Fiji Update: Phase 22 Weeks 4 to 6 Blog update By Lizzie Wedderburn

Unfortunately the compressor broke last week, but our expedition leader Steve went to the capital, Suva, to get it fixed. It did mean that we couldn’t dive for a week which meant we had to come up with different ways to entertain ourselves. These included taking a walk up the hill to see the most amazing view ever, an inter Bure volleyball tournament and snorkelling trips. The less adventurous of us spent long afternoons at the sand spit, which is about a half hour walk from camp but well worth the journey.

As well as relaxing we caught up with our science training by going on many an educational snorkel. As soon as we were diving again we did our in water fish tests and cracked on with our size estimation skills. On Sunday the 15^th we went to our local village Navatu where we spent a beautiful sunny day with our adoptive families. After lunch everyone headed up to the hammock to soak up the view and then dispersed again to have multiple plates of cake and cups tea and not forgetting the kava!

We have started spotting whales out in the passage but unfortunately none of them have been close enough to identify them but apparently its humpback season. As well as whales we have seen a lot of White Bellied Long Nosed Spinner Dolphins which love to play in front of our boat, Up and Under. We saw a pod of about thirty of them including a few babies which were SOOOO cute!!! They’re not the only babies on camp though as one of the camp dogs, Alice, has given birth to an adorable puppy which we have named Beru.

It has been very hot recently which is great for the sunbathers amongst us but not so good for our fresh water supply so we are al hoping for rain some time soon, which makes a change from being home in the UK! It’s got to the stage in the phase were people go a bit nuts and in keeping with this a number of people on camp have shaved their heads to varying degrees, including me... This Thursday A level results came out so we all waited nervously whilst people got their results but thankfully everyone got into Uni. Some of the staff went on a ration run on Thursday as well so we all got our post and packages which made us a bit homesick but also brought us good things such as BBQ sauce, Milka chocolate and Sudokus!

This Sunday we went to another local village, Raviravi. This was awesome as the village is lovely, plus they had FLUSHING TOILETS!!!!! This was a very welcome change from carrying buckets of water up the hill to the toilet :D The food was amazing and the villagers were really welcoming and we all had a really nice day and were very sad to leave.

Today, Monday 23^rd August, was a sad day as three of our number left. We had a group photo on the beach and then waved them off with a few tears. None of us can quite believe that we have spent six weeks here already, it feels like just yesterday that we met each other at the airport looking very pale and quite tired as opposed to now when we are all very brown but still quite tired!

Anyways I’m off to be social so it’s goodnight from Nukubulavu camp!

Tanzania - End of Programme Update

So in the first three weeks we stayed and worked in Uchira, which was great fun! We taught English twice a week in a school, which was really rewarding, painted a hospital ward (which we offered to do, and pay for the paint, because they couldn't afford it), planted trees, and our overall project for the three weeks was an agricultural project, which we then had to present to the village council in Swahili! A bit of a scary experience, but really good!

When we went into the bush with Dom, we stayed with the Maasai, in a real boma, because there was only two of us, which was in incredible experience! The children are so friendly, and though you can't understand a word they say, or vice versa, they have so much energy and just play with them all the time! Then during the day we went on research transects, driving through the bush and noting down everything we saw. Over the course of the four days, we saw so many giraffe, impala, gazelle, dik dik, and even a serval, which are pretty elusive! Also, just driving over from Arusha, a herd of 22 elephant just casually crossed the road! One of the most incredible things i've ever witnessed!

Overall the trip was incredible, and I was just upset I wasn't staying for longer! The friendships you make with the other volunteers is brilliant as well, and Dom was incredible! Not sure what else I can say really, but definitely go there, you will definitely not regret it!

Tanzania Update

"The first there weeks in Moshi were great, to say the least. It was the perfect introduction to life in Africa. Everyone we met, including both the villagers and the staff, was welcoming and helpful. The work was hard but rewarding. At first I was hesitant because it seemed like our individual projects weren’t going to be relevant to the village council, but after giving the final presentation—in Swahili—and hearing feedback I realized how much they appreciated our work.

Three weeks was just the right amount of time in Uchira. Leaving was sad, but that is proof of how much fun we had. The three day safari felt like a little reward for all the work we did in Uchira; I had a blast and it got me really excited to live in the bush.

