Planting Mangroves

      My favorite part of going to the Kuala Selangor field trip was plating the mangrove trees. Going to plant the mangroves was challenging because we actually had to think where to walk in the mud. As well I had to help people get unstuck from the mud if they got stuck. To me this was fun because I had to think up ideas on how to get other peoples feet unstuck from the mud.

     When we first arrived at the dead end in the walking trail my class and I switched our sandals to boots. Then we walked left of the dead end to find a big pile of mud with trees growing out of it. I was shocked. We were supposed to plant our mangroves in the center of all that mud. After our guides showed us the right way to plant the mangroves we started down the trail. The mud near the hill where our instructor instructed us was really sticky so we ended up having a hard time walking so we had to think of the easiest and quickest way to get to the planting location so we looked around and saw a log that was in the mud so we started to walk on top of the logs. It made the walk to the center of the mud much easier and if we slipped we would help each other to stay on the logs. When there were no more logs left to walk on then we had to move quickly in the mud in order not to get stuck. That was when trouble began.

     As we walked, the mud got softer quickly and people started to fall down. Then everybody started to get stuck so people would tug at their boots and others would try to muscle their way out, but as we got deeper into the mud near the planting spot the mud got too tough. The only people who could really still walk without getting stuck were me and a few other people. As we were picking up our mangroves people started calling for help because they were stuck. I put down the baby tree and went to help them at first. I tried to get them unstuck by pushing away all the dirt from the persons boot. This method worked for a while but it was very hard and it took too long. So the next person I helped I was digging away from the toe of their boot and when they lifted their boot the mud released. That is when I realized that it was the suction of the mud that was what got them stuck so from then on I would dig them up from the toe which made the job quicker and easier.

     Finally it came my turn to plant my mangrove tree. First I removed the wrapping around the mangroves roots. Next we put down the mangrove and took a thick stick and pounded the ground three times to make the hole then we put the stick in the hole and turned in in circles in order to make the hole larger. Finally we finally put tree in the mud and covered the roots with mud until they could no long be seen. After that I went back to helping people and when it was time to go I was relived, I was exhausted.

     Planting the mangroves was the most fun that I had at Kuala Selangor. If you were in my position would you have helped those people? Would you have found out the way to get them unstuck quicker? Could you have double tasked like I did.