Contacts

92 Bowery St., NY 10013

thepascal@mail.com

+1 800 123 456 789

Category: Teaching

Madagascar Volunteer: Katherine Tracy
BlogForest ConservationMarine ConservationReviewsTeaching

Volunteer in Madagascar: an Amazing Experience

Katherine Tracy recently spent 10 weeks with us in Madagascar as a volunteer on each of our
programs, getting to know the island, the Madagascar Volunteer: Katherine Tracywildlife and the people and creating a lifelong connection.

“September 4 – November 12 is the amount of time I spent on the beautiful island of Nosy Komba. I was quite nervous at the beginning of my trip to the amazing country of Madagascar. This would be my first time venturing out on my own without knowing a soul. Upon arriving at Turtle Cove I was greeted with smiling, friendly faces and an overwhelming feeling of excitement. I didn’t know it yet, but over the next 10 weeks I would be sharing some of the most amazing experiences of my life with some of the most equally amazing people I have ever met.

With Madagascar being a third world country, technology isn’t widely used which forces you to be more intimate with the people around you. I personally thought that the lack of technology made the trip all the more worth wild. You spend the week days doing project work, whether it’s for Marine, Forest or Teaching. I was lucky enough to be able to spend time in each project and got a feel for all three aspects of project work. The teaching portion had me interacting with the locals on Nosy Be and Nosy Komba. These people are extremely outgoing and kind, they were more than happy to have us on their island and to teach us about their culture.

The Forest and Marine projects allow you to get up close in personal with marine life and the forest life of Madagascar. I was even fortunate enough to become a PADI certified advanced water diver thanks to my amazing instructor, Kyle.

I would have to say that even with the amount of beauty that I was privileged to see and interact with, the people are what really made this trip for me. Coming on your own forces you to come out of your comfort zone, to be more social so that you don’t feel alone throughout your stay. You’re with these people for 24/7 every day for weeks at a time which makes you grow close and makes it extremely hard to say goodbye.

In my experience, saying goodbye to Turtle Cove, to the incredible volunteers that I was lucky enough to have the chance to meet and to the welcoming locals that I may never see again, was almost impossible. I bawled like a little 3 year old all the way to the airport, I’m sad to admit. It just hits you hard knowing that all these people will most likely never be all together again in your life.

Enjoy your time in Madagascar make friendships that will last forever because I promise you it will change your life or at least have some sort of positive impact on it. To me it all feels like an amazing dream that I once had and wish I could go back to”.

Madagascar is an incredible country, the perfect setting for any volunteer to experience a truly unique and special gap year adventure. Contact us today to book your place.

Volunteering: Madagascar is Paradise
BlogReviewsTeaching

Life is life, Madagascar is Paradise for a Volunteer

Caitlin ended her exploring stint with us at Turtle Cove where she joined our community project as a volunteer for two months before returning home to Australia. She kindly wrote a piece for us about her time on Nosy Komba and the friendships she forged on and off camp. It was a pleasure having her here and we can’t wait to see her again.

Volunteer: Madagascar is Paradise

“It’s been one week, one entire week since I left MRCI Madagascar. As I lay in my bed, in a well structured house, with a burning fire, a nice warm shower and mum’s home cooked dinner, I feel more than appreciative of what I am fortunate to have, yet I still have not lost my attachment to Madagascar and the beautiful people I have met.

Spending only eight weeks in paradise just wasn’t enough. You realise the value of life, you will forever cherish the memories and never stop dreaming of Nosy Komba, the beautiful little island off Madagascar. This adventure for me was life changing.

I spent eight weeks volunteer teaching in Madagascar, coming across this online and having an interest in education and volunteering, this was an easy must-do for me. This was a rare opportunity that I’m so glad I took. I was very lucky to share my time with such passionate staff and motivated volunteers, working with like-minded people, forming bonds and friendships like no other. To wake up every day with not only the beautiful scenery but also everyone’s smiling faces; I compare it to a family. You grow, learn and thrive off each other; hearing one another’s adventures, planning more and creating memories along the way. No matter who you are, where you are from, what language you speak…there is a place for you in Madagascar and for me I will be forever grateful to these wonderful people I now call friends.

As a young, naive 19 year old girl who has visions to travel the world, it is more than a blessing to have this opportunity of being a part of the community program. At night, myself and my fellow teachers would plan our classes for the next day and we would always have help by our outstanding coordinator and other volunteers too. We would talk about our days, our students and even learn a few things ourselves.

Our walks to class…definitely not a normal commute to work. Walking, trekking in the forest, climbing and scaling boulders. Sometimes it would take an hour’s walk but it was all worth it. As soon as you come close to a village all you can hear are hello’s, thank you’s, the kids calling out your names and singing songs you have taught them…a magical feeling.

