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Dolphin EnCOuntours Interaction and Research Center – Ponta do Ouro

Greetings all - finally we are back online and attending to mails and enquiries. As many of you know by now our lives were completely rocked almost a week ago. Below is what happened and attached is what we need to carry on.

FIRE UPDATE and WISH LIST

At around 3 am on Saturday the 19th June 2010 an all encompassing fire ranged through the dolphin and scuba diving concessions within the Ponta do Ouro campsite in southern Mozambique. The shouting and screaming of our marine biologist Daina Rocha woke up the rest of the dolphin crew who ran into a blazing inferno. On stepping out of the staff lodging all that could be seen was huge flames coming from the entrance to the camp; climbing the towering casuarina trees.

The realization soon dawned that the camp could not be saved when Mitchel ran for the tap and hosepipe only to see that it too was steaming – we were embarking on a loosing battle.

Angie Gullan ran back into the house and grabbed the company laptops while Diana grabbed the underwater video camera, Mitchel, Garrick and Hannes ran the camp screaming and shouting to ensure everyone got out safely.

The first thought was to get onto the beach – however when there we kept on running as the sky rained burning embers as the wind fueled the flames. Angie recalls looking in and seeing the education and briefing center being engulfed – with the fibreglass dolphin moulds falling to the ground as the heat ranged through. Arm in arm we stood, watching, crying and then freezing in the 11 degree winter chill.

Dolphin EnCOuntours, The Whaler and ¾ of Simply Scuba burned to the ground. No human lives were lost, however cats are still missing and people living on-site lost absolutely everything.

Rumours abound as to how the fire started – we simply just don’t know how it started and are just thankful that everyone is safe and unharmed. The support that has been received from both our immediate community, together with the support from friends, guests and the public has been absolutely astounding. It has given us hope in humanity and renewed our strength. So many, many people have been in contact wanting to help and we would like to give our heart felt thanks to all.

At this stage the area is being cleared for staff lodging and a briefing area, we will resume building of the base camp once we have security from the campsite and government. The past 10 years has seen no legal contracts from the campsite, this is now not going to work as we will have to re-invest a substantial amount of money into rebuilding. Coupled with this we will not be building out of reed and wood for obvious reasons.

Dolphin launches will resume on Saturday. Current and future bookings will be accommodated at O’Lar do Ouro until further notice. Tour prices remain the same – however bed and brunch costing will change. All staff are on hand and have not been given notice. It is our sincere hope that we will be able to get back on our feet soon so as to ensure salaries etc are met.

For those guest that paid deposits for launches on the Saturday and Sunday, we will accommodate you for your dolphin experience when you next visit Ponta. If in the event this is unacceptable to you, please contact us so we can arrange your refund in due course.

The coming months are no doubt going to be very difficult for everyone involved and the road to recovery will be long. We will be needing financial assistance to get back to where we were – from the purchasing of research equipment to the rebuilding of both the base camps and our lives. For those that are in a position to assist please do so through the below bank account or have a look at our wish list.

Account holder: Dolphin EnCOuntours
Bank: Nedbank
Branch: Sandton
Account number: 1970645857
Branch code: 197/005
Swift Bank Code: NEDSZAJJ

jojo water tanks 5000 lt 1 EOS 7D 2 deposits for launches 8000

osmosis machine 1 Ikelite 6871.07 eTTL Housing f/ Canon EOS 7D with orings 1 Diana's envelope 3500

geysers 15lt gas/solar 200lt 2 135mm lens 2 campsite 12 000

water pressure pump 1 canon 200mm lens 1 shop 2000

toilets 5 canon 400 mm lens 1 cash needed for salaries for three months

basins and taps 5 canon 104mm extension lens 1 R20 000 p/m 60000

shower heads and taps 5 camera cleaning kit 1

hosepipes and fittings 3 binoculars with recitals 1 washing machine

spades 2 projector + cables for macbook pro + macbook 1 tumble dryer

hydrophone cetacean research 1 laptop pc 1

bow saw and blades 2 micro track 1 printer 1

gedore toolbox (spanners/screwdrivers etc) 1 terabytes external hardrives 2 till 1

rakes metal 3 flash drives 4gb 2 invoice books 2

rakes plastic 3 tripod 1 paper stack trays 2

shade cloth high density 170m usb cables 5

outside taps 3 scanner and printer combo 1

electrical cable 300m laminator & sheets 1

solar panels 75watt 5 applemac battery chargers 2

200 AH barratries, regulators etc 5 tables and chairs (plastic sets 6 seat white) 3

tables - office 2

wind generator 1 typist chairs 2

1,5 x 2+ e surfix cable 200m whiteboard and markers 3x2mt 1

2,5 x 2 + e surfix cable 200m whiteboard 2x1mt 1

No 0 surfix cable gland 50 extension cords 4

No 1 surfix cable gland 50 adaptors and multiplugs 4

well fittings (jam jar) 24 70cm flat screen tv 1

60w BC energy save lamps 24 dvd player 1

single plug 4x4 (all pvc eg clipsal) 20 camera charger for sony hdr1080i/mini dv/handycam hvr/fx7 1

double plug 4x4 (all pvc eg clipsal) 10 mini dv cassette tapes 10

4x4 extension boxes pvc (surface) 30 ilink firewire sony hdr1080i 1

2x4 extension boxes pvc (surface) 10 iphones 2

1 lever light switch pvc 10 signs and banners

60 amp 1 phase earth leakage din mount 2 fiberglass bottlenose dolphin

4ft fluorescent light fitting and lamps 3 fiberglass humpback dolphin

10mm x 4 swa cable 35m fiberglass loggerhead turtle

10mm green/yellow gp wire 35m melon headed whale skeleton

3 x 20way surface pvc din distribution board bottlenose dolphin skull

amozon dolphin skull

STAFF LODGING http://store.dinosaurcorporation.com/dolphins1.html

Double beds 4 shells for displays (please don’t purchase)

Single beds x 3 3 educational marine posters

mossie nets double x 4 (pref square) 4 laminated dolphin whale educational posters

mossie nets single x 3 (pref square) 3 the cove dvd 1

bedside lamps x 6 6 the end of the line dvd 1

sheets x 8 double 8 kettle 1

sheets x 6 single 6 coffee/tea canisters 4

pillows x 20 20 mugs 20

duvet inners and covers for the above dolphin/whale books for the library

fans 4 fish id books (indian ocean)

kettle 1 shell book

toaster 1 marine mammal journals & papers

gas stove & oven combo 1 Bird book

cooler box 2 snake book

pots and pans tree book

crockery and cutlery for 10 Large first aid kit

sharp knives

breadboard

glasses

mugs

dustbin kitchen

stainless steel tables 4

refuse bins 2

fridge/freezer combo

omer freediving mask 5

free diving fins cressi/omer (5,6,9,10.5)

snorkels J omer 5

rubber weight belts 3

spear fishing gun 1.3 rob allen 2

buoys 2

farmer john wetsuit 1

cell c suits 4

clothing cupboards 4

dressing table and mirror 2

tea and coffee containers

tupperware set

10 ft "couta" stick with 6"& 8" KP reels

polarized sunglasses boys 3

polarized sunglasses girls 2

stainless steel double sink 1

dishcloths 2 packs