On Monday we got up nice and early and scouted a few more villages around the base of Wuzhishan. We then headed back home to chill out after our long weekend of work. In the evening we headed to “Pirates!” restaurant for dinner – yummy ; )
On Tuesday we spent the morning cleaning up the house (fun). I then headed to the dreaded market to do some weekly shopping. I have very mixed feelings with respect to this place. Bustling with activity and a multitude of fascinating products the market is always interesting to visit, yet on each venture there I am confronted with sites that annoy or disgust me. The first time I visited I was shocked (but not surprised) by the dried seahorses and shark fins and the second time I spied the grouper and the juvenile sharks. This time I was saddened to see a fresh shipment of marine life turn up, unlike fish markets at home all of these animals are very much alive, stuffed into tanks until they can barely move. Buckets of fish were being loaded onto a three wheeler (a 125cc bike with side cart), amongst the animals were juvenile titan trigger fish Balistoides viridescens (little larger than my hand), moray eels (Family Muranidae), stonefish (Family Synanceiidae), boxfish (Family Ostracidae), mantis shrimps (Order Stomatopoda), batfish (Family Ephippidae) as well as many others. The Chinese are extremely willing to eat fish of any size, quality or flavour. This could pose a problem to the long term sustainability of their fish stocks. Typically western fisheries try and target a few fish species that have the best and most flavoursome flesh. The juvenile fish of some species are protected to a degree by measures such as minimum mesh sizes, fishing quotas, limits on fishing effort and marine protected areas. The fish at the market at Sanya have been afforded none of this protection. Many are juveniles and have never produced young. They never will. Such fishing is completely unsustainable and wreaks havoc upon marine ecosystems. Having made the comparison between asian and western fisheries I must add that very few western fisheries managers get things right…
The next day Will, Afa, Ed and myself headed to Jianfengling rainforest reserve to scout out a gorge trek. On arriving at the reserve entrance I was delighted to see Chinese sturgeon, Acipenser sinensis, lazily swimming circles in a large tank. These fantastic animals are long lived and can grow to massive sizes – the European sturgeon is capable of growing to 1000 kg (a rare event in today’s waters) and when caught in the medieval times had to be hauled from the water via plough horses! The fish is anadromous – i.e. eggs are laid in freshwater streams where the young grow and once at a certain size the juveniles head to the sea to rich feeding grounds to mature. Adults head back to their birth waters to spawn. Due to the large size of these fish they are easily hunted. These fish also require navigable, oxygen rich and free flowing rivers. Most of the rivers in China are damned multiple times and suffer from very poor quality. These factors combine to make the Chinese sturgeon (as well as the majority of sturgeon species) critically endangered. The information board stapled to the tank was highly suspect. It stated that the fish never needs to feed! Apparently its nutritional requirements are met by “magical energies”. Rounding the corner I found another info board, this one stating how fantastic the sturgeon flesh and caviar is! In all honesty I believe the centre is trying to enhance the sturgeon population, yet any fish released into the wild on Hainan would be fished from the water in hours due to the huge number nets, fishing lines and electrofishers. The fish would also most likely perish in the polluted and oxygen poor rivers of Hainan. I believe the Chinese sturgeon could well perish in my lifetime.
After watching the sturgeon we headed to the gorge. I was delighted to find it fairly remote and free of tourists. The river here was wide and flowed clear. Sadly I did spy a few pipes feeding the river with sewage, which I doubt had been treated in anyway. On closer inspection of the river bed I was rewarded by discovering a few sessile caddis (Trichoptera). These caddis, cemented to the river rock in their stony homes, face the current to filter organic particulate matter.
On the way down from the reserve our driver managed to destroy his brakes! He did this by coasting 10 km downhill relying only on the brakes to slow our descent. We decided to abandon the vehicle (to the drivers dismay) and find our own way home. The driver got angry and couldn’t understand why we didn’t wish to undertake the 3 hour journey home with him. We managed to find some sort of taxi van which gave us a lift to the main road. I had a look along the side of the road and found a mole cricket! I was pretty excited to find it as I’ve never seen one before. This insect has stout forelimbs and a blunt head modified for digging. Sadly I couldn’t take a picture as my camera batteries were dead. Afa managed to flag a huge lorry down and bartered a price home for us.
On Friday Neil, Laura and myself headed out on a kayak scouting mission from Luhuitou (where the Hainan Adventures base is) and headed East around the peninsula. After 30 minutes we happened across a small bay, the sandy beach was dotted with rocks which penetrated into the gentle surf. We snorkelled here for a while – I was saddened by the large amount of dead coral and coral rubble. The culprits of this were in evidence around the bay – tens of tour boats dumping their anchors onto the reef. Also negligent bathers were trampling all over with their Croc© shoes.
On Friday I got carried away with the coke and rum. Saturday was unproductive as a result!
On Sunday we all headed to Hou Hai to do a beach clean. The rubbish here is appalling. The strand line is heaped with plastics of all types, polystyrene, clothes, fishing line, glass bottles, empty cosmetics containers etc. We concentrated our efforts on a small section, heaping burnable rubbish into piles and separating recyclable materials. By the end of the day the difference was impressive. The fact is, however, that the beach will be littered in no time. The villagers nearby simply dump their rubbish onto the beach. Litter is also dumped indiscriminately by fisherman and owner of leisure craft. China has few tropical beaches within its territory. You would think this would make the Chinese government highly protective over such environments. Sadly on Hainan the only beaches that are looked after are those backed by 5 star resorts. Despite the litter at Hou Hai I decided to snorkel around the rocks to the left of the beach. I was glad to see numerous hermit crabs, oysters and swimmer crabs as well as a few small box fish.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Week 6
On Tuesday the China Climb guys came down. The team consists of Simona (Romanian Manager), Ed (Australian Marine Biologist), Afa (Chinese climber and English speaker), Will (English kayaker and trekker), Mia (Malyasian marketing professional) and Neil (English kayaker). These guys will be here for two weeks, in that time they are going to use their expertise to improve a few of our programmes and to create some new ones. Out of the China Climb team only Afa and Neil are staying indefinitely.
