Updated on October 14, 2015
Snorkeling
We live in this world, everyday is a new journey in which we discover different things and learn important lessons that certainly will remain as a good or bad memory in our minds.People always search to see more and know about the secrets of the world; but there is one world that has remained mysterious for a lot of persons: the world under the water.
This year I did for the fist time in my life snorkeling. I have never thought that it is worth the try; I always see the others run to do it; I was asking: but why? What is so special in this activity? I never understood their sensation after doing it. So one day I decided to take a mask and go to discover this world.
But what’s snorkeling? It s an excursion in the sea and allow to see the life under the water, the corals , the rocks with a simple way.
The equipment of snorkeling is composed of masks, pins and the snorkel. The snorkel allows you to breath without raising your head, the pins helps to swim with less effort; in this way you can enjoy watching without scaring the fishes or raise your head every minute to breath.
I did my first jump and oh my god… the moment I opened my eyes and saw all there is I felt like I was transported in another dimension as if all that there is up does‘t exist. I forgot all and started to follow the fishes that swims in all directions and every time I see a new creature I follow it.
It was fantastic to be a part of this world and see how they live in their natural environment, how they eat the different type of algae existing on the rocks: red algae covering the whole surface creating not just a source of food for fishes but also giving an unbelievable beauty and of course life to this rocks and how they hide between the leafs of Posidonia: this miraculous aquatic plan that covers the major part of the sandy bottom in Ieranto and form a forest for this animals and also produce oxygen. So I got to know this biodiversity we always talked about and saw in pictures.
Doing the snorkeling in the bay of Ieranto is a chance because it’s a protected area being part of the zone B (no boats with engine, no fisher men who reduce the population of fishes, no anchoring to destroy the Posidonia) so all the creature have the possibility to develop in different way. And with this activity I saw the other fruit of our work that offers the creatures a world cleaner and for the people a nature richer to enjoy.
I can tell that I really forgot the concept of time , I spend more than three hours doing magic activity without feeling tired… I didn’t want to go back to the reality but when I finished the magic wasn’t over because I felt like I was reborn, everything is clear in my mind …all my troubles faint away and I was smiling the whole time ..i can‘t say more, there are no words to describe my feeling and from that day me and the mask became best friends.
The most important thing in this activity is that it is a way to relax and enjoy the colorful and fascinating world under the water ,and there is no age limit, everyone can participate in this activity; no need to be expert in swimming but could be better if there will be a guide or marine biologist to explain more about different things about the marine world and help you open your eyes and see it from another angle: learn how to enjoy the nature without destroying, observe without touching and disturbing the balance.
Updated on October 13, 2015
One ride with the Swiss
20 of them came to our lovely Ieranto no more than a week ago. Yes, a week ago! Which means that this time I am less lazy in recounting what went on. Anyway, they came here to learn more about marine biology. We did our best to give them what they desire.
The plan according to our project manager and leader – to take them in two groups on a guided tour around the Ieranto bay: showing and explaining them everything starting from the mountain formations over millions of years and ending with the importance of the posidonia.
The tour started with everybody in kayaks. Setting off from the beach because the waves that day were too high for us to start from the regular point, which is the platform.
The waves where keen on not letting us get to the very point of Punta Campanella and we obliged – the carousel of waves was too dangerous for us to get there. We continued in another way: this time going deeper in the big bay of Ieranto. There we checked out Zizzinara and Pressepe caves with kayaks. We finished the kayak tour by putting them on the big beach and getting on our fins and masks – It was time for snorkelling! This part, I believe, was enjoyed the most by everyone. The rich marine life of Ieranto always leaves people amazed. We explored the rest of the smaller caves and with that the different types of algae and sponges, and rock formations.
Some of them, being ready for this: where making photo sessions under the water. I can neither confirm nor deny taking part in them.
After the tour of the bay and resting for a bit on the beach we, the MARE project, got to present ourselves. We told them of our doings in the project: monitoring of the bay, study of marine biology, teaching children, spreading awareness on the importance of marine protection. We informed them about the various EVS (European voluntary service) opportunities and the gains that they bring.
All in all, I, myself, enjoyed the day thoroughly. We shared what we had learned with other likeminded youngsters and had a good time doing so. We had a good day.
Have an [insert adjective here] day!
Updated on October 7, 2015
Reflexions about Ieranto (I)
Ieranto Bay is not a suitable location for cosmopolitans, who cannot and do not know how to enjoy nature. It is a magical place where the blue sky plays, on the horizon, together with the beautiful clear waters of the bay, as in a dream, sometimes undistinguishable, so it can turn into a seemingly imaginary boundary between the sky and the submarine kingdom.
Inside this bay, down a trail is the place called Ieranto, between Punta Campanella and Punta Pena, where we work 2-3 days a week. But the magic of the place cannot be understood at all if your only goal is to go to work there – to make the monitoring of the land and sea, measure the temperature, check the visibility of the water, to help with the guided tours in kayaks … by doing only this you cannot enjoy the bay at its fullest.
Last week I spoke with one of my mates of the project (Kristaps) about the possibility of going there on our free day, in order to spend all the day in the Bay, to go a bit in ‘Kayak, to snorkel a bit’, to relax, to read. Before I had finished that sentence, I knew that the answer is yes, because I had not yet spoken half of the word “snorkelling” as his eyes began to shine like two bright stars of almost the same blue colour as the water of the bay.
