We were excited to read about the experiences of our first Malagasy scholar, who joined us on the September expedition.

My name is Bakoli Andrianaivoravelona, I am a Malagasy undergraduate student, studying botany at the University of Antananarivo and I had the chance to get a scholarship from Blue Ventures.  First of all, I would like to express my gratitude to BV for giving me the opportunity to get here. It is amazing to see what BV has achieved since its creation. I am impressed how Blue Ventures manage to get volunteers to take  part in expeditions every 6 weeks. What the team is trying to  do is fantastic not only for the people who live in Andavadoaka but  also for Madagascar.

I am really concerned about conservation of Madagascar's natural resources and I was delighted  to have the opportunity to get involved in marine conservation. It was extremely  rewarding.  We received fascinating science training on site. I learned a lot during this course. Besides the computer test, we also had to do the water test which made the training more exciting.  In addition, the dive training was very good. Thank you so much, I really enjoyed my training and as a diver now, I hope I will be able to carry on diving.

Blue Ventures is also involved in social activities which include teaching English in the primary and secondary schools in the village, fishery catch observation and monitoring, and a range of  other projects. I enjoyed my time doing all of these activities.  Making new friends was fantastic and interesting as well - I now have friends from all over the world!.

To sum up, the expedition was successful and greatly rewarding.  I  spent a memorable and fascinating time in Andavadaoka and such experience will certainly help me in my future career.  I am thankful to all the team in Andavadoaka and in London!

To find out more about the BV scholarship click here.