The next day I headed to Riyuewan on a scouting mission to find a suitable location for surfing and camping trips. Whilst walking along the beach we came across the beach tourist section. This area consisted of the usual cheap tourist merchandise. Sadly it also consisted of some “photo opportunities”, i.e. get a photo of yourself in the surf straddling a horse, riding a camel or (shockingly) holding an endangered green turtle. Two Chinese men were parading the beach with a green turtle apiece, the creatures slung under their arms were like so much dead baggage. This disgusted me. On further investigation I found the turtles containment area – a small plastic bucket with some stagnant sea water half filling it. I took the opportunity to take some photos. This put me in a pretty bad mood (as well as Ed!) so we moved on before we did something drastic! The green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is a gentle coastal grazer that feeds primarily on sea grasses and alga. This reptile has been endangered for some time now due to over exploitation and loss of nesting grounds as well as mortality from trawls and gill nets. Such an animal plays a crucial role in shallow water ecosystems by keeping algae in check that may otherwise dominate.
We headed along the beach and explored amongst some rocks, to our delight we found some chitons clinging to abandoned oyster shells. We moved on and Ed spotted something amongst the shallows. On closer inspection we could see shell debris around the entrance of a small burrow that had been dug into the coral/sand debris. Naturally we explored the cavity with a small stick, in response an angry mantis shrimp (Order Stomatopoda) popped his front chelae and bulbous compound eyes out from within the tunnel and peered intently at us. I was very happy to see this little guy as he was on my list of “must see animals”. The mantis shrimp is unique. It’s forelimbs are tucked underneath the front of the body, they are under slung weapons of destruction, similar in form to the forelimbs of a preying mantis. When prey nears (or an intruder!) these limbs power out with a force strong enough to cut fish in half. Some shrimps have clubs instead of scythes, such bludgeons have been known to crack aquarium glass…
We left Riyuewan for Hou Hai beach. Here we surfed until dark and had lunch at a local restaurant. After dinner I headed home to e-mail my turtle pics to turtle 911, in the hope that they would seize the animals from the idiots at the tourist centre.
A couple of days later we headed to Wuzhishan on another scouting mission. Wuzhishan (5 finger mountain) is located toward the centre of Hainan Island and towers at 1800 meters. I scouted out some of the villages around the base of the mountain in the hope of finding a suitable place for a cultural trip. After asking some questions around town we headed to a local river for some rafting. Along the river I spied one of the endemic species to Hainan – the Hainan leaf warbler. After this we headed to the nearest town to find a hotel for the night.
On Sunday we scouted out a green tea plantation. To get to the plantation we had to traverse a lake on bamboo rafts. These craft are superb, consisting of 4 or 5 thick bamboo poles bound together by wire. Using a bamboo pole we were rowed across by one of the plantation field hands. The boss took us for a tour showing us how the tea is planted and how which parts of the tea tree are used for what – the blossoms are used for a special tea while the leaves are used for the bulk of the green tea. Wandering the site I spied a huge hawk moth, unfortunately it was too fast and agile for me to secure a photo.
The next day I headed to Riyuewan on a scouting mission to find a suitable location for surfing and camping trips. Whilst walking along the beach we came across the beach tourist section. This area consisted of the usual cheap tourist merchandise. Sadly it also consisted of some “photo opportunities”, i.e. get a photo of yourself in the surf straddling a horse, riding a camel or (shockingly) holding an endangered green turtle. Two Chinese men were parading the beach with a green turtle apiece, the creatures slung under their arms were like so much dead baggage. This disgusted me. On further investigation I found the turtles containment area – a small plastic bucket with some stagnant sea water half filling it. I took the opportunity to take some photos. This put me in a pretty bad mood (as well as Ed!) so we moved on before we did something drastic! The green turtle (Chelonia mydas) is a gentle coastal grazer that feeds primarily on sea grasses and alga. This reptile has been endangered for some time now due to over exploitation and loss of nesting grounds as well as mortality from trawls and gill nets. Such an animal plays a crucial role in shallow water ecosystems by keeping algae in check that may otherwise dominate.
We headed along the beach and explored amongst some rocks, to our delight we found some chitons clinging to abandoned oyster shells. We moved on and Ed spotted something amongst the shallows. On closer inspection we could see shell debris around the entrance of a small burrow that had been dug into the coral/sand debris. Naturally we explored the cavity with a small stick, in response an angry mantis shrimp (Order Stomatopoda) popped his front chelae and bulbous compound eyes out from within the tunnel and peered intently at us. I was very happy to see this little guy as he was on my list of “must see animals”. The mantis shrimp is unique. It’s forelimbs are tucked underneath the front of the body, they are under slung weapons of destruction, similar in form to the forelimbs of a preying mantis. When prey nears (or an intruder!) these limbs power out with a force strong enough to cut fish in half. Some shrimps have clubs instead of scythes, such bludgeons have been known to crack aquarium glass…
We left Riyuewan for Hou Hai beach. Here we surfed until dark and had lunch at a local restaurant. After dinner I headed home to e-mail my turtle pics to turtle 911, in the hope that they would seize the animals from the idiots at the tourist centre.
A couple of days later we headed to Wuzhishan on another scouting mission. Wuzhishan (5 finger mountain) is located toward the centre of Hainan Island and towers at 1800 meters. I scouted out some of the villages around the base of the mountain in the hope of finding a suitable place for a cultural trip. After asking some questions around town we headed to a local river for some rafting. Along the river I spied one of the endemic species to Hainan – the Hainan leaf warbler. After this we headed to the nearest town to find a hotel for the night.
