WAKATOBI marine reserve - a week on Hoga

Week two of the trip was to Hoga Island. A small island within the WAKATOBI Marine reserve. The trip certainly didn't start in luxury. It was a seven in a half hour ferry to the island, but for health and safety reasons the ferry could not go at night. So we got to sleep in it over night at the dock. This boat wasn't like anything you see in Sweden. This was a wooden boat that had no bathrooms other then a small room with a small hole in the floor.
As the biggest group we had to sleep below deck just above the storage hold and the engine. This meant at 4.30 when the boat started our sleeping area got very hot and smelly. But at least the mattresses were comfortable for a change.
The highlight of the boat trip was when a pod of dolphins swam alongside the boat for a great distance. A lowlight would have been all the sea sickness people got.
Finally, we arrived on Hoga Island. A beautiful looking Island. Golden sands, palm trees, cabanas. Harry our school coordinator lead us of the boat and straight to the lodge where lunch was waiting for us.
Before I discuss the rest of the week, I will discuss Harry. He was an excellent schools coordinator. A complete contrast to the jungle experience. He was organised and took a real interest in the group. He even gave up his down time to work with our students in the water to ensure he was able to know the students more. Without him I doubt the island experience would have been so good and will be personally writing to Wallacea about his quality.
The accommodation at the island was far superior to our expectations, in fact all facilities were. We may not have had showers, but by now we were well practiced at washing with a bucket. We all stayed in our own huts that were raised of the ground with comfortable beds, often sea views and with hammocks (students were paired up). And where we were was in our own area on the island so the students could be loud without disrupting the locals or the researchers.
The structure of the day was two dives or snorkels and two lectures. The lectures were a little tough as the students were tired, and maybe not as mentally challenging as they could be. But they did make the diving more interesting as they were related to the dives we were doing. This included such things as identifying coral structures, and families of fish and invertebrates. It certainly made my diving more interesting knowing what I was looking at.
I even took the opportunity to become an advanced open water diver which was great! It certainly inspired me to want to dive more after being quite bored of the prospect of diving after doing my training in the Baltic.
After the last lecture each evening there was also an opportunity to go to an optional lecture that the university students were attending. One was about Darwin's life. Others were on the research being done on the island. By this time though, most of the students were already relaxing before bed.
On the last full day there was only one dive, as the students were taken to Sempala village. This was a village on sticks on a neighbouring Island. Like Lake town in the Hobbit. When debriefing with the students at the end of the trip, this often came up as a highlight of the trip, because the people had so little, but seemed happy. This was a very poor fishing village. Also there were many children in the village who just wanted to hug and hold hands with the students and put on a dance show for them. I regret not going now, as I decided to do two dives instead which allowed me too dive with students I had yet got to dive with.
The last night was party night on the island where all the uni students go crazy and get drunk. The students were told it best not to go by Harry because of this so is teachers thought it a good chance for us to unwind. But of course, there was a party and some of the students didn't want to miss out, so instead of banishing them, they were allowed to stay but they weren't to drink and I kept my eyes on the uni students all night to make sure our students were safe.
The next day was time to leave which many were sad about. They really enjoyed the trip, and the thought of the boat ride and internal flights put them off leaving even more.
But once we arrived to Jakarta, and ate Western food and had massages and chilled by the pool all day (and got wifi) most students were happy to go home with only positive memories to remember.
Was a highly successful trip. Much was learnt by the students and by myself, who was leading my first major school trip. I got grumpy at times which made me realise that even on a school trip you have to find time to have some alone time. I feel confident now that this is something we should continue with at the school, although not always to Indonesia. I will be getting the students to give presentations about the trip over the first few weeks of school, so look forward to what they have to say after a few weeks to digest the experience.
My highlight was being able to spend time with the students outside of school and getting to learn more about who they are not just through conversations but also through the way they were able to overcome the challenges put before them. An inspiring group of students, and any parent who reads this should be proud :) And I say thank you for the support.

