Snorkeling...snorkeling...more snorkeling. Things could be worse...

So, remember when I though things couldn't get much better? I was wrong. For some reason everyday for the next 10 days I'll be taking short lecture classes in the evening under a huge thatched roof hut build around a baobab tree and snorkeling for a good 4 hours every morning. My commute to school consists of walking along the beach for .5 km in only my swim trunks and then a nice 30 minute boat ride into the Indian Ocean. We're basically living on a secluded beach on the mainland coast and I wish I had fast enough internet to upload a picture because it's absolutely beautiful. Currently I'm sharing a thatched roof A-frame hut with two buds, we have mats on the floors to sleep on but have instead been either sleeping in the hammock we've set up or on woven lounge chairs, both on our porch a good 5 meters away from the beach. Every morning, just in time for breakfast, we're woken up by the sunrise directly in front of us. Hopefully by the end of this program I'll have perfected the art of climbing coconut palms and will be able to fetch my own fresh coconut for breakfast every morning as well. This class is ridiculous.

This was my home:

Anyway, Pembe Abwe rocks. On Saturday morning, bright and early, we all piled into a small jet boat that picked us up on the beach of our hotel and dropped us off two hours later directly on the beach of the place we're staying. We were greeted with a fair amount of down town during the day until we had our first lectures in the hut beneath the baobab tree where we were introduced to what apparently is a bio class but also sounds like the most awesome 6 weeks of my life. For 10 days every morning at low tide we'll be taking a boat 9 km off the coast to two different coastal reefs, one federally protected and one which is not. After a few days of practice snorkeling and geeking out, we'll be assigned research areas where we'll need to survey and collect data in order to determine if a relationship exists between the plants and animals that exist in the different reefs.

This was my classroom:

After that first lecture, it was time to pile all 25ish of us into two vehicles and drive down the way to something none of us were expecting to see. A FUCKING BABY SEA TURTLE HATCHING. WHAT. Yeah. I don't know if you've ever seen a baby sea turtle, but they're absolutely the cutest things EVER. We witnessed 27 of them hatch and then climb out of the sand. Once they reach the surface (their buried about half a meter deep in their nests), they immediately get super stoked and book it as fast as their little baby sea turtle fins can make it to the ocean. Absolutely amazing experience. All of the turtles we watched hatched were relocated from an island off the mainland coast and transported here. The island has long been used as a place where female turtles return to lay their eggs, but due to recent deforestation and erosion on the island, the island has sunk further down then it used to. Because of this, the high tide will actually cover and rot any nests of eggs that a mother turtle lays. So, this small organization that happens to be down the road from here (Friends Of Maziwe), relocates and hatches them on this beach and we happened to be lucky enough to show up on a date one of the nests were happening. SO COOL.

Also look! PICTURE!

Day 2: Nothing all to special about this day. Getting acclimated to living the life and spent a majority of our time focusing on what we'll be learning out in the sea and preparing ourselves for our 30ish page independent research projects at the end of the semester (yes, I am learning things surprisingly...)

Day 3: This was our first day out on the water and DAMN. Around 9 we all piled into a few small boats and drifted out to a sand bar recently exposed by the low tide a good 9 km from the shore. There we unpacked on our own private island and prepared for a day of class that consisted of exploring a coral reef, catching (and consequently being inked on) by octopus, and having a fucking awesome time. When we returned we were assigned groups of sea creatures that we'll all be studying and researching for the next few days (I've got giant clams...).

Day 4: On our way out to begin learning about our sea creatures (clams...) first hand on the reef we were lucky enough to come upon A FUCKING HUMPBACK WHALE. Obviously we swam with it. It wasn't a full sized whale, but it was pretty big regardless. We noticed that it happened to be caught in a fishing net and a few of the professional researchers we were with tracked it down later on and cut off the net. We not only swan with, but we also saved a humpback whale. It was arguably one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. Oh, and there was a pod of dolphins swimming with us too. Be jealous. On a less cool note: I now know a lot about giant clams.

Day 5-9: Correction: I now know A LOT about giant clams. Anyway, the last few days have been spent spending a good few hours every morning out on the reefs snorkeling. Most days we've been getting up around 6:30 and hopping on a boat by 7 and then back by 1 or 2 for lunch. Soooo much snorkeling... Otherwise it's pretty awesome. No more whale, dolphin, or turtle encounters, but I have seen a fuckton of amazing things in the reef system. CORAL REEFS ARE SO COOL. The amount of diversity and just the whole ecosystem as a whole is absolutely incredible. These last 2 days have been used for collecting data at the two reefs we go to, one unprotected and one that is federally protected (fun fact: The protected reef we go to, Maziwe, also has a small island that used to be a favorite hangout and super private relaxation spot for Earnest Hemmingway). Anyway, my group and I have been laying 50 m transects along the ocean floor and collecting data on the giant clams that we come across. We finished collection yesterday and today was spent presenting our data to the rest of the group. None of our findings were statistically significant, but there was a large trend to more, larger, and healthier clams at the protected reef.

Other than that not too much new on the home front. I can't remember the last time I wore shoes and I'm much more tan than I've ever been in my entire life. I'm also frightened about going back to Portland weather. The other day the wind picked up and it started to rain, naturally we were all freezing and huttled together in a banda for warmth that evening. The next morning we were told that the low that night never went below 75... We're warm weather pussies now. Shit. Anyway, tomorrow we get to take a group of 6^th graders from a local village out to the reef and teach them about the reef system and how to snorkel! Then on Tuesday we head inland to Arusha for a few days (where I'll finally have internet access to actually post these 3 weeks of blog entries) before actually heading out into the bush for over a month when we do bunches of awesome things like homestays with Maasai and Hadza, countless safaris, and even something about climbing Africa's only active volcano. WOO!

Last days in Pembe Abwe/Arusha: So our last day in Pembe Abwe was a fun morning of taking a group of kids out to Maziwe and teaching them how to snorkel. The language barrier got in the way a tad, but we managed.... We also manage to bury Doopy up to her neck in the sand bar (she was standing). And I guess I'm still getting Bio credit for this? Anyway, that evening a few of us walked 40 minutes down the beach to yet another turtle hatching, which was still awesome. Then this morning we were off to Arusha to begin the safari portion of our trip. We were told the bus ride would take about 7 hours, but we should expect 9. It was 14. Oh well though, none of us seemed to mind all that much even when we got stuck in the mud (again). I managed to read a whole book. Anddddd now it's 2 am in a hotel in Arusha where I FINALLY have internet access. I learned recently that all of my clothes desperately need to be washed not by hand nor by me but this hotel charges like...2 fucking us dollars per article of clothing or some bullshit. I could eat for a week off 2 US dollars. Bullshit. I need to find a laundry mat....I also think my clothing is infested with fleas...oh well. That's Africa for ya....