On Sunday we scouted out a green tea plantation. To get to the plantation we had to traverse a lake on bamboo rafts. These craft are superb, consisting of 4 or 5 thick bamboo poles bound together by wire. Using a bamboo pole we were rowed across by one of the plantation field hands. The boss took us for a tour showing us how the tea is planted and how which parts of the tea tree are used for what – the blossoms are used for a special tea while the leaves are used for the bulk of the green tea. Wandering the site I spied a huge hawk moth, unfortunately it was too fast and agile for me to secure a photo.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Week 5
A fairly quiet week overall. As we had no kids booked in we spent the week improving our lesson plans and running general errands. On Monday I headed to our local market again. I was disgusted and dismayed upon discovering numerous juvenile reef sharks. The sharks were about 1 meter long at the most. This is inexcusable. Sharks typically have a low fecundity and mature slowly, they are consequently prone to exploitation. Also on display was a large pacific Goliath grouper (only large by today’s standards and in comparison to the numerous tiny fishes at the market). The grouper was surrounded by onlookers taking photos. I estimate the weight of the fish to be approximately 75 kg, this sounds large but when you consider the animal may reach weight of 350 kg and upwards it is actually a runt. This fish is critically endangered due to overexploitation (through spear fishing) and a loss of habitat (juveniles are thought to spend their first few years among mangrove roots). Groupers are often taken before they reach a mature age. The fishing of sharks and groupers is may be short sighted – such animals are apex predators, they are located at the very top of the food web and control the abundance of animals below them. In the absence of such predators there may be a boom in the population of prey species which can dramatically affect the overall “health” of an ecosystem.
After leaving the open market I headed to the local supermarket. I was shocked to find dried shark fins for sale there. I had already seen shark fins for sale prior to this at the open market but finding them in the supermarket is altogether different – it shows that the Chinese are quite happy to promote “shark finning” to support not only the local stall vendor but to supply the supermarket chain. I took some photos of this, however halfway through I was approached by one of the staff and told to stop – perhaps they are aware of the controversy behind this product…
Later on in the week I went for a stroll along our local beach. Towards the end of my walk I happened across a horseshoe crab! Unfortunately the creature was dead and had been so for some time judging by the smell. The animal was perhaps 50 cm across. I was pretty excited so ran back to the house to retrieve my camera. I left the crab to decompose in the gentle swash. The next day my eager to please Chinese house mate had found the animal and kindly deposited outside the house for all to view. At this stage the smell was terrible and I’m amazed that Kathy had the constitution to carry the animal the 200 m or so to the house!
The rest of the week was fairly uneventful. Next Monday is important as Hainan Adventures is merging with China Climb – a successful adventure company situated in Guangxi province. Hopefully we will see a few more faces within the company.
After leaving the open market I headed to the local supermarket. I was shocked to find dried shark fins for sale there. I had already seen shark fins for sale prior to this at the open market but finding them in the supermarket is altogether different – it shows that the Chinese are quite happy to promote “shark finning” to support not only the local stall vendor but to supply the supermarket chain. I took some photos of this, however halfway through I was approached by one of the staff and told to stop – perhaps they are aware of the controversy behind this product…
Later on in the week I went for a stroll along our local beach. Towards the end of my walk I happened across a horseshoe crab! Unfortunately the creature was dead and had been so for some time judging by the smell. The animal was perhaps 50 cm across. I was pretty excited so ran back to the house to retrieve my camera. I left the crab to decompose in the gentle swash. The next day my eager to please Chinese house mate had found the animal and kindly deposited outside the house for all to view. At this stage the smell was terrible and I’m amazed that Kathy had the constitution to carry the animal the 200 m or so to the house!
The rest of the week was fairly uneventful. Next Monday is important as Hainan Adventures is merging with China Climb – a successful adventure company situated in Guangxi province. Hopefully we will see a few more faces within the company.
Friday, November 20, 2009
Week 4
The new kids arrived at about 11:00 am on Monday. As this group was large (70 kids plus 7 teachers) we split them into 4 groups, at the head of each was a team leader, these were Aaron, Laura/Peony, Wade and Vivian (a new arrival - Chinese). Myself and Kay were given the responsibility of carrying out activities; I was to take the kids "Coasteering" and on a "Coral Walk and Talk" whilst Kay was to take them paddling in kayaks. After we had finished introducing ourselves at the airport we took the kids to their hotel and checked them in, we then promptly headed to the beach where we had a picnic and played a myriad of team building games. Once the kids were better acquainted with one another and ourselves we headed to a local restaurant of a posh Chinese dinner.
Tuesday morning began with a slap up dinner at Pirates! restaurant after which I headed to Hou Hai with Wade and Vivian (groups 3 & 4). On arrival the kids in group 3 went coasteering with myself whilst group 4 learnt to surf with Brendan. Coasteering is simply a ramble over rocks. My version is slightly different however as I flavoured it with marine science! As the kids navigate their way around the rocky headland to the left of Hou Hai beach I lecture them on tides, intertidal ecology, corals and the impact of man on marine habitats. I also hold a shell parade and give the student with the best shell a prize (stickers). The walk around the rocks took about 1 ½ hours. I really enjoyed this activity as I took full control of the kids and had the chance to teach them about the subject I am most passionate about. We saw quite a lot of cool animals including several species of barnacles, small beds of oysters, a species of crab that seems adapted to living on top of the rocks, sea urchins, anemones, limpets, and top shell snails. Sadly there was also, like all the other sites around the coast, an abundance of washed up coral skeletons… Upon returning to base we had lunch and chilled for a bit. I then took group 4 around the rocks whilst group 3 went surfing. Once these activities were finished we gave the kids free time to swim in the sea and to relax on the beach until 6:30 when we had dinner. After dinner the kids set up their tents for the night and we played some more team building games. Bedtime was around 9:30!
