Jess in Madagascar

11th November

This was the week we said goodbye to nearly all the volunteers. They left on Wednesday, piled into a 4x4. Only Dan was left. Nessa went back as well because she had been sick for ages. And Hoby left for some days off. it was very quiet in camp. In the conservation club in the afternoon Paula came to speak about Stitch Sainte Luce. Paula is an amazing woman who helps Sarah Brown run the project. By the end of the class everyone wanted to be able to embroider.

Thursday was officially Dan Day. As our only volunteer for a day we let him decide what he wanted to do. So in the morning we just hung out at camp and then he went for a walk with his camera. We worked in the afternoon and in the evening we did a herp sweep where we found 114 individuals!

On Friday morning I stumbled out of my tent and headed for the long drop. Bleary-eyed I got as far as putting one foot in before my brain clicked something was wrong. There was a tree boa streched accross the sanplat! It was the first sighting of what would turn out to be a resident in camp. After lunch Nessa came back with 2 new volunteers. They were lovely. Craig and Vanda, a couple from the UK. They arrived as me and Dan were colouring in our props for Saturday's Conservation Club.

"Endangered Animals of the World" went down a storm with the kids. Followed by a good English class and a fun night walk in the evening. Sunday at the beach where I sat in the sea with Sarah Brown for ages and then got a lovely call from my parents! Inh the afternoon I cut Dan's hair. He is very brave...

Monday came round and it was S7 week again! It was a good week and it didn't rain. I think that may have been a first. We did the usual lemur transects and herp sweeps and also some Phelsuma behaviour. Phelsuma antanosy are the critically endangered day gecko found in S7. The first one we studied fell in love with Craig.

We came back to base camp on Friday and spent the afternoon making our planets to teach the kids about the solar system. It's funny, sometimes, making these classes, especially when we are in S7 and we have no books and have to rely on our knowledge. I think we did quite well. We made a space ship and everything! It was a great lesson. Lots of fun. In the evening we went out to the bar in Sainte Luce, the first time I'd ever been.

On Sunday we went to S17 and has a long hike through the forest. We saw some lemurs and a Uroplatus during the day (which is always amazing). Then we walked up the long beach and had a quick swim before heading back home for a late lunch and a nap.

A couple more days of work and we headed back to Fort Dauphin. All the ACP gang went out for a lovely meal. It was goodbye to Dan and Craig and Vanda. A sad day.


For the last 2 weeks of scheme we were joined by the Pioneers who were a lovely bunch, as well as 2 new volunteers, Kelsey and Sindre. I was able to put up my advent calendar that Abi sent me (the chocolate contents long-gone, of course) and it almost felt festive, along with some carols. It felt good having camp full of people and we had a great time.