Visiting Madagascar has always been on my bucket list. After graduating university, I had the opportunity to go out there for a couple of months. I was to South-West Madagascar volunteering at an NGO based in a small fishing village as a Marine Research Assistant. In this blog, we’ll go through some of the highs and lows of my volunteering experience, the memories I treasure, and the lessons I learned from volunteering.
3 High Points
Tagged Turtles
As part of a tag-and-release programme set up by the NGO, fishermen are encouraged to bring any turtles they catch for tagging. The fishermen are rewarded as an incentive to continue doing this instead of killing and selling the turtles. Turtle fisheries are big business in Madagascar and part of the NGO’s work was to help the community recognise the importance of turtles in the ecosystem and that there are more sustainable fishing options available. Every turtle is measured and identified and once the turtle has been tagged, they are released back into the ocean. I was very lucky to have fulfilled this bucket list dream of tagging turtles, not just once, but 3 times.
Planted a Mangrove
I helped plant a mangrove at Honko Reserve. A group of us from the NGO went out to the reserve with a group of locals to plant the mangroves. We spread out across the designated area for planting and started planting. It was so rewarding to see everyone planting this huge area of mangrove forest. Mangroves, when established, are known feeding and nursery areas for various marine and bird life. They can also protect low lying areas against the impacts of storms (Madagascar experiences cyclones but you’ll read more about that later) and trap sediment and pollutants running off the land so they doesn’t reach the ocean.
Changing scenery
On the journey back to Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital, I experienced 2 full days of varying landscapes. Starting in the desert, moving through mountains, rainforests, rice paddies, vast plains and finishing in the city. It was just fascinating how one country can have so many different landscapes.
3 Low Points
Cyclone
I had only just landed in Madagascar. The driver from my hotel picked me up and in his broken English told me a storm was coming. I had around 6 hours until the next flight. I had been contacted by the director of the NGO, firstly to check that I had arrived in the country safely but then to warn me that my next flight would likely be cancelled because a cyclone was about to make landfall. The next morning, I went to the airport but after hours of waiting around, I realised something must be happening because the shops were closing. I spoke basic French but not enough to have understood the cyclone was incoming and the airport was cancelling everything for 3 days and everyone had to leave immediately… The exhaustion, the language barrier, the lack of help from anyone at the airport was so difficult. I’d managed to get through to the NGO who arranged for the hotel to collect me and put in in the same room until I could eventually fly. I felt much better after a solid sleep and lots of food but waiting out a cyclone is no fun.
Basic living is extremely tough
Living in a hut and showering with well water sounds fun and is fun for around a couple of weeks but the novelty, for lack of a better word, wears off when you have to sweep your bed out every day and night because the geckos and cockroaches insist on nibbling every inch of wood above the bed and you never feel totally clean because the well water smells a bit funky and is freezing cold (although that is quite refreshing in 45-degree heat). Living on basic food (rice, beans, and bananas) every day also gets tedious after a while. We also had to use drop toilets, this was interesting, particularly at night when you would try shine your torch enough so the cockroaches would hide. You do find ways to live with the basics like decorating your hut with shells and birthday cards and smothering your rice in soy sauce or looking up at all the stars through the roof of the toilet at night. This way of life makes you appreciate the luxuries we take for granted – varying meals, hot showers, clean water, flushing toilets. It was an interesting way of life but not, I think, one that suits me or one I would rush back to.
Being poorly
I got really poorly with gastritis and gastroenteritis. I lost a lot of weight very quickly and mentally it was tough. Health care isn’t as good in Madagascar as in other countries and the doctor’s surgeries don’t operate the same way you would hope they would (maybe they’re open, maybe not). I managed to see a travelling doctor who literally travels up and down the country seeing patients. He told me to eat rice and bananas (which I had already been doing) and that would fix my stomach issues. I made the decision to leave volunteering and go home, I needed proper health care and my physical and mental health was suffering. Luckily, I had good travel insurance and when I got home they refunded my flights home and all medical expenses as long as I sent them the receipts.
Note: It is so important to get travel insurance. You have no idea what will happen to you while you are away and they can be really helpful when you need them. Make sure they cover all the activities you think you will do and of course, cover the basics (cancellation, curtailment, now COVID, loss of baggage and passport etc) well. Please, please, PLEASE always get travel insurance!
Treasured Memories
Meeting Strangers at the airport
During the cyclone, the airport opened and closed a lot. I think it was the second day of sitting at the airport when I met a fellow traveller called Kyle. The flight had just been cancelled again, only announced in French of course, and along with others I must have looked very confused. Kyle who was sat just along from me on the bench introduced himself and asked if I knew understood what was happening. When I answered no, he very kindly translated, we got chatting and he had nowhere to stay. Kyle had nowhere to stay when the flights got cancelled so when the hotel manager came to pick me up, he said he could share my room if we were both ok with that. Having a roommate for a couple of nights was fun, especially after a couple of days alone. The day the cyclone cleared and we eventually got to fly, 2 lovely Christian missionaries gave me water when I ran out and didn’t have money to get anymore. They were a lovely couple, kind of reminded me of my grandparents, and we chatted for ages.
I stood on a snake
Yes, you read that right. On my way to the toilet one afternoon, I was walking slowly just looking around appreciating where I was in the world when I stood on a small snake. I had the shock of my life! It quickly raced away unharmed and I didn’t get bitten or anything, it was a harmless species of snake (although I never found out what species). I was barefoot at the time too as I usually was at base camp, after this little incident I was a bit more cautious when walking around barefoot.
Evening entertainment
After dinner, all the volunteers would rush down to the beachfront to catch the sunset (we even saw the green flash a couple of times). We would then play games such as werewolf until the electricity went off, and even then, we’d get our torches and headtorches and carry on.
Hugging one of the oldest Baobabs in the world
On a visit to the Reniala Reserve in the Spiny Forest, a group of us had the opportunity to see, learn about and hug a 1400-year-old Baobab tree. It was huge and so beautiful! Baobabs only fruit when they reach maturity at around 100 years old. We also saw lots of chameleons, a snake, a tortoise, and the reserve’s lemur rehab centre.
Lessons Learned
I put a lot of pressure on myself when I left university to get a job in the field I had studied (Marine Biology) and bankrupt myself to get experience if I needed to (which I did). While I was volunteering, most of what was advertised before I booked was not what actually happened, and I found that really hard to live with. I also felt that some of the science-based activities were quite out of date and when they asked for suggestions of how things could be improved, they didn’t actually want to know or listen to any suggestions. This was also something I found really difficult.
Looking back, I don’t really know why I put myself under so much pressure. Bankrupting did nothing for me and I spent months, if not years, trying to get back to a financially stable place. I realise now that there wasn’t a lot I could do about this situation. I thought I had done enough research when looking for somewhere to volunteer or intern but perhaps I hadn’t done enough. I couldn’t have changed what happened when I got volunteering but perhaps a bit more research would have highlighted any issues before I booked. It took me a long time to realise that overall, I did have good experiences like tagging turtles, diving, planting a mangrove and helping construct an artificial reef. Those are the experiences that are important.
Thanks for reading!
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