On Wednesday the kids were up nice and early and ready for breakfast for 8:00 am. Once satiated the kids were introduced to our raft building exercise! This is a great activity and good for some healthy competition. Each group is given 12 bamboo poles, rope and 4 barrels plus 1 flag! Their objectives are two build a seaworthy raft, which they must name, and to use it in a relay type race. A marker is placed in the shallows around which the completed raft must pass 4 times, each time is passes it must have a fresh compliment of “sailors”. My group built a fairly decent raft and managed to beat Kays team – huzzah! After this exciting event groups 3 and 4 left for the Yanoda experience. Groups 1 and 2 were late in arriving at Hou Hai but we managed to fit their raft building into the day plus more team building games.
Thursday mirrored that of Tuesday with more coasteering and surfing tuition. During the second time coasteering we encountered some fishermen upon the rocks. Being interested I looked closely at their net – the mesh size was very small, approximately 1 inch in length. This is a really bad sign. If the local fisherman use nets with such tiny mesh times must be hard. What measures are in place to protect juvenile fish – I’m guessing few or none. I also noticed a free-diver by the rocks who was collecting oysters from around the rocks, he was descending with a simple knife and plying the molluscs from the rocks and depositing them in a floating container which was secured to himself via a length of rope. These signs show that these rocky environments are important to the local fisherman, I just hope that their activities are monitored to ensure sustainable exploitation of the animals…
Friday morning started with another slap up meal at Pirates! restaurant, after this the kids were transported to Luhuitou (where we live!) – half were taken on a “Coral Walk and Talk” whilst the other half were taken kayaking. The coral talk was great! It was another opportunity for myself to try and get the kids interested in the marine environment. I introduced corals to the students and spoke about their simple ecology as well as the detrimental affects that man has on these sensitive creatures. I tried to impress upon the kids the fact that they were here on Hainan to not only have fun but to make observations with regards to how we impact upon the environment. Sadly it’s all too easy to achieve this here… After the first walk the groups swapped over and we did the activities again. Now that we had worked up an appetite it was time for a BBQ! This was fantastic with tasty dishes like spiced/garlic flavoured egg plant, shrimps, egg fried rice and spicy chicken wings (my personal favourite). After eating we took the kids back to the airport and waved them goodbye.
Once back at our place we all chilled with a beer. That evening we headed out for drinks… I crawled back.
On Saturday we all waved goodbye to Ben - a very sound guy who had been living with us. I spent the best part of the day nursing my hangover… In the evening the girls (Laura and Kay) headed out to the local noodle stall for 2 portions of noodles. Unfortunately there must have been a misunderstanding as the noodle man presented the girls with 5 portions of noodles. The girls got frustrated and tried to tell him that they were only going to pay for 2 portions. Being foreigners (a rare thing here in our small village) we soon attracted a crowd. The girls relinquished and we payed the guy the 30 yuan (£3).
Sunday was another lazy day. I scouted the local beach for shells and found some interesting specimens to add to my now respectable collection. I spent the evening doing some paperwork and then had an awesome dinner cooked by the girls.
Tuesday morning began with a slap up dinner at Pirates! restaurant after which I headed to Hou Hai with Wade and Vivian (groups 3 & 4). On arrival the kids in group 3 went coasteering with myself whilst group 4 learnt to surf with Brendan. Coasteering is simply a ramble over rocks. My version is slightly different however as I flavoured it with marine science! As the kids navigate their way around the rocky headland to the left of Hou Hai beach I lecture them on tides, intertidal ecology, corals and the impact of man on marine habitats. I also hold a shell parade and give the student with the best shell a prize (stickers). The walk around the rocks took about 1 ½ hours. I really enjoyed this activity as I took full control of the kids and had the chance to teach them about the subject I am most passionate about. We saw quite a lot of cool animals including several species of barnacles, small beds of oysters, a species of crab that seems adapted to living on top of the rocks, sea urchins, anemones, limpets, and top shell snails. Sadly there was also, like all the other sites around the coast, an abundance of washed up coral skeletons… Upon returning to base we had lunch and chilled for a bit. I then took group 4 around the rocks whilst group 3 went surfing. Once these activities were finished we gave the kids free time to swim in the sea and to relax on the beach until 6:30 when we had dinner. After dinner the kids set up their tents for the night and we played some more team building games. Bedtime was around 9:30!
On Wednesday the kids were up nice and early and ready for breakfast for 8:00 am. Once satiated the kids were introduced to our raft building exercise! This is a great activity and good for some healthy competition. Each group is given 12 bamboo poles, rope and 4 barrels plus 1 flag! Their objectives are two build a seaworthy raft, which they must name, and to use it in a relay type race. A marker is placed in the shallows around which the completed raft must pass 4 times, each time is passes it must have a fresh compliment of “sailors”. My group built a fairly decent raft and managed to beat Kays team – huzzah! After this exciting event groups 3 and 4 left for the Yanoda experience. Groups 1 and 2 were late in arriving at Hou Hai but we managed to fit their raft building into the day plus more team building games.
Thursday mirrored that of Tuesday with more coasteering and surfing tuition. During the second time coasteering we encountered some fishermen upon the rocks. Being interested I looked closely at their net – the mesh size was very small, approximately 1 inch in length. This is a really bad sign. If the local fisherman use nets with such tiny mesh times must be hard. What measures are in place to protect juvenile fish – I’m guessing few or none. I also noticed a free-diver by the rocks who was collecting oysters from around the rocks, he was descending with a simple knife and plying the molluscs from the rocks and depositing them in a floating container which was secured to himself via a length of rope. These signs show that these rocky environments are important to the local fisherman, I just hope that their activities are monitored to ensure sustainable exploitation of the animals…
Friday morning started with another slap up meal at Pirates! restaurant, after this the kids were transported to Luhuitou (where we live!) – half were taken on a “Coral Walk and Talk” whilst the other half were taken kayaking. The coral talk was great! It was another opportunity for myself to try and get the kids interested in the marine environment. I introduced corals to the students and spoke about their simple ecology as well as the detrimental affects that man has on these sensitive creatures. I tried to impress upon the kids the fact that they were here on Hainan to not only have fun but to make observations with regards to how we impact upon the environment. Sadly it’s all too easy to achieve this here… After the first walk the groups swapped over and we did the activities again. Now that we had worked up an appetite it was time for a BBQ! This was fantastic with tasty dishes like spiced/garlic flavoured egg plant, shrimps, egg fried rice and spicy chicken wings (my personal favourite). After eating we took the kids back to the airport and waved them goodbye.