Welcome to the jungle

Buton Island, Sulawesi, Indonesia.
This is the first trip I have done out of Europe (not counting a week in Morocco) since 2009. The experience is completely different to anything I have done in the last 4 years in any of the 50 countries I have visited, and not just because I am taking 27 students to the other side of the world.
This blog will be my account of the first half of the trip to Indonesia, the jungle part.
As expected the journey starts at Arlanda airport and catching am Emirates flight to Dubai. After 6 hours of sitting around we then took a flight to Jakarta. After some time getting through customs we are picked up and taken to our hotel.
Next morning we are traveling again. This time from Jakarta to Baubau via Makassar. Unfortunately the planes flies by Indonesien timeand we are delayed 90 minutes.
In Baubau we are just about at the jungle... But we are required to spend a day in the town to rest up which includes a trip to 'paradise' beach where all the students have a chance to unwind.
Finally the time comes, and we jump into cars and head off. A two hour journey over some unruly roads later and we are there at Labundo Bundo village!
The jungle experience is divided into two parts. The nights sleeping in the village and four nights sleeping in a jungle camp. So after our first night in the village we head out for the jungle camp, Lapago. The trek was a little hilly, but not much of a challenge for my group of Swedes. What was about a three hour walk ended up being only an hour forty.
I personally was a little apprehensive about the camp. I'm a little bit of a city boy who likes my creature comforts, or at least being close by. Although I camped a lot as a youngster, I have always prioritised other activities as an adult. I wondered how I could possibly get any sleep over the next four nights knowing it would be in a hammock. Looking back, I would say that to date, these are the best nights sleep I have had, and many of the students would agree.
The activities we participated in over the days in the jungle and village were:
The main purpose of the trip, habitat surveys. This involved collecting data on the canopy, undergrowth, trunk measurements of larger trees, the slow of the transect and the number of seedlings and samplings. This data is the important information required for Operation Wallaceas application for REDD+ funding. This data has been collected only by high school students over a number of years.
Herpefauna walks required students to follow a researcher as they cleaned out pit fall traps, recorded the findings abs let the animal free.
Megafauna walks was walking along a transect and recording information about animal tracks as well as watching camera traps being set up.
Civet walks was following the researcher through the jungle to check Civet traps for civets or other animals. Unfortunately for the group, no civets were caught, but they were able to see pictures on the camera trap. They also got a lot of information about civets.
Butterfly walks had students following a researcher along a transect and counting butterflies at particular points (point count) and identifying them. If they can't be identified, the students got to try to catch them.
Jungle skills were taught by a local villager. This included trapping, fire making, shelter building, and identifying plants for eating and drinking. Of course this works better if you happen to have a parang (machete).
Canopy climbing happened on a 48m fig tree, meaning students had the opportunity to get to 41m. The view from the top was amazing, being able to look over the canopy cover of the forest. It required a bit of strength, but in general, everyone got up and was definitely one of the highlights of the trip to date (and sweatiest).
Couscous walk required the students to walk down the road to the village trying to spot couscous in the trees and recording the number seen and describe the habitat they were found. Couscous are marsupials that have a prehensile tail, and are quite cute.
Farm walk was meant to be a cultural experience but was a little tedious as it was just showing quickly how the crops are planted and the type of plants grown, with a little bit of food tasting. The second part of this activity was more exciting and involved learning to cook an Indonesien dessert.
Early morning bird walks were an optional extra for the students. This was similar to the butterfly walk, which meant the at specific points along the road the students stopped for a period of time to try and identify the number of species at each point by sight or song.
As well as these activities, some students got to go out in very small groups with a scientist. These activities were frog walks, a day following a troupe of macaques, going to a tasier sleeping tree and watching for them leaving our returning from its nocturnal hunting and bat walks.
It has been an amazing time, and I have survived well even if the diet has been rice and I haven't been able to use a proper toilet or shower. The students themselves have shown a lot of growth, have learnt a lot from the lectures, talks and activities. Half way through the trip I believe this has been a worthwhile experience for the students and we have yet to make it to the dive site.

