Friday, July 8th - A Day On the Island of Borkum

By Emma Erickson

Today was our only full day in Borkum. We all had to be awake and ready by 7:45, which wasn't very easy considering there were 30 girls who all had to share one bathroom with only three showers. By 8 o'clock we were all in the dinning hall enjoying a lovely breakfast. After breakfast our rental bikes arrived, so we all picked one well suited for our height and rode off to the Watt (mud flats) where we were to begin our guided tour. The Watt is a large area that is essentially the bottom of the sea. The tide from the sea comes in and out, and there is a special ecosystem in the Wattmeer (mud flat sea), because the plants and creatures have evolved so they can survive both living in salt water and air.

The group with our bikes near the Watt.

Our tour started of by looking at and eating some of the grasses that were along the beach. We then continued on to the sandy/muddy mud flats. The ground was very squishy and our guide warned us that at some points you could sink up to your knees. As we walked along we stopped to look at the clams, crabs, worms, and other animals of the area. Our guide informed us that the small worm shaped piles of sand that we were walking in was in fact the poop of the thousands of worms that were lurking beneath us.

Watching our muscles dig themselves back into the sand.

Towards the end of our tour we came upon a very muddy area that when I walked through it I sunk in to past my knees. A few of the more adventurous Gappies decided that it would be a great place to get filthy. So they decided to have a mud fight/swim in the mud.

The mud hole.


Video clip of the mud fight begins (20 seconds in).

Some people decided to take a mud bath and were covered from head to toe in a smelly black goo.

After the tour we all had to walk back to our bikes. The people that were completely covered in mud got weird stares as they rode past strangers on their way to the hostel. When we arrived at the hostel we cleaned up and either headed to the beach to go swimming or go into town to shop. I chose to first go swimming. The water was cold, but not quite ice cold, and tasted heavily of salt. We didn't stay long at the beach, because it started to sprinkle.

Relaxing on the beach near our hostel.

Playing volleyball on the beach.

When we got back to the hostle we got cleaned up for a second time that day and then headed into the city to join the others. The city was very nice. There were many ice cream cafes and little stores to buy Borkum souvenirs. Some people stopped to eat at a döner joint while a few others, including me, just ate icecream.

Some students in the city of Borkum.

We all had to be back to the hostel by 6:30 so we could cook out and eat dinner. Most of the kids were back well before this so we played volleyball, soccer, and other group activies. However there was another group near our house at the hostle that seemed drunk and interfered in our games. When the teachers came back we started to cook dinner, which was the same as the night before. Afterwards we all did some bonding games, such as a game to learn each others names and group rock paper sissors, but we changed it to be dragon, knight, princess.

Everyone gathered around for the cookout outside of our house at the hostel.

We enjoyed some singing and guitare during dinner.

Playing a round of group dragon, knight, princess.

After these activites we again had the choice to go to the beach, but this time to watch the sunset. I went with Ashley, Erica, and Zoe, but not for the sunset, instead to play on the play ground. By 11 o'clock we all had to be back at the Hostel and by 12 o'clock it was supposed to be lights out which ended a lovely and exahusting day on the Island of Borkum.

Walking to the beach to enjoy the sunset and the playground