Once back at our place we all chilled with a beer. That evening we headed out for drinks… I crawled back.
On Saturday we all waved goodbye to Ben - a very sound guy who had been living with us. I spent the best part of the day nursing my hangover… In the evening the girls (Laura and Kay) headed out to the local noodle stall for 2 portions of noodles. Unfortunately there must have been a misunderstanding as the noodle man presented the girls with 5 portions of noodles. The girls got frustrated and tried to tell him that they were only going to pay for 2 portions. Being foreigners (a rare thing here in our small village) we soon attracted a crowd. The girls relinquished and we payed the guy the 30 yuan (£3).
Sunday was another lazy day. I scouted the local beach for shells and found some interesting specimens to add to my now respectable collection. I spent the evening doing some paperwork and then had an awesome dinner cooked by the girls.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Week 3
Monday arrived and along with it so did our first group of kids. There were 20 of the blighters all from an international school based in Hong Kong. After checking the kids (and ourselves) into the hotel we played some team building games, which included "monkey see, monkey do" type games as well as a tree hugging game (!?) and a game called "Baby, do you love me?". We headed to the local beach (1 min away) and took the kids swimming. Whilst supervising the kids in the water I kept stepping on lots of small pebbles - on closer inspection I found out that these were actually hermit crabs! There are literally thousands of them... After splashing around for a bit longer we lunched, had a few more games and then had dinner at the hotel. After dinner the kids went swimming in the resort pool.
Tuesday was supposed to be a day of surfing at Hou Hai beach. Unfortunately the swell was too excessive so we kept the kids at Yalong Bay where the waves were good for beginners. The morning was spent tutoring the kids. Lunch involved another beach picnic. More surfing followed until about 5 o'clock when we packed up the surf gear and headed up to Hou Hai for camping. The tents are pretty basic dome jobs that are useless in the wind, but this was fine as the weather is pretty docile here (accept the heat of course). Night time brought more team building games such as "Pass the fruit" and "Balance the water!". Bed time for the kids was 10:00.
On Wednesday we packed up the tents, had breakfast and journeyed to good 'ol Yanoda. We took the kids on the gorge climb during which I spied a species of small frog clinging to a rock plus some sort of freshwater crab. Lunch followed the climb - traditional Chinese food. The rainforest hike was next. I was acting as the group rearguard for the hike and managed to spot a tree crab that everyone else missed! This shows you how blind people our to such things - it was pretty obvious to a naturalist! After the hike we set up camp at Yanoda and went to dinner. We were entertained while we ate by traditional music and bamboo pole dancing.
Thursday involved the school visit I mentioned on last weeks blog. On arriving we were greeted by the local school kids and the teachers. Our school kids split into groups (with a Hainan Adventures instructor at the head of each) and began to teach some of the local kids some games - which they loved! After the games we had a traditional lunch of boiled rice. This is done by filling a hollow piece of bamboo with rice and water which is then placed into the glowing red coals of a fire, the rice cooks and expands and is extracted by splitting the bamboo down the side. The split bamboo can now serve as a plate - although a rather warm one! After lunch we painted the alphabet on one of the school buildings - the local kids were amazed at the paints we brought and couldn't resist dipping their fingers (as well as sticks) into our paint cans... We also repainted the blackboards! After this we gave the kids a pencil case each as well as pens, pencils and exercise books. The children at this school were amazing, they have very little in terms of materialistic possessions yet they are truly very happy with their lot in life. There is a lesson to be learned here I think... Once we were done at the school we waved goodbye to the kids and took our group back to their resort where we had dinner.
On Friday we took the kids to the airport and sent them off to Hong Kong with Hainan Adventures apparel!
The weekend was dominated by the Surfing Hainan Open. The competition was held at a reef break further round the coast from Hou Hai. Sadly the best swell had occurred over the previous weekend (generated by a typhoon) and the waves were very small. The shortboard heats struggled to generate much excitement due to the tiny surf. The longboard heats fared better with some long rides. During the comp I headed to the right of the beach where there are number of strewn boulders. I found little of interest at the rocks except hundreds of small hermit crabs (again)!
Tuesday was supposed to be a day of surfing at Hou Hai beach. Unfortunately the swell was too excessive so we kept the kids at Yalong Bay where the waves were good for beginners. The morning was spent tutoring the kids. Lunch involved another beach picnic. More surfing followed until about 5 o'clock when we packed up the surf gear and headed up to Hou Hai for camping. The tents are pretty basic dome jobs that are useless in the wind, but this was fine as the weather is pretty docile here (accept the heat of course). Night time brought more team building games such as "Pass the fruit" and "Balance the water!". Bed time for the kids was 10:00.
On Wednesday we packed up the tents, had breakfast and journeyed to good 'ol Yanoda. We took the kids on the gorge climb during which I spied a species of small frog clinging to a rock plus some sort of freshwater crab. Lunch followed the climb - traditional Chinese food. The rainforest hike was next. I was acting as the group rearguard for the hike and managed to spot a tree crab that everyone else missed! This shows you how blind people our to such things - it was pretty obvious to a naturalist! After the hike we set up camp at Yanoda and went to dinner. We were entertained while we ate by traditional music and bamboo pole dancing.