So far, the bush has exceeded my expectations. The Masai are very welcoming, the camp is comfortable, and the scenery is breathtaking. I can’t wait to live there for the next five weeks!"

Julia Longo (USA)

FIJI: First four weeks

Well that’s week four over and it only seems like one weeks gone by! After arriving in Savusavu we picked up all our rations and made our way to our new home for the next 10 weeks, Nukubulavu Camp Greenforce. The whole group got stuck in right away and got the whole place up and running and it wasn’t too long before we were all in the water to start our dive training.

Now I don’t know if you’ve ever done any diving but sticking your head underwater and breathing in air is a really weird experience at first. Once you’re over the whole alien aspect of it though it all just feels right and seeing the fish and learning the skills soon came naturally to the whole group, most of who are now qualified Advanced Open Water Divers!

Now that we can all dive we’ve started our science training and just this weekend we had our first fish tests. It is slightly harder than we all expected but the satisfaction of being able to know what we are seeing and that the data we will soon collect will be of use in protecting Fijis marine heritage is totally awesome. My favourite fish that we could see out here is the Spotted Eagle Ray which can grow to three and a half metres across and is often seen at our best dive site, Namena. Namena is our local MPA (Marine Protected Area) where no fishing is allowed and as such the fish get really big and really plentiful....there are also rumours of Hammerhead Sharks out there to, which I can’t wait to see!

Every Sunday we go to a local village for church. We alternate between our nearest village Navatu and the other villages in our local district, Kubulau. In Navatu we spend the day with our adopted families but during visits to the other villages we stay in a large group and get involved in the community en masse. This last Sunday we went to Kiobo which is home to the chief of Kubulau, Tui Kubulau. What made this so special is that Tui is an epic guitar player and he had the whole Greenforce team singing along to classics like Hey Jude, Hotel California and Sweet Home Alabama. Sitting under a tree and drinking Kava with our friends and singing tunes really brought it all home about how special and lasting the memories from here will be.

So anyways I’m off to eat a hearty home cooked meal cooked by my fellow volunteers so its moce (goodbye :D) for now!

Harry Henley

Ecuador- April Phase 2010

Week 5 – last week of Lalo Loorb

The last week off the Lalo Loor was a busy affair. We immersed ourselves in the community for a few days preparing the new liberty for the kids of Tabuga. A lot of sanding and painting but well worth the dust. Wednesday we finished up our steps on all the trails. On Thursday we visited a local organic farm ran by the Lalo Loor Coordinator Jason. Here we spent a relaxed day learning about organic farming and picking fresh fruit to make smoothes in the afternoon. Thursday night we went for a little stroll around the jungle and we saw a fer de lance snake , a silly amount of frogs, and spiders galore oh and a tarantula the size of a dinner plate Friday we cleared a trail that lead around the reserve and after a quick spot of lunch we got ourselves into Pedernales for much needed internet time and food.

We spent the weekend back in Quito. To be honest this was a much needed affair to catch up with our favourite Mr. Finns Mc Cools. However no time to relax on Sunday because we had an early bus ride to Huasquila

Week 6 to 8 Huasquila
We arrived in Huasquila Sunday afternoon to fresh Pina coladas and comfy seats which actually had backs to them. Walking up to our rooms, we stumbled across a pool and we realised Frankie hadn’t given too much away about this tourist resort. Our first working day started off with weeding in the garden, followed by hosing the earth for the greenhouse. Once we finished work, there was no debate about what we’d spend the rest of the day doing...pool time. Our first Wednesday afternoon off was spent discovering a waterfall in the primary Amazonian jungle with a local guide, while others headed off to the local town of Tena where the supermarket actually stocked jars of Nutella, to Jenny’s delight. The only problem was that the following day, Hannah somehow managed to smash a full jar of Nutella goodness on the path.

After a hard week’s work, chopping Bamboo and bagging soil, we decided to let off some steam by going rafting after a hearty breakfast of delicious porridge, eggs and bread. Our journey down the River Yatunyaku involved a lot of falling into the water (or in Ananya’s case, being pushed into the water) and swimming the rapids. After a lunch consisting of chocolate cake and burritos, which Frankie helped himself to 4 times, our Irish guide became adamant on getting Jenny in the water but of course was unsuccessful. The following morning was spent working on our tan by the pool and obtaining more jars of Nutella for our pancakes at breakfast.

