WE tend to overuse the phrase a “once in a lifetime experience”. But there’s no other way to describe the summer a group of students from Tadcaster Grammar have just spent in Indonesia.

The teenagers spent two weeks helping scientists survey the rainforests of Buton Island, off Indonesia’s south-eastern Sulawesi peninsula, for wildlife including bats, frogs, snakes and lizards. They also studied jungle survival skills, learned to dive, and looked at the effect unsustainable fishing and climate change are having on coral reefs off the island’s coast.

It was a trip that took them well outside their comfort zone as they bumped through the rainforest in a cattle truck then trekked uphill for three hours through hot, humid jungle to reach their main camp.

But it was an experience that the group - all Year 11 and Sixth Form students at the school - will never forget, admits 17-year-old Callum Mo.

“It wasn’t simply a holiday. It enabled us all to experience things most people could only dream about,” he says.

The teenagers travelled to Indonesia thanks to Operation Wallacea (Opwall), an organisation that runs biological and conservation management research programmes in remote locations around the world.

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The teenagers learn to use ropes and harness to climb into the rainforest canopy

They each raised £2,800 towards the cost of the expedition by getting part-time jobs and through fund-raisers, race nights and cake bakes.

They flew out on July 25 - and found that, even today, some parts of the world are harder to reach than others.

It took more than 24 hours and four different flights to get to Buton, and even then their adventure was just beginning.

The group spent their first night in a hotel before being taken to a village where they stayed with locals in their homes.

“The accommodation was very basic, but the locals were very welcoming,” says the school’s Girls PE leader Kerry McGeechan, one of two teachers who accompanied the teenagers. While in the village the teenagers learned how to use ropes and harness to climb up into the rainforest canopy.

“Even for those who didn’t mind heights it was quite unnerving,” Mrs McGeechan admits.

The first week of the expedition was then spent at Bala Camp, deep in the rainforest. They got there by cattle truck followed by a three-hour uphill trek through the jungle, in humid conditions.

The camp was just a small clearing with a few large tents. Four of the tents had rows of hammocks to sleep in, and there were areas for cooking, eating and lectures.

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Survival skills: Tadcaster Grammar teenager Alex Moody blows on a fire to try to kindle the flame

The other facilities were basic - trench toilets, and a river running through camp where everyone washed.

The diet wasn’t much more sophisticated.

“We got used to eating rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner and there was the odd vegetable and egg thrown in,” says Mrs McGeechan.

Not the most appetising of diets for hungry Yorkshire teenagers, admits 17-year-old Tamsyn Dawson, who was one of the group.

“Living on rice for two weeks was a challenge and I was very glad to have some Marmite on toast when I got home!”

But there was plenty to keep their minds off the food.

Each day involved a trek to a different area of the rainforest to carry out surveys of habitats and wildlife including bats, butterflies, birds and reptiles.

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Measuring a tiny jungle frog

The teenagers helped scientists measure and weigh bats, frogs, snakes and lizards, as well as to record data about the habitat where they lived.

When not surveying the wildlife, they learned jungle skills such as how to make a shelter and a fire, and how to find food and water.

It was gruelling at times, admits Tamsyn - but unforgettable, too. “There were some tough treks. But the views and wildlife I saw were amazing,” she says.

“One night we measured and identified different species of frogs from near the camp and another evening was spent identifying bats.”

Fellow Sixth Former Joel Finnegan was equally enthusiastic.

“Seeing these species first-hand just drove home how important it is to ensure their longevity, so that future generations can appreciate them too,” he says.

The group spent their second week at a marine site at Bau Bau, close to Buton’s Nirwana Beach.

They took a scuba diving course, studied coral reef ecology and learnt about coral and fish identification - as well as about the degradation of coral reefs through unsustainable fishing techniques and global warming.

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Undersea world: Left to right: Aaron Furminger, Tamsyn Dawson, Callum Mo, Ben Colling, Alex Moody, Eve Robinson and Isla Pollock with the dive master and a German instructor on the scuba diving course                                   

A visit to the local fish market - travelling in small, cramped minibuses with loud blaring music - was “disgusting yet fascinating”, all agreed.

The seas off Buton are fished by trawler, so the market included everything from turtle eggs to crocodile fish, butterfly fish and needle fish, all of which are swept up in the nets and sold.

“There were so many locals cutting up fish to sell that there were fish guts and blood all over the floor, and then there was the smell,” said Mrs McGeechan.

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The fish market

For Tamsyn, the best part was the diving.

“I saw some fantastic fish, a turtle and a sea snake swam right past me!” she says.

“I had to push myself to do certain parts which were key to diving, such as taking my mask off and swimming without it, but once I had done it, I enjoyed the experience of being underwater and the opportunity it gave me to see things I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to.”

The “once in a lifetime experience” meant something different for each student.

But all agree it was a valuable cultural education - as well as a a chance to learn about the ecology of the rainforest and the coral reefs.

And thanks to the power of Facebook, they have even been able to keep in contact with other students they met there, as well as the Indonesian people they worked with. Experiences of a lifetime - and perhaps friendships, too...

  • To find out more about conservation research expeditions with Operation Wallacea, visit opwall.com/