Thursday involved the school visit I mentioned on last weeks blog. On arriving we were greeted by the local school kids and the teachers. Our school kids split into groups (with a Hainan Adventures instructor at the head of each) and began to teach some of the local kids some games - which they loved! After the games we had a traditional lunch of boiled rice. This is done by filling a hollow piece of bamboo with rice and water which is then placed into the glowing red coals of a fire, the rice cooks and expands and is extracted by splitting the bamboo down the side. The split bamboo can now serve as a plate - although a rather warm one! After lunch we painted the alphabet on one of the school buildings - the local kids were amazed at the paints we brought and couldn't resist dipping their fingers (as well as sticks) into our paint cans... We also repainted the blackboards! After this we gave the kids a pencil case each as well as pens, pencils and exercise books. The children at this school were amazing, they have very little in terms of materialistic possessions yet they are truly very happy with their lot in life. There is a lesson to be learned here I think... Once we were done at the school we waved goodbye to the kids and took our group back to their resort where we had dinner.
On Friday we took the kids to the airport and sent them off to Hong Kong with Hainan Adventures apparel!
The weekend was dominated by the Surfing Hainan Open. The competition was held at a reef break further round the coast from Hou Hai. Sadly the best swell had occurred over the previous weekend (generated by a typhoon) and the waves were very small. The shortboard heats struggled to generate much excitement due to the tiny surf. The longboard heats fared better with some long rides. During the comp I headed to the right of the beach where there are number of strewn boulders. I found little of interest at the rocks except hundreds of small hermit crabs (again)!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Week 2
This week was setup so myself and the rest of the newbies within the team could scout out and experience a few of the sites and activities that we subject are clients to.
I started the week by heading up to “Yanoda Rainforest Centre” with the rest of the team. This is a commercial privately owned enterprise that takes clients on tours around part of the Hainan rainforest. You would expect the site to utilize natural paths and to minimize development - but this is China. The Yanoda setup has completely missed the point of ecotourism. Everywhere you look swathes of rainforest have been cleared to make way for restaurants, shops, toilets, shower blocks etc. Concrete paths and roads network the site intensively, effectively bisecting the forest in many places. In fact there were many signs of soil erosion due to the loss of foliage and the large quantity of concrete covered areas (increasing surface runoff). The Yanoda experience felt very “Disney”. Large areas of natural plant growth had also been cleared for the placement of aesthetically pleasing arrangements of Hainan flowers and trees. Amusingly I saw a member of staff selling one of their eco-bags (made from natural biodegradable materials) placed kindly within a very non-biodegradable plastic bag! My advice would be that if you really want to see what the rainforest has to offer then head to a remote village in the hills at the centre of the island and explore it from there. While at Yanoda we did a gorge climb (hiking up a river!) and a rainforest hike. The gorge climb was fun but again the river had been heavily modified to ensure safety measurements – concrete walk ways lie on the banks destroying the habitat many river animals are dependent upon. The hike was a joke due to more concrete paths and strategically placed “endemic” species.
The next day we headed to Hou Hai beach to receive training in surf tuition by the boss of Surfing Hainan – Brendan. This was pretty fun. After being trained up by Brendan we had a bit of free time so I headed off to get a decent picture of one the ghost crabs. Another activity we undertake at the beach besides teaching students to surf is raft building. Aaron showed us where our raft materials are kept and how to tie clove hitches. With my new found knowledge I can build a fairly sturdy raft provided the right equipment (i.e. bamboo poles, barrels, rope etc). After building a raft we all headed to Hou Hai dock where we took a small boat to our snorkeling site, unfortunately we didn’t go in as the swell was picking up and water visibility was poor. The dock itself was very interesting and lent an insight to the local fisherman. The majority of fishing vessels are approximately 10 m in length and have a powerful light array at the prow. I am told that these lights attract insects at the fishing grounds (probably reefs) which in turn attract reef fish that are the captured via nets. These fisherman are therefore only active at night.
On Wednesday we had a day off. I decided to go for a 45 minute run with Ben in the morning and then headed to Dadonghai (nearest town) to use the internet. After this I walked the length of Dadonghai beach, combing the beach for shells. Not before long I was nearing the end of the beach and was surprised upon looking up from my activity to find myself amongst the nudist section! I beat a hasty retreat. Back at the house I met up with Wade and headed to the Police Station with Kay and Laura so we could register our arrival at Hainan (standard protocol for long term visitors).
Friday consisted of a visit to an isolated rural school 2 hours from where we live. The roads to the school were extremely windy and pretty tough going on the minibus – at one point we got stuck. I dutifully got out with Wade and pushed the vehicle free with a coating of mud as a reward! Once at the school we were disappointed to see that the kids had a day off. We were visiting the school as a potential site for some community service project our next group of kids have to undertake. The school itself was in a sorry state, most of the windows had no glass and the classrooms were bare of learning materials. There were too rectangular single story buildings separated by a dusty playground, both buildings were a study of grey. We decided that when we came back we would get our kids (as well ourselves) to paint the English and Chinese alphabet on one building. We would also donate some learning materials such as exercise books, posters and stationary. We left the site and had lunch at the local village, where strangely we had to buy the food ourselves after which it was then cooked for us! The village kids loved seeing a bunch of foreigners in town and we kept them laughing by speaking to them in our very basic Chinese! After lunch we tried to scout a hike route but turned rounded after 5 minutes due to massive amounts of hungry leeches. I found a river alongside which I saw many fascinating butterflies and damselflies. I also spied a man electrofishing along the river! On the way home the minibus got stuck again and I got more muddy…
At the weekend I worked for Brendan helping some Chinese and Russian clients to surf at Hou Hai. Ended the day with a fireside barbecue – Brendan sang some songs and played the guitar. Looking forward to our 1st group of kids.
