plane flights, and five car trips I finally made it to Chez Antione at 1am to be greeted by a couple of volunteers; I had to wait till breakfast the following morning to meet the rest of the Volunteers and staff. At breakfast I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that an old friend from school was there. Its funny how small the world is.With breakfast and the swim test behind me I started to get settled in my new home in the sun. I have to thank all the staff and volunteers for making me feel at home and teaching me about the local culture. Before I really got to say hello and do my compulsory tai-be as a new member of staff, the volunteers were gone and interphase had begun.For me this is when I got to spend time to get to know the Coco beach staff, local village characters and I also managed to visit the surrounding area and islands. Ten windy days later the site was bubbling with renewed activity as a fresh group of volunteers arrived. The next couple of days involved several briefings and the compulsory swim test. With the volunteers itching to get wet I got started with scuba tune-ups, openwater, and advanced courses. I am happy to say that now two weeks later all volunteers are at least PADI Advanced Openwater divers and a few are already benthic enabled!!So four weeks in Madagascar, six bags of peanuts and a gallon of galleuke later, I am still here, happy and excited about my future here in Andavadoaka.

Pierre –Dive Manager

Posted by Blue Ventures

Blue Ventures is an award winning marine conservation charity. We rebuild tropical fisheries with coastal communities. On our Beyond Conservation blog you can hear voices from the front line of marine conservation written by our staff and volunteers.

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