Snorkeling Day Trip
Snorkeling Day Trip
I, along with
volunteers Astrid and Emma had the privilege of accompanying children from both
Olives and Nyota on a day trip along the Nyali coastline with the opportunity
of snorkeling and seeing some of the local aquatic life. The trip was kindly
sponsored by Buccaneers and the Voyager Hotel who supplied the boat and lunch
after. We started the day preparing the equipment we needed to take with us;
snorkels, towels and spare clothes for the kids were all necessities that had
to be brought to the hotel before the kids arrived. We arranged transport for
ourselves and the heavy bags and got there 15 minutes before everyone else
arrived.
The morning
was spent organising the kids into two groups, they first had to be shown the
dangers of open water snorkeling which the manager of Buccaneers, Sabrina,
showed to one group at a time through an educational DVD. Whilst one group were
indoors, the other was out in the pool testing out the snorkels. We volunteers
along with staff members Michele and Anna H took turns jumping in and out the
pool to keep an eye on the kids and monitor their progress. Many of them were
naturals and got it straight away. Others were slightly reluctant to put their
faces underwater and some would have rather swam without, but we made them continue as this was a great opportunity for
them and they might not get to do this again. Eventually after a few hours we
managed to get them all through the basics and they were all very eager to get
out on the sea.
We locked up
our things and headed out towards the boat. I was surprised to find that it was
a glass boat with a clear bottom so we could see things as we chugged along. We
first stopped at a reef where the guide found a few starfish of varying sizes.
The reef was very shallow and we were able to wade around before returning to
the boat to the snorkeling destination. After more brief traveling we finally
arrived at the place we were going to snorkel. The guides jumped in with pieces
of bread and held them underneath the boat against the glass. Suddenly the boat
was surrounded by these zebra coloured fish that went mad for the bread, it was
shocking how quickly they devoured the bread but at the same time very
mesmerising and fascinating. After the feeding we all got into the water. There
were life rings that many of the kids floated around dipping their heads under
to see the various fish. The snorkelling went well with no problems at all. The
kids were well behaved and when we got back into the boat they all had a smile
on their face which was very pleasing to see.
We then traveled back to the hotel in time for lunch. Voyagers had prepared a feast of
burgers and chips which the kids were overjoyed with. Very few of them have every
had burgers and it was great to see them getting up for more. We all had much
to eat that day and I for one had enough to fill me up. After we finished up
and had our sodas, we posed for some group photos with all the staff and kids.
The staff then took the kids back to the schools in matatus and we took the
equipment home and hung it out to dry.
The
experience for me was brilliant as it was not only a great day out with the
kids, but it was a chance for them to learn something new and then go out and
perform it firsthand. All the kids enjoyed the trip and were grateful for the
adventure. I would love to take them all out for a similar trip again.
By Josh
McMahon
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