I started the week by heading up to “Yanoda Rainforest Centre” with the rest of the team. This is a commercial privately owned enterprise that takes clients on tours around part of the Hainan rainforest. You would expect the site to utilize natural paths and to minimize development - but this is China. The Yanoda setup has completely missed the point of ecotourism. Everywhere you look swathes of rainforest have been cleared to make way for restaurants, shops, toilets, shower blocks etc. Concrete paths and roads network the site intensively, effectively bisecting the forest in many places. In fact there were many signs of soil erosion due to the loss of foliage and the large quantity of concrete covered areas (increasing surface runoff). The Yanoda experience felt very “Disney”. Large areas of natural plant growth had also been cleared for the placement of aesthetically pleasing arrangements of Hainan flowers and trees. Amusingly I saw a member of staff selling one of their eco-bags (made from natural biodegradable materials) placed kindly within a very non-biodegradable plastic bag! My advice would be that if you really want to see what the rainforest has to offer then head to a remote village in the hills at the centre of the island and explore it from there. While at Yanoda we did a gorge climb (hiking up a river!) and a rainforest hike. The gorge climb was fun but again the river had been heavily modified to ensure safety measurements – concrete walk ways lie on the banks destroying the habitat many river animals are dependent upon. The hike was a joke due to more concrete paths and strategically placed “endemic” species.
The next day we headed to Hou Hai beach to receive training in surf tuition by the boss of Surfing Hainan – Brendan. This was pretty fun. After being trained up by Brendan we had a bit of free time so I headed off to get a decent picture of one the ghost crabs. Another activity we undertake at the beach besides teaching students to surf is raft building. Aaron showed us where our raft materials are kept and how to tie clove hitches. With my new found knowledge I can build a fairly sturdy raft provided the right equipment (i.e. bamboo poles, barrels, rope etc). After building a raft we all headed to Hou Hai dock where we took a small boat to our snorkeling site, unfortunately we didn’t go in as the swell was picking up and water visibility was poor. The dock itself was very interesting and lent an insight to the local fisherman. The majority of fishing vessels are approximately 10 m in length and have a powerful light array at the prow. I am told that these lights attract insects at the fishing grounds (probably reefs) which in turn attract reef fish that are the captured via nets. These fisherman are therefore only active at night.
On Wednesday we had a day off. I decided to go for a 45 minute run with Ben in the morning and then headed to Dadonghai (nearest town) to use the internet. After this I walked the length of Dadonghai beach, combing the beach for shells. Not before long I was nearing the end of the beach and was surprised upon looking up from my activity to find myself amongst the nudist section! I beat a hasty retreat. Back at the house I met up with Wade and headed to the Police Station with Kay and Laura so we could register our arrival at Hainan (standard protocol for long term visitors).
Friday consisted of a visit to an isolated rural school 2 hours from where we live. The roads to the school were extremely windy and pretty tough going on the minibus – at one point we got stuck. I dutifully got out with Wade and pushed the vehicle free with a coating of mud as a reward! Once at the school we were disappointed to see that the kids had a day off. We were visiting the school as a potential site for some community service project our next group of kids have to undertake. The school itself was in a sorry state, most of the windows had no glass and the classrooms were bare of learning materials. There were too rectangular single story buildings separated by a dusty playground, both buildings were a study of grey. We decided that when we came back we would get our kids (as well ourselves) to paint the English and Chinese alphabet on one building. We would also donate some learning materials such as exercise books, posters and stationary. We left the site and had lunch at the local village, where strangely we had to buy the food ourselves after which it was then cooked for us! The village kids loved seeing a bunch of foreigners in town and we kept them laughing by speaking to them in our very basic Chinese! After lunch we tried to scout a hike route but turned rounded after 5 minutes due to massive amounts of hungry leeches. I found a river alongside which I saw many fascinating butterflies and damselflies. I also spied a man electrofishing along the river! On the way home the minibus got stuck again and I got more muddy…
At the weekend I worked for Brendan helping some Chinese and Russian clients to surf at Hou Hai. Ended the day with a fireside barbecue – Brendan sang some songs and played the guitar. Looking forward to our 1st group of kids.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Week 1
The flight to Amsterdam was amazing with the setting sun on the horizon. From Amsterdam we then flew to Beijing then Guanzhou and finally to Sanya - the whole trip took 20 hours in total! When we arrived we were introduced to the team: Aaron - surfer from America, Kay - Kayaker from UK, Wade - the boss from Oz, Monica - in charge of logistics, Peony - local Lee Minority girl from Hainan and Cathy another Chinese girl. After a slap up meal at the local restaurant it was time for some well earned sleep.
The next few days saw us sorting out our passports and opening bank accounts. One thing that is striking here is the sheer immensity of dragonflies, these insects dominate the skys over Sanya and their shadows can be seen at all times as they dart after mosquitos! I did my first work on the Saturday – teaching Chinese businessman to surf! These guys really have no idea about the mechanics of surfing and I really had a difficult time getting them up. The beach (Hou Hai) I was teaching on is in a terrible state. Ghost crabs scuttle from their holes to forage through heaps of rubbish in the form of plastic, glass and polystyrene. The hill to the right of the beach is being quarried for aggregates, as a consequence the vista of greenery is interrupted by an ugly scar that gouges deep into the rolling countryside that backs the beach. Massive cargo ships arrive at the base of the quarry to haul the rocks away to god knows where.
At the weekend I visited the local market. This place is amazing and exactly how all markets should be – it is noisy and crowded with stall holders hawking their wares and customers bartering. The meat section consists of whole animal carcasses that are chopped up to your requirements. The saddest section for me was that of the fish market, here there were many small fish that should never have been taken from the seas at such a small size. Most of the fish at the market were smaller than my hand.The Chinese seem very willing to eat any size of fish and do not seem to desire decent fillets, instead they take large pieces of the animal into their mouth after which they will spit the bones out onto the table, this is pretty disgusting to watch! The diversity of fish is quite astounding and includes primarily reef fish. Many different types of shellfish are also available as well as sea cucumbers and sad looking terrapins. The saddest thing for me was the presence of hundreds of dried seahorses (thought to be an aphrodisiac – utter crap) and packets of dried shark fins. Finding these here makes me very angry at these guys – there is no excuse for such pathetic fancies.
