NYAA Outdoor Appreciation – Activity Trip to Tioman, Malaysia

August 7, 2020 srini92577@gapps.uwcsea.edu.sg Comments 0 Comment

Disclaimer: Due to the coronavirus pandemic and travel restrictions, this outdoor appreciation project will be based on a trip that took place a few months before the published date.

For my NYAA Outdoor Appreciation Project, a group of my classmates and I had travelled to the Tioman Islands in Malaysia to spend 5 days developing our outdoor skills, teamwork and completely detaching from technology. In this trip, we engaged in several outdoor experiences ranging from kayaking to hiking. I will elaborate on my experiences and personal learning in the following voice recording outlining the events of each day.

DAY 1

In the first day of the trip, we settled into our accommodation and gave up our technology for the week. We played a lot of team bonding games and activities to build connection on the first trip of the day. The highlight the first day of the trip was swimming freely in the ocean which was something I had never done before and had actually been a little afraid of. One of the first exercises we did was a swim test as a team relay race in which we had to swim 50 metres into the ocean. I quickly realised that I wasn’t as afraid or as incapable of swimming in the ocean than I had first thought and this was definitely one the activities in the trip that had made me aware of my self-limiting beliefs that would prevent me from being more comfortable in the outdoors. That night, we had a reflections in groups guided by our activity facilitator as to what we individually want to achieve through this activity trip and I said that I wanted to be less reserved and be more adventurous and active. It was nice to detach from technology today.

DAY 2

This morning we woke up around 6am to do morning yoga. It was a nice and different routine in comparison to my typical morning of checking my phone. It was peaceful to view the sunrise and the beach. Our main activity of the day was practicing kayaking techniques and capsizing in a kayak. We first learnt about different types of kayaks and learnt about which kayaks would be suitable for our own heights. We dragged our kayaks out to the shore (they were surprisingly heavy!) and then learnt how to do safety check-ups with the kayak. We set up with our gear and took turns practicing capsizing technique so that even if we flip over when we do kayaking we know how to get out of the kayak safely. It was amusing. Then, we continued our kayaking practice in larger groups and further into the ocean. We learnt how to link arms/get connected in a kayak and some hand signals to communicate at far distances Later on, we went snorkelling and saw the impacts of coral bleaching and ocean pollution on the corals in the ocean. It was a moment in which we became more aware of the environmental consequences of human activity.

DAY 3

Today was the day of our biggest activity challenge – hiking and overnight camping in one of the oldest rainforests in Tioman. We started off early in the morning with packed belongings and took a long walk to the base of the hiking trail. We spent the next eight hours hiking through the jungle. I was surprised by the fact that I actually enjoyed the hike, though tiring at times. I had practiced hiking before and maybe it was why I found the experience more enjoyable. Some of my friends had a little difficulty navigating the route so I tried my best to help them through the process. The hike was a good bonding experience with the people on the trip and had some funny and good moments – we saw a big snake and had to change course. Eventually, we reached out campsite at the other side of the island and set up our camping tents by ourselves as a challenge. We sat by the campfire for a while and ate food, then we went to bed. It was a really tiring day, due to the humidity and the travel but I had fun. I learnt that good company can really make any situation better!

DAY 4

After we woke up, we started packing up the campsite, and dragging kayaks placed in the campsite into the nearby shore. Our day today consisted of us kayaking around the island back to our accommodation. We had to make kayaking groups. The highlight of this day for me was when my teacher suggested I team up someone in our group who was a little apprehensive about kayaking on the open water so I would be able to support her. I was happy that I could be a comforting friend to someone who was fearful, even if I am not the more natural athletic person. The kayaking was a nice experience feeling the ocean water and looking at the other islands near Tioman and chatting with my friends. It was a bonding experience. After the three hour kayak and some time to refresh, we went to visit to turtle rehabilitation center on the island. We were taught more about the biological life cycle of turtles and I learnt a lot of interesting facts about them, but more importantly, we gained a further understanding of the widespread impact of human resource consumption and urban development on turtle populations. It made me feel strongly inclined to pursue awareness about the environment when I get back to my community.

DAY 5

Today, we explored more of Tioman’s local community and met with local people who taught us a lot about their culture and sustainable living. Firstly, we visited a farmer family on the islands and learnt more about their daily activities. We did raking, composting, planting, harvesting of their land and learnt more about all the processes involved in growing food. We even ate some local food and asked questions to the local community on their experiences on the island. On the way back from the visit, we did a beach clean up, and I saw the global impacts of industrialism and pollution in the remote beach island. Later on, we did a team building exercise that involved building a suitable raft with just metal barrels, sticks and ropes and it took a lot of creative thinking and teamwork. We had a race between rafts and my team used our fastest swimmer as a propeller. Our last full day on the island was really rewarding and a fun way to bring this activity trip to a close.

Reflection: My Top Takeaways

Limiting Beliefs and Persistence

Even though I may not be very athletic naturally and have had a lot of experience with outdoor activities, I felt like this trip broke my self limitings beliefs and fears of participating in outdoor adventures. I enjoyed being in nature and I felt like I developed more grit, persistence and mental control.

Teamwork and Understanding

What I really enjoyed about this trip was the connections and friendships that were strengthened throughout the process. Furthermore, I enjoyed the fact that people of all different physical abilities were able to come together in a judgement-free way to support each other in each activity we did. There were many instances in which we needed to rely on each other and think as a team and I felt like my abilities to both lead a team and work cohesively in a team has improved.

Environmental Conservation and Sustainability

Being in the beautiful Tioman Islands, but also seeing the man-made environmental damage make the realisation of our unsustainable practices very clear in a direct way to me. This has motivated me to look for ways to make my life more sustainable and I have started making changes with the regards to the cosmetics I use. I have tried using coral reef friendly ingredients in my cosmetics and tried to make sure product packaging is recycled or repurposed.

Freedom from Technology

Lastly, this trip was a welcome break from technology for me and made me aware of my own dependence to technology and all the times I do not really need to use my phone when I could be engaging in more meaningful activities.