Location: Langkawi, Malaysia
We woke up to a beautiful morning and the fresh smell of breakfast. Allison was our head chef that day, and she made biscuits with ham and eggs – which by the way, Allison, if you’re reading this, it was delicious. After breakfast and cleanup, those taking the PSCT course took their first exam while the rest of us started dinghy rides over to a freshwater lake on one of the islands; the rest would soon follow. The lake was amazing, enclosed on a tiny island. It seems as if there were mountains all around us. Monkeys would climb out of the trees, curiously watching us, and would occasionally run off with anything they could grab. The temperature was perfect, and the water was refreshing. When everyone arrived at the lake, Corey did his how-to presentation. He showed us how to rescue someone in the water, and everybody had a great time. After Corey’s how-to, we had a couple of hours of free time at the lake, so we swam around, played games, and explored the island. Kyle and I decided to look around and crossed a boardwalk to the other side of the lake, where we found some others from our boat. Kevin, Will, and Alec climbed up to the top of a cliff, and each took a turn cliff-jumping. After that, Kyle, Alec, Zev, and I decided to do some last-minute exploration and found a ladder down to a tiny beach.
We looked around the water’s edge and found a couple of caves that were pretty amazing; one had stalactites. Then, it was time to head back to the boat for lunch, for which Allison made beef quesadillas. Once we completed the post-lunch cleanup, we had a joint OCE and OCB lab, where we did a plankton tow and looked at the phytoplankton and zooplankton from the water under our microscopes. After class, we had a couple of hours of free time before dinner, during which most of the boat relaxed and watched some movies or worked on their studies. For dinner, Allison made a tasty meal of Alfredo pasta, and then everyone practiced his or her navigation skills in preparation for the MTE exam in a few days. Langkawi is definitely the most breathtaking place I have ever seen; the islands look as if they are floating on the water. I can’t wait to see what they look like with the sunrise behind them in the morning.