2018 Trips

23 Feb 2018 Updated about 4 months ago

Brighton College Yr 7 and Yr 8

Chanthaburi

22 – 26 January 2018

Daily highlights

• Arriving in Khao Kitchikut, we were allocated tents on a beautiful site overlooking a lake with the waterfall we were going to see, visible on the hillside opposite.
• Walking across a rustic bridge and through a bamboo forest and alongside a stream. 
• Butterflies taking in minerals, interesting lianas and fish swimming in the pools at the base of waterfalls.
• Everyone managing to reach the eighth level of the waterfall – a satisfying achievement! Cooling off and enjoying a waterfall massage!
• More challenges, cooperation and teamwork resulting in brilliant dinners cooked up on camping stoves.  Delicious!!

• Visiting a fishing village and, by questioning the people working there, finding out that it was becoming more difficult to find the numbers of crabs and fish compared to a few years ago. 
• Playing a fishing game (common dilemmas) and realizing that the best way to survive (and win the game!) was to conserve fish stocks to allow them to reproduce.
• Swimming and playing exciting team games on the beach in the evening.
• Exploring the mangroves– listening to snapping shrimps, seeing snakes wrapped round prop roots and learning how vital the mangroves are for protecting both land and sea as well as providing a safe area for young fish to grow and animals such as kingfishers to live.
• Kayaking in the bay and through the mangroves.
• Watching the bull sharks coming up to feed at the demonstration unit– scattering the smaller fish that come in through the netting to feed!
• Seeing thousands of baby crabs that are looked after and released into the bay to help to restock the local area – amazing!

• Teaching English at a local school.  At first the pupils were very shy, and we were a bit nervous, but soon everyone relaxed. We played all sorts of games with the children and everyone learned something and had a great deal of fun.
• Exploring the maritime museum and learning about the shipping, trading and history of the area.
• Visiting Koh Manai .
• Learning how massively human activities damages and kills turtles, and seeing how plastic waste is a huge problem for all of sea life.

Snorkeling– seeing sea life in its natural habitat.

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