Oyster catching

Oh dear.

Having spent 10 minutes or so explaining to his pirogue-bound audience the pressures on mangroves in the Saloum Delta and how communities are no longer allowed to cut branches in protected areas because the trees are disappearing faster than they can rejuvenate ( i like to bang on about this - there is a post about it a while ago), this tour guide proceded to hack off a couple of oyster laden branches for a barbecue on the beach. Not wanting to make a scene in front of the other people in the boat, I couldn't let this pass, so I asked as quietly as I could (above the outboard motor, so not actually very quietly at all) why he was allowed to cut these branches for tourists, when villagers are not allowed to do this themselves - park rules state that they are allowed to hack the oysters with machetes, but this is a messy job, done by local women, which involves standing in chest high water for hours on end. A bit flumoxed, he replied that this was just a couple of branches, so it was OK... Except of course that there are groups going out most days and if people see the toubabs doing this, why on earth should they continue to refrain from it themselves?

And to top it off they oysters were tiny, a long way off from mature. That will teach me to go on a busman's holiday.