Intro to Aldabra, Arriving, first Tropic Bird Survey & first camp!
I can’t believe I have almost been here for one month! It has gone very fast. Here is a quick intro to Aldabra, followed by a condensed summary of what I have been getting up to over the past 3 weeks. Aldabra is the world's second-largest coral atoll, and is located east of Africa (We’re actually closer to Madagascar than the rest of the Seychelles). It is officially part of the Aldabra Group of islands in the Indian Ocean that are part of the Outer Islands of the Seychelles and is over 1,000 km southwest of the Mahé (Where the Capital of the Seychelles is). Aldabra is 34 km long and encloses a huge, shallow central lagoon. The atoll is made up of four main islands: Grand Terre, Malabar, Picard (Where the research station and my house is located), and Polymnie. Due to its extreme isolation, Aldabra features a high degree of endemism (wildlife only found here). It is home to unique bird species, including the white-throated rail (the last remaining flightless bird in the I...