Charmaine is one of these students. She contacted us this year looking to collaborate on a research proposal that targets volunteer tourism, and how it is assisting conservation efforts. This is a perfect fit for us!

She is joining our projects in Mozambique in August where she will spend time with our marine conservation volunteers. She has also now opened up the opportunity to be a part of her research to our entire network of volunteers!

If you would like to assist AOA in its mission to support research, and researcher students, and also aid Charmaine in the perusal of her PhD project, we invite you to participate in an online survey that would allow her to understand your experience with All Out Africa as a volunteer. This survey will help us promote our projects and encourage more volunteers to have “Adventures that change lives.”

The survey will take approximately 5 mins.

If you  have volunteered in our Marine Conservation Project, please use this survey: https://forms.gle/Gdwigj7mN4rwq6ay6

If you  have volunteered in any of our other volunteer Projects (in any destination), please use this survey: https://forms.gle/PEDHHrV1NgUk4JvA7

If you have any questions, feel free to email AOA at marketing@alloutafrica.com or the researcher at charmaine.danielle.cilliers@gmail.com

Thank you for helping us make a difference!

If you have a research project you would like to collaborate on with All Out Africa, please email bookings@alloutafrica.com for more info on how to get started!

We may have sailed across it, drilled for oil in it, fished a fair amount of its coastline and we’ve let James Cameron show us the deepest part of the ocean, 7 miles down in the Mariana Trench. Despite all our exploitations of the big blue, though, it is estimated that 95% of the ocean remains unexplored.
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It is curiosity that drives our exploration and discoveries. The more we learn, the more we realize we do not know. It’s like the more light we cast, the more shadows we create. It’s the need to see what’s beyond the edge of your lights, to see the unknown for yourself, that’s the force that drives all exploration. As Jacques Cousteau said: “If we knew what was there, we wouldn’t have to go”.

Aside from visiting the moon, SCUBA diving can be one of the most surreal experiences of your life. From glowing microscopic plankton to mysterious ocean giants (even peacock mantis shrimp!), we still have so much to understand about the underwater environment.

All Out Africa endeavors to teach people the art of diving and the skill of marine science research. The volunteer and research intern courses work side-by-side with active marine researchers, learning the challenges they face and the wonder of the underwater world. Tofo, Mozambique remains to be one of the worlds few near-pristine diving hotpots, with whale sharks and manta rays and many more iconic marine creatures all year round.

	Peacock Mantis Shrimp. Photo Credit: Steven Scagnelli (@pleasing_photos)
	Whale Shark. Photo credit: Steven Scagnelli (@pleasing_photos)

Click here if you would like to know more about our Marine Research Project, or our Dive Master Training Project.

Stingrays have had a bad reputation; Steve Irwin’s fateful interaction and the menacing barb on their tail does not comply with their docile, relatively quiet existence. It is actually the last resort for a stingray to use its barb, they would much prefer to take flight than fight.

Stingrays (in their current form) have been flapping around in the oceans for 150 million years. They are a close cousin to sharks, as they also have a skeleton made of cartilage instead of solid bone. You can see this close relationship with some species which have co-evolved with the stingray and shark families, such as the Guitarfish family, which looks like a shark’s tail has been stuck to a stingray’s head.

Stingrays are a valuable part of the marine ecosystem. They provide a link between apex predators, like the requiem sharks, and lower trophic levels, such as the crabs and shrimp they munch on just under the sand. Unfortunately, they face a threat operating at an unfathomable scale. Stingrays like to hang out on the sea floor, which is where some fishing methods, like trawling and gill nets, will entangle and drag them up by mistake.

The lack of baseline data for stingrays globally means it is impossible for effective conservation measures to be put in place. Some stingrays are more common than others, but herein lies the challenge for all marine researchers – how do we research things we rarely see? I can tell you it takes time, perseverance and patience. In Tofo, we see stingrays on approximately 1/3^rd of dives, and every dive is recorded in the hope that the secrets of stingrays may start to be unlocked.

Small eye stingray on Sherwood Forest diving reef. Photo credit: Arco de Man.

Bluespotted stingray on Clownfish diving reef. Photo credit: Jenny Keeping.

Written by Jenny keeping

Click here if you would like to know more about our Marine Research Project

On 15th March 2019, Cyclone Idai made landfall in central Mozambique with its epicentre close to the 4th largest city of Beira.  The slow-moving cyclone continued across the country and into Zimbabwe dumping a catastrophic amount of rain across a large area of Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.

As further upstream Zimbabwe was forced to open dams full of water, Mozambique suffered further flooding. While this disaster was a long way from our Marine Research Centre based in Tofo, Inhambane Province (similar distance as Berlin is from London) and all is good here, we have obviously been engaged in helping our neighbours in central Mozambique as much as we can.

We have gathered donated items and united with coordinated aid efforts to have the greatest positive impact and reach the people who need help the most.  With many areas cut off for days we split donations and sent some via container ship from Maputo into Beira port, and others we sent via land convoy to the southern-most extremity of the flooded region of Buzi Province.  These donations have all now been gratefully received by people who need them.  And we continue to work.  Collecting more donations of items with a special need for:

• Water purification treatment
• Medical supplies (antibiotic and antiseptics)
• Rehydration treatment
• Food/water
• Solar/wind-up devices (torches, charging devices)

Please help us if you can.  While Tofo continues to be a paradise location filled with wildlife and happy people, we need to continue coming together and working to help those in the central Mozambique provinces who were not so fortunate. We will continue working, researching and helping. Join us.

Below is the link to our Tofo Community Coordinated Aid Effort in the wake of Cyclone Idai: https://web.facebook.com/Tofo-aid-for-Cyclone-Idai-520936911768808/

Being able to stay in Mozambique while I complete my research is a privilege. With every dive I learn more and more about not just stingrays, but all the incredible creatures the ocean holds.

Written By Jenny Keeping 

Click here if you would like to know more about our Marine Research Project, or our Dive Master Training Project.