Category: Series
Playing hide and seek with tortoises
by Rado Lebely, Terrestrial & Fisheries Scientist, Madagascar After six very long months of tortoise hibernation, the Blue Ventures tortoise monitoring team was more than ready to see how abundant the spider tortoises (Pyxis arachnoides) are in the rainy season. We...
A trip to the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
by Samantha Cockburn, Medical Elective Student with the Safidy programme, Madagascar I’m Sam, a final year medical student currently studying at the Peninsula College of Medicine and Dentistry in southwest England. Four years ago I went to a lecture at...
My visit to the Safidy programme in Andavadoaka
by Samantha Cockburn, Medical Elective with Safidy, Madagascar Three years ago I received an email from my medical school advertising a lecture aimed at local GPs entitled ‘Is Sex Going To Kill Us?’ given by Professor John Guillebaud, Emeritus Professor...
Feeling at home in Belize
By Pam Viele, BV volunteer, Belize The Blue Ventures homestay in the quaint fishing village of Sarteneja was the perfect way to experience the culture of this lovely spot beyond the perspective of a tourist. Like most of the volunteers,...
Reflections from a Belizean fishing village
by Daniel le Roux, BV Volunteer, Belize It seems to me that people usually start these sorts of things with a cliché: “Sarteneja was everything I imagined it would be”, or “I instantly felt at home in Sarteneja”. I hate...
The sweet taste of success in Saturday School
by Marzia Garin, former Education and Youth Coordinator, Madagascar In mid-November, the children at Saturday School had a very special guest: the Swiss NGO ADES (The Association for the Development of Solar Energy). ADES travelled down to Andavadoaka to teach...
Have you ever encountered a live sea cucumber?
by Taylor Mayol, Communications and Programme Development Officer, Madagascar I hadn’t either until just a few months ago. I knew I was in for a wild ride during my fellowship after I dove into a crystal clear turquoise bay in...
Asian delights
This is part 2 of the blog series on our recent trip to Hong Kong for the annual Seafood Summit. Read part 1 here: http://blog.blueventures.org/from-toliaras-sights-to-hong-kongs-bright-lights/ by Sophie Benbow, Southwest Regional Coordinator, Madagascar Visiting Hong Kong, ‘Asia’s World City’ as the tourism board...
Culling me softly…
by Hayley McKenzie, Blue Ventures volunteer, Belize The divers hunt in a pack, eyes peeled for the distinctive feathery spines peeking out from behind a rock, huddled into the reef or perched on top of a spur. On sighting a...
Diving deep in Belize
by Jen Chapman, Country Coordinator, Belize The queen conch (Strombus gigas) fishery in Belize is valued at approximately US$ 3,000,000 per year and engages over 3,000 licensed fishermen nationally. Despite non-destructive fishing methods (free-divers collect conch off the seafloor by...
VIP expeditions
by Thomas Forwood, volunteer, Belize Generally speaking, life at Bacalar Chico Dive Camp (BCDC) is routine. You get up at 5am, breakfast is at 8am and lunch is at 1pm. In between is diving, marshalling duties and other enjoyable responsibilities,...
Kayaks (and kava) to Korea: an insider’s perspective at the IUCN’s World Conservation Congress
by Brian Jones, Conservation Coordinator, Madagascar We’re seated on the floor in a circle at the Blue Planet Pavilion on the 3rd floor of the International Conference Centre in Jeju-Do, South Korea. Confused passers-by bump into each other and turn...
A day in the life…
by Kirsty Rankin, BV volunteer, Madagascar Waking up to the relentless crash of breaking waves on halfmoon beach, I groan, turn over, but just before I close my eyes to the temptation of continued slumber I catch the dim glow...
The (not so) rum diaries: life in Belize
by Anders Hartmann, BV volunteer, Belize After 1 week at Bacalar Chico Dive Camp (BCDC) we have now learned the routines and the focus has moved towards surveys and passing the fish and benthic tests, both on computer and in...
The end isn’t near, it’s here!
by Chris Miller, BV volunteer, Belize We are now in our last week at Bacalar Chico and we are all so sad that our time here is nearly over. Over the past few weeks we have had an amazing time...