That day we went to Iearanto with Francesco, Marion and Imen, because they had to work. It was at this time that I started to enjoy Ieranto from another point of view, and believe me when I say that I enjoyed it. After two hours of snorkelling through both of the smaller bays of the Ieranto bay we did our last stop at the calm blue waters of the cave – Zizzinara. I enjoyed the exploration of the cave as if I was a 10 year old child again. Other than that it was also nice to enjoy a swim with a moray eel that swam very freely along the bottom of the sea. It was a young eel, no more than 1 meter long. But its meandering movement was absolutely hypnotic, for I lost track of time and did not know if I had spent two minutes or two hours watching this gift of nature.
After we returned to the Pineta, we ate a bit, rested, read a little and went back to Marina del Cantone, Nerano, with kayak. The Ieranto bay definitely is an absolutely different world depending on: if you have to work, or if you go to have fun.
Updated on September 17, 2016
Walking trough “Ferriere Valley”
On October 4, Sunday, members of the MARE project went to an event organized by LEA Valle delle Ferriere and the State Forestry Corps (www.corpoforestale.it) to enjoy a day outdoors in the eastern nature reserve – Valle delle Ferriere, Amalfi, (www.valledelleferriere.it) together with a group of Scouts!.
The Natural Reserve “Valle delle Ferriere” has a surface of 450 ha (SA) that starts at 300 m above the sea level and with a maximum altitude of 1203 m (Monte Cervigliano). It occupies a valley situated deep in the Amalfi side of the Sorrento Peninsula.
The day started in the morning, at the information stand of the State Forestry Corps. There we were able to meet and talk to our co-workers with whom we were going to spend the day.
In the beginning, the commander of the corp introduced the forest of the park, the history of it, talking about the more specific types of trees of the place, which we could find along the path such as Bulbifera Felce (Woodwardia radicans), vulgary called “carciofone” among many others. As well as talking about why the zone is called “Valle delle Ferriera” that is the result of an old factory dedicated to the production of iron, thanks to the power of water present in abundance locally.
Il “Cantico delle creature”, poem of Francisco de Asis and recited by Alba was the beginning of the walk! Throughout the way, we were all the time talking and walking with the experts of the park – colleagues who better know the richness of the place and the botanical species, which were used in the iron industry, etc.
Undoubtedly, the place – a valley between the mountains together with the rivers is in fact humid enough to form a microclimate area with very good conditions for development of life, therefore the biodiversity is very high. It is a place to admire, respect and go to with nature lovers. It is a sanctuary of life.
After contemplating the jewel of the park, the big waterfall, we came back to eat a snack between trees next to a beautiful river, where the sound of water made that piece of bread with ham and tomato so much more delicious!
The day was very enriching from a naturalistic point of view as well as a human one – the people with whom we shared the day were very nice with us.Thank you for the opportunity to spend the day together in a special place!
Updated on September 17, 2016
Fish festival in Positano!
Volunteers of the MARE project , with the members of the environmental association
“Macchia Mediterranea”, worked together on September 26 in Fornillo Beach, Positano, to help in
the separation and collection of waste! The two teams, with hard work of course, have made
efforts towards a common goal: environmental protection.
The fish party is held annually on the beach of Positano; both tourists and local people,
who live nearby, come to enjoy a huge amount of fried fish, local wine, traditional music and
fireworks. Thousands of people arrived to the beach, with the consequentual environmental
impact, translated in the form of waste.
Behind these kinds of events there is always a great team who work in the shadows and
makes sure that the waste does not become an unexpected guest, and in this case, the MARE
project was involved in some of the work.
Another initiative was to mount an information stand shared with the association “Macchia
Mediterranea”, which helped us to promote all the activities that we do and provided information
about our MARE project, the Marine Protected Area of Punta Campanella, our collaboration in
Ieranto bay with FAI, the support activities with AMP workers, ecc. It was useful in the presentation
of the park, the biodiversity and more.
And what about The operation: separation of the trash? First, we put 30 containers of
different colors, depending on the type of waste, all distributed along the beach where the party
was held. We divided containers such as glass, plastic, undifferentiated and humid. The containers
were placed close to critical locations, places where the people used to drink and eat.
At about 19:30, the first tourists arrived by boat from differents parts of the Gulf of Naples
(Capri, etc.) and Salerno (Amalfi, etc.), but also walking from the town of Positano. That’s when our
real work began!
Our mission had two perspectives: first one, “educate” people who are not used to or not
paying attention to the waste separation; And secondly to be as effective as possible for this
differentiation to really take place.
To do this, we did two things: Regulars tours to observe if the separation of the waste was
ok, and later constant presence near the containers to help correct people to dispose of their
waste in the correct place.
Overall, the day went ahead without major mishaps. We appreciated very much the effort
that the members of “Macchia Mediterranea” made for the conservation of the environment; for
us it was an honor to work with them!
Personally, I think that most of the people are aware of the problem of waste, and there
were only few who did not differentiate. Who knows if it was laziness or the wine that was drunk
all night long (which of course, makes it difficult to distinguish the containers …).
