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April 16 - 22 The highlights this week included an overnight trip to a small village up north by pirogue. While there, we would wait for the low tide at night and collect the sea cucumbers which were maturing in a pen, count and weigh them.
It was another beautiful day (all told, there’d only be maybe three brief showers, after that first bad rainstorm at night, during the six weeks) and we arrived just before sundown. Kat and Anita, along with Angelo, the BV staffer whose project it was, cooked a great fish and rice dinner, and then we waded out along the mud flats to the sea cuke pen which was only showed up during low tides. A strong wind was blowing, and I hadn’t brought a wet suit, which I would regret.
Anita, Kat and I piled in while Deb, Mikhail and Angelo waited for us to come back with the little buggers (kind of cool to handle - some squishy, some quite firm) so they could be weighed. After about 20 minutes in the water, and getting a little cold, Mikhail stopped us. The damn scale wasn’t working. Anita, Angelo, Mikhail and
Deb all tried to get it to work and no dice. Between the wind and the waves, it was too sensitive. So, we gave it up as a bad effort and put the poor little guys back in. A long, cold trek back (OK, it was only about 500 meters, but at night through the mud it seemed way worse) for a brief sleep. Woke up covered in sea mist.
Science can be frustrating, I guess.
The other highlight of the week was for party night. Howard had talked with the owners of Laguna Blu, a more upscale hotel about an hour’s walk from Coco Beach. We could get rooms there, with dinner, for 35 Euros (normally it’s 70, but their restaurant had no roof). So, about 12 of us went, and it was incredible. There were hot showers (solar heated), mirrors (I looked really different after three weeks), and each bungalow had a beautiful outdoor bathroom that looked like a zen garden. And there was ice for the drinks - it was fantastic, especially with lobster for dinner.
Another incredible week in Madagascar.
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masao
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Mmmmm, squishy....
I'm glad you separated the condom story from the sea cucumber one. :-D Wikipedia's explanation of the the sea cucumber's squishiness, or lack thereof is as follows: '...is the peculiar reaction of the creature on being kneaded or disturbed slightly with fingers. It swells and stiffens and a jet of water is released from one end.' Far out....