10 April 2006
Bird song and snake bites
"Beautiful surroundings"
© Greenpeace/Behring
Yesterday I arrived at the GFRS in the dark – this morning I woke up in one of the most beautiful surroundings I have ever seen. From my bed I had a great view of the lake. Birds and animal sounds echoed everywhere. I can't compare this place to anything from my home in Holland. I live in Amsterdam, where I'm happy to hear one bird in the morning above all the traffic sounds.
On our first day all the new volunteers get an introduction to the camp. This also involves medical training. John, the camp manager, explains about using the satellite phones in emergency cases, how to use the GPS and so on.
After a while he starts to talk about safety issues. The biggest danger is snakebites. There are three deadly snakes in the forests of Papua New Guinea: the death adder, the Papoean black and the taipan. Before I ever know I have been bitten by one, there are two black bite marks on my calf .... John put them there with a black marker so we could practice how to deal with such a bite. The other volunteers put an immobilising bandage around my leg to prevent the venom from spreading. It's good to know this skill but let's hope that we won't be doing this for real!
After the training all the new volunteers explore the camp. We start with the canoes. As you might have read before, it's not easy to manage one. Petteri, the Finnish volunteer, decides to let me go first so that he can learn from my mistakes. I enter the canoe and stand up to paddle. It's moving everywhere and I try to hold my balance. I'm doing well, so far. I paddle out to the lake and I’m only getting better!
While paddling I enjoy my surroundings. It's just amazing to be here! Such beauty, everywhere.
I go back to let the others have a go. According to John, I'm a natural. Unfortunately Petteri hasn't got these natural skills. He flips over when he's only a few metres away. But he's persistent. I swim to the middle of the lake to help him in case he falls out again.
Petteri is a comedian. He makes me laugh again and again when he's flipping over. Well we still have some weeks to master the canoeing skills. And maybe we shouldn't swim out to the lake that far anymore; it's said there's crocodiles but I'm not sure if they just teasing the new volunteers. It might be true .....
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Comments
beautiful picture...this place looks amazing!
Posted by: Jess at May 3, 2006 7:52 AM
