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The Students Meet The Jungle
We
took thirteen high school students and two teachers from an international
school to Khao Sok National Park in February. Most of the students described
themselves as city people since they live in Bangkok. In the quiet and
isolation of the bungalows at the end of the reservoir, they became
absorbed in the abundant jungle life around them. One student returned
to school to establish a school kayak club. Two boys stated with certainty
one morning they were going to learn the Eskimo roll that day. And they
did. After the trip, the email responses from the students were very
special.
A main feature of the Khao Sok trip is wildlife viewing. To prepare
for this, we went through the basics of paddling the boats. We included
wet re-entry so the students would understand that capsizing wasn't
the end of the world. Indeed, the assisted re-entry and the cowboy scramble
became popular moves to practice. We had racing games. Some of the students
excelled in brisk forward strokes, others found rear stroke racing to
be more exciting and unpredictable. Everyone liked racing.
Once we were confident the students had basic boating skills, we
divided into smaller groups and moved to different coves. Some students
saw Long-tail macaques. Hornbill sightings, including the Great hornbill,
were common. Dusky langurs, oddly enough, seemed to have moved deeper
into the jungle. However, we did see a coal-black Banded langur. Several
students saw a White-handed gibbon high in a tree, but it quickly moved
away.
The last evening of our stay, we paddled to a large cove some distance
from the bungalows. After the sun had dropped behind the hill, two students
heard wild pigs thrashing around the vegetation near the shore. One
girl was just waiting for her friends when she noticed a pig moving
from the water into the jungle. In the dusk, as we were paddling back
toward the bungalows, we heard the rhythmic breaking of bamboo as an
elephant walked near us but out of sight. My flashlight could not penetrate
far enough to get a look.
 Another
highlight of this trip was a trip through the cave. There are many
caves in the area, but this one is ideal for most people. It is like
a demonstration project to understand the diversity of life within a
limestone cave. Bat droppings are food to crickets and spiders. Fish
approach us as we cross the stream that flows through the cave. We are
well past rainy season so the water level is low. The cave narrows further
in and we descend between two rock walls into the deeper water for a
little swim. The students were in great spirits as we emerged from the
darkness into the warmth of the jungle.
The group was booked on a morning flight out of Phuket, so the
last day we had to get an early start. The previous night Dave and I
tied the kayaks in two lines, bow to stern. Then in the morning we loaded
the two longtail boats, tied a line of 'yaks to the back of each, and
left the bungalows well before sunrise. The group easily made their
flight; good planning pays off. We look forward to taking another group
of students for a kayaking trip next year.
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