Volunteering: Madagascar is ParadiseWe taught kids and adults. The kids eager for more…more learning, more yelling, more colouring, more play time, more songs and dances. Eager to enjoy their time that they have with us. These kids to me, became like family. Local Malagasy kids, sharing and giving the little food they have, always wanting you to join in a game of basketball or soccer, but my favourite was swim time. I had so much fun with these beautiful kids, I became so attached it never felt right saying goodbye. Not only to this day but every day, every single one of them, I will never forget. These kids all under the age of 15 really showed me the value of life, the value of love and how to embrace every situation.

The adults of Nosy Komba and Nosy Be, are very intelligent, it was so impressive. You were able to have a normal conversation with them, in English! Every lesson they participated in, they would grasp the concept so quickly and so well! Their understanding was mind blowing! Such intelligent people, if a few struggled, no one was left behind and they would all help until everyone could comprehend. They always wanted to learn more, even the little things, always wanted to know until the very last detail. So many laughs, so many deep and meaningful conversations about our lives back at home, their personal interest in us never grows old.

I had a tendency to grow strong connections with them, because they spoke such good English, I was able to spend a lot of time with them. I would spend most weekends and a lot of my spare time with them. They would invite me into their homes, I would help them cook and then enjoy a meal that was prepared in a way I had never seen before. They would show us the local places and where to go! Enjoying massive boxing and football matches during my time (both so different to our ways in the westernised world), partying and just having an everyday conversation with the magnificent people of Madagascar.

Simply, they invited us to be apart of their culture. So I embraced it.

This was the most precious gift given to me, I took a step out of my affluent, middle class life and took time to embrace their culture and without this, I don’t think you could fully enjoy Madagascar. Without knowing these people, it would have never changed who I am today. They taught me so many life lessons, so many things I don’t need to worry about, the essentials and values. The culture is the one thing I will always treasure and I owe it to the wonderful people I met along the way.

Life is life, Madagascar is paradise!

Volunteer James Barker
BlogForest ConservationMarine ConservationReviewsTeaching

Volunteer in Madagascar – New Experiences, New Friends

Volunteer, James Barker from Sheffield, England, spent 10 weeks participating in our forest conservation, marine conservation and teaching volunteer programs. His aim was to experience something totally different from his everyday life, which he most certainly did and not only did he leave with plenty of photos, but also with new friends.

Volunteer James Barker“I am incredibly lucky, Sheffield is one of the greenest cities in Europe, I live on the doorstep of one of the UK’s largest National Parks. I spend much of my free time on my bike pedalling the scenic, winding country roads of this area of outstanding natural beauty… But me and my friend Vincent wanted to see something different, and that’s where we found Madagascar, the polar opposite to Sheffield.

We arrived in Nosy Be, and even just on the drive from the airport to the boat port we experienced something of such contrast to the norm of life in Sheffield: Mountains, forest, road side stalls selling bananas, green oranges and vanilla.

But here in this unfamiliar and bizarre environment, different to anything either of us has ever experienced before, we quickly threw ourselves into the life here, which quite honestly is better than anything we could ever have imagined! We were lucky enough to have a crack at the forest conservation, marine conservation and also the teaching programme.

The forest programme gave us the opportunity to see the infamous lemurs indigenous only to Madagascar, many of Madagascar’s unbelievably extensive chameleon species of all shapes, sizes and colours not to mention the diverse population of insects and geckos. All whilst actually being proactive, conducting reptile, bird and Lemur surveys collecting useful data, indicating current populations of these species in different habitats from plantations to dense forest.

Gapyear volunteer in MadagascarIn marine, we were able to learn new skills, becoming firstly PADI open water divers then completing our Advanced open water, thanks to the amazing on site diving instructor and dive masters, before becoming competent in fish identification, allowing us to participate in fish surveying. But diving in this country which seems to have everything was unworldly, swimming with rays, turtles, an incredible range of fish species and even sharks, was something special, impossible to forget!

Teaching was not only rewarding but tremendous fun, there’s a range of ages and abilities, from 5 year olds, with very basic English but huge characters and great enthusiasm to learn, to adults with impressive English, but with a burning desire to refine and build on their knowledge. It wasn’t only the actual teaching that was so enjoyable about this aspect of the programme but also getting to know the local people who are warm, welcoming and enormous fun to be around.

I left Madagascar knowing I might never experience anything quite as special anywhere else, but with a mind filled with new knowledge, a camera full of new experiences and new friends whom I will never forget”.

If you’re looking to take a gap year abroad and experience something both meaningful and completely different, contact us today!

Madagascar Volunteer - Ankarana Forest Reserve
BlogForest ConservationTeaching

Ankarana Forest Reserve

Volunteers participating in either the Forest Conservation Volunteer Programs or Teaching Volunteer Programs will spend 5 days visiting the Ankarana Forest Reserve in Northern Madagascar as part of their adventure tour.