Sir Ulrich von Liechtenstein - my favourite Liechtenstein

After a nice new years I head to Zürich. I am treating this place as a base only to get to Liechtenstein and München, and get some needed rest.
My first impressions of the city was of surprise. It is more attractive than I thought. And the city centre is more based on the river opposed to the lake. Like all Switzerland it seems, there are views of the Alps.
I however, bring tired, started my time here going to the hostel to chill and sleep. The next morning I wake up all excited. It was the day I would visit my 50th country. In fact, since moving to Europe 4 years ago (and a few weeks) I have been to 49 different countries, as well as visiting some favourites a number of times.
But back to 50. Liechtenstein. Not the cheapest place to get too. About 60 euros return. Unfortunately, it failed to live up to any expectations. The city of Vaduz, the capital was a mish mash of ugly modern architecture and old rural style buildings from way back. There didn't seem much planning involved. After the war they decided to move away from agriculture, and so buildings shot up. In fact I had read the city lacked a soul.
There is a castle on a hill that the head of state, the Prince lives in. But you can only see the outside, as it is obviously someone's house.
From what i have read, the more rural areas have more charm add they are up in the mountains. But the poor weather, and expense to travel around put me of much more exploration, so instead headed back to Zürich disappointed.
Today I did a walking tour of Zürich. The tour guide was a historian, so expected done good stories, but his information was rather shallow. He made a big deal about the reformation due to a guy called Svingly. Maybe I am wrong but was curious as to how important he was outside Zürich and Switzerland as I have heard of Calvin and Luther, but not this guy. Maybe a historian can tell me. I saw where both Lenin and Einstein studied and where Lenin lived before the Germans sent him to Russia to overthrow the democratic revolution of Russia. Another regrettable decision I'd imagine.
A nice city with some character. If I had the motivation would probably have tried to do more. Oh well. Of to München before going back to normality in Stockholm.

Joshua

Lions and tigers and bears Oh my!

After the days in the mountains, I have reverted back to city travel.
So from Brig, first stop was Bern, the capital, and listed by UNESCO for the cultural heritage of the old town.
Through couch surfing a girl from Bern. contacted me and offered to show me around the city. I jumped at the chance for a personal tour guide as well as the opportunity to spend time with a local. After all this is what travelling is about, interacting with locals and experiencing culture. So we started by being typically touristic, checking out one of the most famous monuments, a clock Tower.
But we then decided to head for the only Hill of note in Bern (surprising for Swiss standards) Mt Gurten. This is surprisingly only really a local spot, perhaps due to the effort to get there. From it you can see the alps top the South which was stunning, and then the city to the north. Unfortunately, as we got to the old town the day was diminishing so did not spend too much more time sight seeing. But I did see where the bears live (they are currently in hibernation). They are important to the city as they are on the coat of arms and have apparently always been found in the city.
The evening consisted of chamois fondue. First time I had used fondue for meat, but it was good food. Then we just chatted. She is an inspiration. She was the only survivor pulled out of a bus wreck that tumbled 200m down a mountain in Switzerland in 2005. She has had to learn to read and write, gets memory loss and has had many operations to repair broken bones. Yet she is studying a masters, then plans to do her phD. She owns a house. She is my age! She is doing the phD so she won't have to work as much due to higher salary and therefore can enjoy life. Remarkable woman.
The next morning I left the hostel to have a quick look around the old town in daylight, including Einsteins house where he came up with some of his quantum mechanic theories.
Of course, being new years eve it was time to head to the next destination before it was too late. So of I had to Luzern.
Do i arrive in the early evening and after checking in and having a nap I head straight to my evening festivities. This is my seventh year in a row I have celebrated in a different city. My festivities again were organised through couch surfing. Someone saw I would be in town and decided to invite me to the gathering. It was a great night too. There was 9 of us in total, and some random joiners at different stages throughout the night. It was held at Isabel's art studio (couch surfing girl). This was an excellent venue right up against the train tracks, so if you open the back door you were stepping onto the carriage parking area. So sheet eating, it was 6 hours of dancing and acting the fool. The sister of Isabel is studying theatre, there was a musician, a few other artists, people working on humanitarian programmes, so everyone was just as loopy as the next. I have to say I really appreciated the invite, and considering I was going to cancel last minute, I am glad I didn't. Definitely one of my better new year celebrations.
After such a lovely evening, I had to get up to check out and check Luzern out. Was tough as only slept four hours. Luzern scenically is gorgeous. Big Lake surrounded by mountains. I didn't go up a mountain as they are all over 2500m and snow covered, so no time to walk them (or desire), and I wasn't interested in being exploited financially. The charges to get to the top are excessive, and having spent a week on top of mountains, didn't feel the need to do this. I did check out the old town. It was okay. And saw a large monument of a lion as a tribute to Swiss mercenaries. Was definitely more touristic and hectic than Bern. Comparing the two,  the actual city of Bern is nicer, and Luzern has the picturesque setting.
Tomorrow to visit my 50th country, Liechtenstein.
Oh and sorry, no tigers!

Joshua