After the GVI experience

Wow, well it's been a long time since I last posted something on my blog.

What can I say...

It's now been 4 months since I returned home. My whole experience with GVI was, I must say quite eventful, but it was amazing. I learned so much about diving and marine conservation. Doing my 6 month internship with GVI in Mexico was great. I got to snorkel with whale sharks, dive with bull sharks, become a divemaster and meet really cool people.
I would definitely go participate in another GVI expedition, when the time is right. I would also recommend people to participate.

After the GVI experience

10 weeks on base

The first week was quite slow but the second week just flew. I was assigned to learn the corals and I passed the test after trying a couple of times :). We now go on spot dives where our leaders show us a coral and we have to identify it. It's easier as I thought it would actually be. The diving is great, it's been 4 years since I did my last dive, but I m slowly getting the hang of it again just having trouble carrying the right amount of weight. My diving group and I saw a gorgeous 2m long nursing shark on the 15th which was pretty awesome and my group saw 2 sting rays mating and a turtle yesterday. So, so far so good :D!
The mosquitos are a huge pain so are the horse flies or bastard flies as we call them over here. However, the location is beautiful and everyone is really friendly. I'm really glad to be part of this experience.
Some of us are planning on going up to Tulum next weekend to visit some ruins and get out of Mahahual for a bit. We already planned on going up to see the whale sharks on our long weekend break which really will be WICKED!!!
Today is our day off. We start working tomorrow, again. We basically have to start with our chores, dive, study and have some fun.

This is the end of week 4. We are now all sitting at the Aroma bar on our computers and iphones :). That's how much we miss technology. We had another non-diving week because of the weather. However, we did dive yesterday and today. It was great fun, some of us are beginning to monitor. Next weekend is our weekend with the whale sharks, which we are all looking forward to.

The long weekend was great fun. We all had a good time getting away from the mosquitoes and bastard flies for a couple of days and did some shopping. I highly recommend the whale shark snorkel, it was amazing!! It truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity and it was worth every penny. The last 5 weeks on base just flew by. We all got to a monitoring level by week 7 and 8 which allowed us to start seeing different sites. There were a couple of none diving days because of strong winds but it gave us the chance to start cleaning the base up so that it did not have to all be done in 1 day.

I thought of this experience as one of the best ones in my life. I met amazing people, learned so much about marine conservation and really enjoyed my time there. I am very glad that I had the opportunity and the time to be a volunteer and I cannot wait for my internship to start in September. It will probably be just as much fun.

10 weeks on base

June 2010

Here I am sitting at home thinking about what I need to get before I leave for Mexico and enjoying the sun that has finally decided to appear after 3 weeks of rain. This month will be a little stressful as I am going to Greece for 2 weeks and will have little time when I come back to pack all my stuff for Mexico.
I leave for Greece in 2 days with my boyfriend and we are doing a road trip around the Peloponnese. It was 1997 when I first went to Greece with my family and I don't remember much of what we saw since I was still young. Since we go to Greece every year in the Summer, we always stay at the same place and never really set out to experience the beauty that Greece has to offer. This is why I decided to just take a car and drive to different sights that are interesting to see. I think that it will somehow help me get ready for my experience in Mexico.
I am beginning to feel nervous about the trip, even though it will be a good one. I am afraid to forget something important or that something will go wrong, but it's part of the experience I guess.
Today (June 7th), I began studying the corals. I learned the basics but it'll take time for me to remember all the details and Latin names.
June 28th. I am now back from my trip which was excellent. We are now two days away from my departure for Mexico and I already packed my stuff. My diving gear is all packed and the total weight is of a surprising 23 kilos.
I got to read through the Open Water book to refresh my memory.

June 2010

About me

Hi, I'm Tamara but will refer to as Tammy. I am 21 years old and come from little Switzerland. I am currently doing my Bachelor of Arts in Events, Sports and Entertainment Management in Switzerland. I am doing the Marine conservation internship in Punta Gruesa, Mexico as part of my internship for University
My three brothers and I grew up in a multi-cultural family as our father is German/Canadian and mother is Guatemalan. We were lucky to have the opportunity to travel around the world since our early childhood.
I've seen many different countries and even though I was very young, I still remember certain parts of my trips. I've been to Kenya, Guatemala, Greece, Singapore, Malaysia and many others.
I did my first dive in Tioman, Malaysia where I did my open water and advanced open water PADI. My other interests include horseback riding, skiing (of course :P) and traveling. I've been riding since the age of 6 and skiing since the age of 4. I love outdoor sports in general :).

About me