Two of our amazing teachers, Mrs Muir and Ms Folks, led a group of wonderful students into (and out of) the Indonesian jungle. Be warned, this will have you exhausted and wanting a cup of coffee by the end.
9 July
TRIP UPDATE: Had a fantastic time in the jungle. It had been raining 12 days straight before we arrived so it was a muddy trek in, which meant the porters had to carry our big bags to make it easier. Felt a bit like cheating, but hey, we’ll take that as a win!
Blissful sleep in hammocks … data collection with a range of scientists … a surprise guest lecture from the head of biological sciences at Oxford University … 5am starts … 6am starts … rain … rain … and more rain … frogs, snakes, insects galore, butterflies, anoa footprints, macaques and a few new species discovered by our students never seen before in this area of Buton! Oh, and we also collected some data for NASA … it’s been a busy week!
The kids have been real troopers. Two of them staying up until 2 am on the last night to measure and photograph the 75 bats we trapped in Harp nets.
And more importantly no foot fungus!
Long day yesterday with a 5 am wake up to find some birds … a 3-hour trek out of the jungle … a 6-hour car journey to a small port village in the south and finally boarded our vessel at midnight and tried to get some shut-eye before it left at 4:30 am for our 6-hour journey to Hoga on an interesting boat!
10 July
Home for the Indonesia Trip for the next six days is the Marine Research Centre on the Island of Hoga where the students are working with scientists studying coral reef ecology…..more photos to come…..
14 July
Six days of snorkelling with Scientists at the Hoga Marine Research Centre has been amazing….although like the jungle has been a busy schedule…..up at 5.30….breakfast at 6…..first coral reef ecology lecture of the day at 7…..snorkel at 9….lecture at 10.45….lunch at 11.30…..snorkel at 1…..workshop at 3.30……dinner…..then a night walk and lectures….no time for shenanigans…..
We have learnt so much about the coral reef and the threats to it…..collected data….sampled transects and quadrats….coral, fish and invertebrate identification….citizen science….
A M A Z I N G
This reef in the coral triangle is pretty special….(and there are no sharks…..woo hoo!) one of the most biodiverse in the world and the snorkelling has been unbelievably incredible…..highlights have been lion fish, crown of thorns sea stars, nudibrancs, soooooooo many incredible tropical fish, sea craikes, shrimp and sooooo much more…..
A monitor lizard eating a snake…..
And today a visit to a village where the Bangeu people live in stilt houses over the sea…..
Tomorrow night we begin our 1 boat and 5 aeroplane journey home from this paradise…..