Another inspiring and wonderful week on the wild side.
I've hit my stride. Generally feeling like this whole thing was a terrific idea, and pat on the back to me. At the moment nothing much dramatic happens, and I don't go on any of my usual misadventures but everything is tip top!
In case you are thinking "what is that malcontent doing over there?", and are keen for a bit more detail other than a list of thing I've learnt then.... here's a basic run down of what I did for the past five days. And yes, that's a picture of a 40kg game fish.
Friday
Last day of lectures for the taught module on "Endangered species recovery techniques". Had some lectures on de-extinction and re-introduction of species. In the evening I had... a date.
Saturday
Drove up to the north of the island with some of my buddies in the early morning, did two dives then headed to a friend's house for beers - only a couple for me in the afternoon as I was driving :) . We bought some fish from the boats that came in at sunset, plodded home through the rain and then had a lovely barbeque with the fish and some baked spuds in the fire. I drove us all home and we got back at midnight. Long day!
Sunday
We took the car (hired for the weekend) to the local market to buy vegetables and have a look around. Then drove through the Black River Gorges National Park and stopped for lunch at Chamerel restaurant.
Monday
Work at the Gerald Durrell Endemic Wildlife Sanctuary (link here) to learn some basic animal husbandry. Molly and I just spend all day feeding things and getting swooped on by parakeets. Very fun!
Tuesday
Same as above, but today a wild bat came in so I practiced my bat handling skills. We also took a lot of animal-based-selfies.
Four things I learnt this week
1. Whilst driving in Mauritius, everything is an emerging hazard. Stray dogs, children, people reversing, roti sellers, pot holes, people picking guava by the road side. Just, bloody everything.
2. The Abbotts Booby is one of the biggest boobies in the Indian Ocean.
3. Alex the grey african parrot was a smart parrot and parakeets eat hot chilli peppers like they are sweet, sweet candies.
4. My first wisdom tooth feels as though NOW is the time to start coming through. Is it possible that I am now wiser than a child?