The reserve’s southern entrance is situated in Mahamasina, about 108 kilometres south-west of Antsiranana and about 29 kilometres north-east of Ambilombe. There is also a second entrance near Amboandriky but a 4×4 is required to reach it. Access to the third entrance near Matsaborimanga is very difficult.

The reserve is a small, partially vegetated plateau made up of 150 million year old Jurassic limestone and was created in 1956. The limestone is prone to erosion, causing it to produce both underground rivers (some of which contain crocodiles) and caves. The canyons are forested with dry, deciduous vegetation, many species of which are endemic to the reserve only.

In the west, the plateau ends abruptly in what is known as the “Wall of Ankarana”, a sheer cliff that extends 25 kilometres north to south and rises as high as 280 metres. In the south, the limestone breaks up into separate spires known as tower karst. The harder base rock has been etched into channels and ridges at some places, known as astsingy. The reserve is also home to the Mangily sinkhole which is up to 700 metres across and 140 metres deep with a volume of 25 million m³.

About 100 kilometres of cave passages have been mapped within the plateau. La Grotte d’Andrafiabe is one of the most accessible caves and on its own, comprises at least 8.035 kilometres of horizontal passages. Not only is the cave system here the longest in Madagascar, but possibly also in the whole of Africa.

The diverse wildlife can be viewed by either hiking or 4×4 drive vehicles which can access most of the campsites. Below the plateau, a grassy plain leads to the Indian Ocean.

Visitors to the forest can expect to see various mammals including the fossa, fanaloka, northern ring-tailed mongoose, numerous species of bats and, of course, several different lemurs. According to Bradt’s Madagascar Wildlife, it may be that Ankarana has the highest density of primates in any forest in the world.

Reptiles in the area include various geckos, the Madagascan ground boa and various chameleons which include the world’s largest chameleon, the Oustalet’s chameleon (which can reach 60 centimetres in length).

Bird lovers; be sure to look out for the endangered Madagascan fish eagle. The reserve is also home to several endemic bird species including the Madagascan pygmy kingfisher, Madagascan green pigeon, the greater vasa parrot and 15 of the 16 vanga species. Also look out for raptors such as the Madagascan scops owl and the Madagascan Harrier-hawk.

In the 1980s, expeditions to the reserve started cataloguing the various plants and animals, including fossils of several extinct large lemurs, amongst others. Bird lists were also collated and an interesting aspect of the behaviour of insect eating birds in the reserve was noted. It was reported that several species of these small insect eating birds foraged together in mixed groups. Within each group, the different species would then specialise in how and where they sought their prey. Some species focused on slender branches, others on the trunks. Working together also seems to have provided them with greater protection from their predators.

With so much to see and do in the reserve, the adventure tour is sure to become one of the highlights of your volunteering experience in Madagascar.

Contact us today and book your spot on either the Forest Conservation Volunteer Program or the Teaching Volunteer Program.

Teaching English
BlogReviewsTeaching

Teaching English in Madagascar as a Volunteer

Teaching volunteer, Alex MacIntyre, has been in Madagascar teaching English in the neighbouring village of Ampangorina as part of his 16 week volunteer program.

“It is dangerous to hold lofty expectations. I reminded myself of this every time I felt tempted to believe the cliché that volunteering abroad would automatically guarantee me an ‘eye opening’ and transformative experience. So it was with an open mind that I stepped onto the plane in Melbourne airport, bound for the tropical island of Madagascar – known to most only
Teaching English - Alex MacIntyrethrough the series of movies that share its name.

The real Madagascar has proven to be a trifle different from the theatrical depiction. Stepping off the boat onto Turtle Cove, it took me several breaths to absorb the scene of white sand, shimmering blue water and lush green jungle that was to become my home for the next four-months.

This image, however, exists in juxtaposition to the dire poverty felt by the majority of the Malagasy people. Teachers at MRCI strive to tackle this situation. Everyday we take the dubious but stunning journey to our friendly neighbouring village, Ampangorina. We teach hoards of energetic children and handfuls keen adults, in the faint hope that it will improve their likelihood of future employment, or simply feed their hunger to learn. At times it is tiring and tedious but we are unified by a shared vision and tacit acceptance that struggle is necessary to achieve it. Fulfilment comes in increments. It comes from enthusiasm detectable on the faces of students. From being received by the community with warm appreciation, not as a foreigner, but as a brother and a friend. This is true fulfilment. This is the hidden gem that we search for in our travels. This is what I found in Madagascar.

The wisdom and perspective I have gained during my time in Madagascar will remain with me always. As will the friendships I have forged. So, for all those considering volunteering with MRCI in the future, my advice is simple. Do it. Time on this strange and wonderful speck of paradise is time well spent.”

Take Alex’s advice and ensure your gap year abroad is an eye-opening, transformative experience too. Contact us to book your trip today.