New experiences

After one bus ride, three plane flights, and five car trips I finally made it to Chez Antione at 1am to be greeted by a couple of volunteers; I had to wait till breakfast the following morning to meet the rest of the Volunteers and staff. At breakfast I was pleasantly surprised when I found out that an old friend from school was there. Its funny how small the world is.With breakfast and the swim test behind me I started to get settled in my new home in the sun. I have to thank all the staff and volunteers for making me feel at home and teaching me about the local culture. Before I really got to say hello and do my compulsory tai-be as a new member of staff, the volunteers were gone and interphase had begun.For me this is when I got to spend time to get to know the Coco beach staff, local village characters and I also managed to visit the surrounding area and islands. Ten windy days later the site was bubbling with renewed activity as a fresh group of volunteers arrived. The next couple of days involved several briefings and the compulsory swim test. With the volunteers itching to get wet I got started with scuba tune-ups, openwater, and advanced courses. I am happy to say that now two weeks later all volunteers are at least PADI Advanced Openwater divers and a few are already benthic enabled!!So four weeks in Madagascar, six bags of peanuts and a gallon of galleuke later, I am still here, happy and excited about my future here in Andavadoaka.

Pierre –Dive Manager