Tuesday, April 16, 2013

16/04/13 Transition Time




This week the newbies become the oldies and we welcome in some new newbies. This means we are the experienced ones, which seems weird. However it was comforting to know we had learnt a lot over the last four weeks and could answer all the questions they had. All the new guys are (mostly) looking pale and slightly overwhelmed. Easy to forget that was us four weeks ago!

The new group is more mixed in terms of nationality and age compared to the last couple of groups so it will be interesting to see how the camp dynamic changes. Early sign are good as they all seem positive and enthusiastic. Both qualities are needed here in abundance. 

It was certainly sad to say goodbye to the old crew. Luckily some are staying on in Beau Vallon to do their dive master so we can still stay in touch. Others have left to return home - some to go back to work and some to prepare for uni. But the cycle of life on camp continues. Duties must be completed. Food to be cooked and (most importantly) diving to be done. 
The coral group are all done with their exams now and are learning how to do the LIT methodology. Then we can start surveying. YAY :-) 

Surveying is of course the reason we are here so we are all keen to get on with it. Another important factor of our expedition is our community work. This week we embarked on a new project at the Natural 

History Museum in Victoria. We took some workshop activities with kids from school wildlife clubs. The main message is to educate them about the threats to marine life in Seychelles. Encouragingly many of the kids are completely on message and fully understand the impact of over fishing sharks and other endangered species. This is so important and ensures there is a new generations of ambassadors is crucial to the long term survival of the seas here. 

The community work we do here complements many other projects happening on the island and hopefully will help Seychelles to develop sustainably for the future.  It's also great for the volunteers to connect with people from the islands and interact outside of our GVI bubble here at Cap Ternay. 

So on we go for another week of adventure. It's a hard life.

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