School & university Expeditions

Introduction

Blue Ventures offers unique group expeditions to Madagascar – one of the most biologically diverse places known to man. These group expeditions are highly suitable for schools wishing to visit a tropical location, with expert guidance and wide-ranging activities.

Students will see wildlife that exists nowhere else on Earth. They will live alongside nomadic villagers who survive off the sea. And they will learn first-hand how conservationists work to protect threatened coral reefs, mangroves and other habitats that sustain life on Earth.

 

For more than five years, Blue Ventures has brought hundreds of people from around the world to join our conservation expeditions to the southwest coast of Madagascar, home to the fourth largest continuous coral reef system in the world.

Madagascar has been designated a “hotspot” for its vast biological diversity. Scientists say 6,000 marine species are known to live off the shores of Madagascar, but this represents only a small fraction of the underwater diversity yet to be discovered. Madagascar is also the only place you can find lemurs in their natural habitat. And the country is home to famous baobab forests where trees can live to be 1,000 years old and grow more than 10 metres in diameter.

Blue Ventures is now offering mini-expeditions, which will take students through national park areas where they can hike through canyons, swim beneath waterfalls and spot lemurs jumping through trees overhead.

Students will visit Blue Ventures’ conservation research site in the remote fishing village of Andavadoaka – population 1,200 – located along the southwest coast of Madagascar. In 2007, Andavadoaka won the prestigious Equator Prize award from the United Nations for its work with Blue Ventures and other conservation groups to protect local marine resources.

Students will learn snorkelling and fish identification. They will explore coral reef areas where they can spot brightly coloured angel and butterfly fish, endangered sea turtles, spotted stingrays, giant lobsters and fluorescent corals.

Students will stay in an eco-friendly lodge with seaside cabins, located adjacent to Andavadoaka. They will ride in traditional dug-out canoes called “pirogues” and learn how the nomadic Vezo people rely on the sea for food, transport and cultural identity. They will also see first-hand how conservationists are working with local villagers to create a vast reserve that will span 700-square kilometres, benefit 25 local villages and protect coral reefs, mangroves, sea grass beds and other threatened habitats.

It is a once-in-a-lifetime adventure for students to experience cultures and habitats most never have the chance to see.