SE Asia Group Adventure – Guest Post by Autumn Eke-Aluong

My trip to SE Asia was such an amazing experience. Our first country was Vietnam where we got to do lots of shopping and we got to see all the amazing wildlife. The airport was really impressive, it was really large this was our first experience to walk around by ourselves and use are independence we had gained at the past meet ups such as Birmingham and Cudham camps.

Another exciting thing that we got to do was attending a theme park whereby we went on some really exciting rides such as Merry-go-round and walk around in the jungle, we then got to see one of the longest cable wires in the whole of Vietnam, which we got to go on and this was really exciting as we then got to go up the mountains and have a view of the entire city.

Our next stop was Cambodia where one of my highlights was going to a Gibbon century where we also got a certificate for taking part. While there we gained knowledge on how Gibbons are not only exploited but that they’re currently endangered species due to humans e.g through deforestation, habitat fragmentation and hunting/poaching.  I am glad that I had the opportunity to learn about this as it helped me understand the impact humans have on wildlife.

We also went to a rat mining cemetery where we got to look at rats and understand how the keepers using sounds allowed them to find explosives in the ground and how rats are really beneficial to Cambodia. We also learnt that some are transported from as far as Africa and other parts of Asia.  Afterwards we got to hold the rats and although I was a bit scared at first, I quickly warmed up to them and allowed it to climb up my hand.  We went to a Coconut Island where we got to learn how coconuts are traded and how some were made into candy for other countries and for locals to purchase and sell, especially to tourists.  While I wasn’t a fan of coconut, the coconut candy it was an immersive experience that helped me understand how local resources are used to support the wider economy.

We also went on a boat ride which was really fun and we got to learn how the locals travel along the river daily.

My third and final country was Thailand Where we stayed most of our time at the elephant sanctuary.

At the elephant Sanctuary we looked after the elephants by feeding them, walking with them and cleaning out their facilities. This was really interesting as here we got to learn about how elephants are exploited while at the same time we got to make a difference in their lives by cleaning their habitat.  We also learnt how local places also exploit these elephants by allowing locals to ride on them or sit on them. The elephant century rescued a lot of elephants from these nearby sanctuaries, they gave us personal stories of the elephants that had got rescued, and they wanted to continue expanding their project over Thailand and over the world.

My highlight of the whole trip was going canoeing in Phuket.  Although I nearly fell in a couple of times it was really fun and I would definitely do it again.

When we had the chance to get out of our canoe and go into the open water, I found it really exciting and even saw clear jellyfish.  We ended the experience with a nice lunch on the beach.

In retrospect I would like to say that this trip was such an amazing experience and I would definitely recommend everyone to apply to go on it.  I would like to thank Girl Guiding, my leaders and my unit 7th Plaistow for helping me fund raise and supporting me throughout this journey thank you.