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.