This trip takes place on an island south of the Riau Island group. The Riau Melayu (or Riau Malays) are the largest and most dominant ethnic group in the Riau province of Indonesia. This province comprises part of southern Sumatra island, the Lingga archipelago and the Riau islands, a huge land mass of over 94,000 sq km and 3,214 islands. The Telunas Beach Resort is our base to explore and interact with this community of people. The accommodation is traditional stilt housing over the water. Many activities and service learning activities will be conducted around the accommodation area on the beach and nearby jungle and neighboring islands. The beach will be the site of many team-building initiatives. On this trip, you will spend a lot of time on the beach but less time swimming than on several of the other trips, although you will go on a kayaking adventure!
Students on the Riau trip will have the opportunity to explore several different ecosystems. They will explore the seashore and mangroves, investigating the tidal areas and the ecosystems provided by coastlines. They will have the opportunity to speak with and learn from traditional fishing groups, discussing the types of fishing practices used and how they impact the ecosystems. They can discuss with locals their ideas for the behaviours and practices that may keep their reef, mangrove and forest ecosystems healthy and compare that to practices globally. Students will also have a chance to do some meaningful service work with our partners at Telunas.