Our second week started with a bang, when we went to cut several bamboo trees down with machetes in knee deep puddles of mud we had to carry heavy bamboo trees across and kept getting stuck. After stabilizing the greenhouse with bamboo, our next monumentous task was digging a 80cm wide and deep trench across the garden. After 2 solid days of digging and hoeing and getting very muddy (though this was mainly due to Frankie pushing Jenny into the trench) we had a fine-looking trench fit for a World War 1 soldier. The second week also marked the arrival of our latest American co-volunteer, Hannah Vogel, newly nicknamed Ben who joined us on our escapades around the Amazon. The rest of the week involved bagging soil into plastic bags which we found out to our delight was for planting cocoa trees. A lot of the seeds which were given to the two Hannah’s however went mysteriously missing... the rest of the week passed uneventfully apart from Ananya somehow literally getting ants in her pants, when a whole colony of red ants decided to nest in her shorts on the clothes line.

Our well deserved Saturday off was spent on a trek in the primary Amazon forest which also included canyoning on several waterfalls. Our trip involved tasting the jungle cuisine, which consisted of ‘dragon blood’ from a tree, heart of palm, salty ants and sugar cane all washed down with water from a bamboo stick, while dressed up in natural, vine earrings and red noses made of flowers. When we weren’t eating, we were hiking down a river and realised rubber boots were actually a hindrance when the water level was higher that the boots. After canyoning, we hiked up steep, dense jungle where Joe somehow managed to get himself, Naomi and Hannah covered in termites. Sunday started off with a trip into the nearest town Tena, where we stocked up on chocolate and other necessities such as internet. The rest of our day was spend watching films and the less lazy of us went to visit the nearby animal rescue centre.

Bahamas- April 2010- Week 5

It’s been a mixed week – the low points were consistently windy weather, so we only managed one dive (but it was a good one!) and Sarah going home (we miss you!). There have been loads of highs though.

The dive we did was a fun dive: we over-weighted ourselves and went down with no fins on so we could race across the sandy bottom and build human pyramids 20m down!

We kept busy the rest of the time – we had some really interesting lectures from Dani and Ian, the scientists, on Island Formation, History of the Island and Sharks (did you know that Hammerheads have no pain receptors and Nurse Sharks have the most forceful bite?). We visited Pigeon Island and had various competitions such as a Scavenger Hunt and a Dragon’s Den/Shark Tank game, although now, 6 days later, only two inventions are still standing – the shower tidiers and the football goals.

Saturday night’s theme was Disney and it was a really good one – the girls all dressed up as Dalmatians with Siobhan, the camp leader, as Cruella De Vill e. We also had Aladdin and Abu and Peter Pan and Captain Hook!

So, it’s been a busy week and I’ve really enjoyed it – the weather should be great for week 6, so hopefully it will get even busier!

Vickie Miller

Bahamas- April 2010- Week 4

Week four has been the week of the crossword, with clues being shouted across camp constantly. It has also been the week of close encounters with Bull and Nurse Sharks and ‘Big Pop’ the 8ft Loggerhead Turtle.

We start the week with more of our Advanced Open Water dives (perfecting our buoyancy whilst doing slaloms if always good), and also went on snorkelling trips. The amount of coral and fish life you can see just a couple of meters under the surface is amazing!

The paper fish tests were also sat this week and everyone passed with flying colours, so we can now move onto the in-water fish IDing. Pierre the first aid mannequin was also introduced to us as part of the EFR course we started and completed this week, and as a result, offers of medical assistance are now common (whether required or not!).

We also went on a few trips around the island this week, to Morgan’s Bluff (the most Northern point of Andros) and to the Fresh Creek Lighthouse and Somerset Beach, which looks like a picture in a magazine.

Saturday evening’s dressing-up theme as ‘Cowboys and Indians’ and ended up with a water fight on the beach in which everyone got soaked – a good end to an enjoyable week.

Laura Mann