Other Activities

Ecoboat Study Tour
UNIS Green Team Activity, 12-13 May 2007

By UNIS Green Team and some Year 3/4/5 students
Reflections from student participants are in italics.

Day 1        
Board EcoBoat, Unpack
The Boat is really cool! I think today is going to be really good.

Lunch

Safety discussion, life jacket procedures, different areas of the EcoBoat
Bon Voyage - Halong Bay Introduction.
 
After the safety briefing and orientation the children examined satellite images of land use and reclamation since 1969. From the boat the children could see the shoreline and identify new hotels and tops of hills that were being prepared for yet more hotels. The Eco teams talked about sediment from run off from tourism development and also the creation of a deep water channel for cargo ships and how this has destroyed coral reefs in the water.  The children noted the hundreds of boats setting off to do the tourist loop of Halong Bay and talked about the impact this may have on the flora and fauna of the Bay.

More than 3000 ‘islands’, more than 2 000 000 visitors each year.  

In the 1960s there were many more bays around Halong City but from the year 2000 many bays have started to be reclaimed for tourism development. Many shallow reefs around Halong City have been destroyed to make flat land.

Some of the birds were flying very low and in a straight line to fly easier in the strong wind.

Cave 1 Thien Cung Cave
(Amazing Cave)
This cave had been changed from it’s natural look to suit tourism. The children learned that most tourists visit this cave. The Eco team asked the children to focus on non-natural items seen and think about why they were there and ultimately ponder the question is tourism a good thing?

Thien Cung would have been a very beautiful cave but man has made it a big tourist attraction. There were lots of colored lights, paths, benches, tourist shops etc.

Some of the stones look like they are carved or made by a waterfall.

On board the boat the children conducted a science experiment with salt and water to show how caves were formed.

An activity we did showed us how caves were formed. We poured drops of water, like rain, through a box filled with salt..

They also studied mangroves growing at the cave entrance.

Mangroves are types of plants that grow differently according to the tides. They grow best when it is warm. The roots of the mangroves are called stilt roots. Now we have lost about 90% of the mangroves. Mangroves are good for small fish to stay and hide in so big fish won’t eat them.

Game: ‘Creatures and Caves’. Children worked in groups to solve problems related to animals and how they have adapted to their environments to survive.

Cave 2 a smaller, dark cave, children used flashlights. The contrast between this and the previous cave highlighted how tourism has destroyed the natural beauty of the previous cave.  

As we made our way through the pitch black Ho Dong Tien Cave, Mr Thang  explained about the incredible stalagmites and stalactites. After we squeezed through a small crack we found a small outdoor lagoon. In the final chamber there were many formations with aragonite in them. We saw some cave spiders and some other cave species. We had to crouch down to get through. It was so fun and spooky. 

People destroy the cave by breaking pieces off it.

Dinner

Prepare mattresses on 2nd floor indoor deck.

Documentary ‘Caves’
Children watched an evening video on the formation of caves that reinforced their earlier experiences.
They filmed cave explorers and even showed us an underwater cave. One species had lost the use of their eyes because they have lived in darkness so long. Instead, they can sense animals around them. They are called troglodytes.

Day 2
Very early start, 6am, boat ride to beach and to climb Mount Ti Top for stunning view, where the children could see Cat Ba Island, Bai  Tu Long Bay,  Halong Bay and in the distance, land.  They then descended for an early morning dip. They were informed that the beach they were swimming on was man made purely for tourists.

The EcoBoat stopped by a small island, named Ti Top  named after the 2nd Russian astronaut in space. We climbed to the top of the steep limestone bluff.
I was so tired but made it to the top. The view was pretty.

Breakfast

The EcoBoat cruised to Cua Van fishing village and the UNICEF sponsored Cua Van museum. Questions were posed to an elderly fisherman and school children who came from the floating village.

They used to use very simple and basic rods but now they have more kinds of mechanical things.

Cua Van is the biggest floating fishing village in Halong Bay. In bad weather they move the floating village around. There is a cave that 100 or more boats can be put in. The senior fisherman has lived in the village for four generations. He answered our questions. He said fish populations are plummeting.

Boat ride to secluded beach for rubbish inspection, view much coral impacted by tourism and sediment caused by ships and pleasure boats. Lifejackets required. Swim.

The water was too shallow to get the EcoBoat in so we sailed in a smaller bamboo boat through a coral reef. Three Peach Beach seemed pretty clean but when taking a closer look we saw lots of rubbish. The EcoBoat crew explained to us the harmful effects of plastic. When you burn it, it releases poisonous dioxins. Marine life often mistakenly swallow plastics and can die.

Molly, Yin Teng, Danielle and Christina made a sand castle.

Lunch, Reflections, Goodbyes and Thank Yous.

I felt extremely lucky to be on this trip because I have learnt a lot and had so much fun at the same time. It won’t be easy to forget a trip as special as this one.