The next week will see us scouting out a few of the activities we have for our first group of kids who arrive on 02/11/09.
The next few days saw us sorting out our passports and opening bank accounts. One thing that is striking here is the sheer immensity of dragonflies, these insects dominate the skys over Sanya and their shadows can be seen at all times as they dart after mosquitos! I did my first work on the Saturday – teaching Chinese businessman to surf! These guys really have no idea about the mechanics of surfing and I really had a difficult time getting them up. The beach (Hou Hai) I was teaching on is in a terrible state. Ghost crabs scuttle from their holes to forage through heaps of rubbish in the form of plastic, glass and polystyrene. The hill to the right of the beach is being quarried for aggregates, as a consequence the vista of greenery is interrupted by an ugly scar that gouges deep into the rolling countryside that backs the beach. Massive cargo ships arrive at the base of the quarry to haul the rocks away to god knows where.
At the weekend I visited the local market. This place is amazing and exactly how all markets should be – it is noisy and crowded with stall holders hawking their wares and customers bartering. The meat section consists of whole animal carcasses that are chopped up to your requirements. The saddest section for me was that of the fish market, here there were many small fish that should never have been taken from the seas at such a small size. Most of the fish at the market were smaller than my hand.The Chinese seem very willing to eat any size of fish and do not seem to desire decent fillets, instead they take large pieces of the animal into their mouth after which they will spit the bones out onto the table, this is pretty disgusting to watch! The diversity of fish is quite astounding and includes primarily reef fish. Many different types of shellfish are also available as well as sea cucumbers and sad looking terrapins. The saddest thing for me was the presence of hundreds of dried seahorses (thought to be an aphrodisiac – utter crap) and packets of dried shark fins. Finding these here makes me very angry at these guys – there is no excuse for such pathetic fancies.
The next week will see us scouting out a few of the activities we have for our first group of kids who arrive on 02/11/09.
Monday, October 19, 2009
Friday, September 18, 2009
Hainan Island Vital Statistics
Location: East Asia; Latitude 19°; Longitude 109°.
Dimensions and area of island: 260 km at East to West; 210 km North to South; 33,920 square kilometers.
Climate: Tropical monsoonal; Annual temperature dynamic ~15°C; Coldest Months - January and February (~17°C), Warmest months - July and August (~32°C); Rainfall ~ 1000 - 2000 mm depending on locality i.e. coast or inland. 70% of this is derived from monsoon rains.
Cities: Haikou, Wenchang, Qionghai, Wanning, WuzhiShan, Sanya, Dongfang and Danzhou.
Population: 8,180,000.
Trade goods: Iron, titanium, manganese, tungsten, bauxite, molybdenum, cobalt, copper, gold, silver, teak, sandalwood, rice, coconuts, pineapples, black pepper, cashews, coffee, tea and sugarcane, grouper, spanish mackeral, tuna, shrimp, scallops and pearls.
Natural History: Rainforest exists in the central highlands, elsewhere it is patchy due to previous logging activities. One of the worlds most endangered species, the Hainan gibbon, lives within the central forest. Less than 10% of the islands original forest remains.
Fringing coral reefs surround the Island to the south due to the shallow, warm, clear and well lit waters. Notable visitors to these reefs include the endangered hawksbill turtle and green turtle.
Hainan, being relatively isolated, has numerous endemic species, including 8 plants, 2 mammals (Hainan moonrat and the Hainan flying squirrel) and 2 birds (Hainan leaf warbler and the Hainan partridge) as well as several invertebrates. There are also many endemic subspecies. For more details cick this link.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
I have set this blog up so people around the world may see what Hainan Island has to offer in terms of wildlife. I am heading to Hainan to work with Hainan Adventures, an outdoor education resort that organizes activities and excursions for school children. The company emphasizes the importance of respecting the environment and has in turn employed a "leave no trace" attitude. Interestingly, the company has close ties to the local turtle conservation project "Turtle 911" which rescues, researches and protects the visiting turtle species (green turtles and hawksbill turtles).
The island boasts tropical greenery as well as shallow coastal waters dotted with coral reefs, consequently the island boasts many interesting animal and plant species. During my time on Hainan I will try and document the wildlife, being a marine biologist graduate I will be focusing on the marine environment, although I will be making forays into the rainforest to observe life amongst the trees as well as within rivers.
I will be departing on 20/10/09 for eight months. This gives me a month from now to do some background reading on the animals I can expect to find on and around the Island. It is my understanding that human activity on the island is severe and I am expecting to find a fairly impoverished environment in terms of biodiversity in comparison to the state I could have found several hundred years ago. I will be observing the influence of human activities on the islands environment.
This blog has been assigned with a future date so it remains at the top of my postings!
To see my most recent images visit my sister site here.
The island boasts tropical greenery as well as shallow coastal waters dotted with coral reefs, consequently the island boasts many interesting animal and plant species. During my time on Hainan I will try and document the wildlife, being a marine biologist graduate I will be focusing on the marine environment, although I will be making forays into the rainforest to observe life amongst the trees as well as within rivers.
I will be departing on 20/10/09 for eight months. This gives me a month from now to do some background reading on the animals I can expect to find on and around the Island. It is my understanding that human activity on the island is severe and I am expecting to find a fairly impoverished environment in terms of biodiversity in comparison to the state I could have found several hundred years ago. I will be observing the influence of human activities on the islands environment.
This blog has been assigned with a future date so it remains at the top of my postings!
To see my most recent images visit my sister site here.
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