Amy Dingler - What I love about the Bay of Ranobe in Madagascar

While we're in the same place for the next few months we've invited guests to contribute to There & Here by telling us what they love about their favourite place in the world. Our guest this week is Amy from Fayetteville, Georgia.


What I love about the Bay of Ranobe in Madagascar is the breathtaking sunsets and the beautiful coral reefs that support diverse fish, coral, and invertebrates species.
 
I love the bay because when I am under the water I feel so isolated from the rest of the world studying a fragile marine ecosystem in Madagascar that not many people get to see. The only thing I hear is my own breathing and I find myself face-to-face with the peaceful reef that has been unblemished by the human race and left to grow and develop on its own. The damselfish swim up to me curiously to see if I will enter their territory on the rock, the anemones flow back and forth mesmerizingly with the current in the ocean, and the corals reflect light off their polyps into the water around them. In the evenings before dinner I sit and watch the large sun slowly sink into the water on the horizon and I can understand how people use to worship her; glowing brightly each day she tells us when to eat, sleep, rest, and work. No words can describe what I feel when I am in my “favorite place” along the bay and I cannot wait to come back one day.


Amy Dingler has been living in the Bay of Ranobe for the past two months working with a marine conservation organization called Reef Doctor collecting data and studying the reef systems that support a number of local African fishing villages. 

blog: http://www.ajsloft.blogspot.com/