Life in Ifaty

Your first day in Ifaty is spent with an introduction to the personnel, the completion of paperwork and the start of your introductory training. Make sure you have the papers documented in our ‘What we need before you leave’ form ready when you arrive.

You will be shown your accommodation (6 or 2 man hut depending on the length of your stay) with time to unpack before being taken around camp, shown the facilities and given an introductory lecture on the facilities, camp rules and regulations.

At the ReefDoctor house you will be asked to present your passport, diving, medical and travel insurance to the Project coordinator who will check them and place them in our emergency evacuation folder held in the company safe. Dive equipment insurance is to be presented but kept in your personal files.

The Dive officer will check and collect your medical forms and liability releases and you will be asked to present your dive certification cards and log book. You will also be able to unpack your dive equipment and collect and sign for any equipment that you are borrowing from us.

You will receive a daily work schedule for the next two weeks, which will encompass classroom work and snorkel/diving activities. After that it’s down to work with a series of introductory lectures.

After your introductory lectures you will be free to relax and/or venture with one of our staff into the village and get to know the place and the people we work.
A relaxing supper will follow (if possible we try to arrange a barbeque) so that you can get to know your fellow volunteers and staff while watching the sunset and relaxing on the beach under the stars in our relaxation area.

ReefDoctor life

Our Volunteer Guide gives you an idea of the training and work that you’ll be doing during your stay with us. We also try to make sure that you get to see the local area with visits to the baobab forest, turtle sanctuary and spiny forest all possible options for breaks. We also offer the opportunity to go on a pirogue trip.

In addition there are several bars in Ifaty and in Mangili, just north of us, where you can experience the local nightlife and brush up on your dancing skills. But please remember that you are a representative of ReefDoctor throughout your stay with us and will be seen as such by people in the village.

If you want to venture further a field it is possible to take a weekend break to visit places like St. Augustin or Anakao to the south of Toliara. Talk to our staff who have visited many of these places and they will be able to help you make arrangements.

The main national holidays in Madagascar are Easter, Malagasy Independence day (26th June) and Christmas and New Year, which usually involve large parties and provide the opportunity to hear live Malagasy music and to participate in local events.

Security and safety in Ifaty

There is a guardian watching over the volunteer bungalows from 6pm until 6am every night (this is the usual form of security in Madagascar). We also ask that you are security conscious with the following:
• Personal safety - don’t invite a situation to occur. Always be discreet with your money. Don’t walk home from Ifaty at night on your own. It’s all common sense really. ReefDoctor has NEVER experienced any theft or personal safety issues and we’d like to keep it like that.
• Personal belongings - we suggest that bungalows are always locked. Passports, airline tickets, money, traveller’s cheques and insurance documents can be kept in the safe at the main house. There is also a little space for valuable personal items such as cameras in a locked cupboard, but we recommend that you do not bring truly valuable items with you.

ReefDoctor cannot be held responsible for the loss or theft of any personal items kept in your accommodation. The locked cupboard and the safe at the ReefDoctor house are provided for extra security for valuable items.

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