MANDØ ISLAND:

WRITTEN BY HALIDI ALLY HAMISI (BGY PARTICIPANT FROM MAJENGO SECONDARY SCHOOL – KILIMANJARO - TANZANIA)

It was a very nice day with a temperature of 23⁰C. At 7.00AM, we went to Brundlund School which was our point of departure. We boarded the bus and started the trip to Mandø Island at 7.30AM with students from this school, other BGY Participants who were staying at this place and four students from Lysabild School. In the bus it was very fun, everybody talking to one another, all eager to see this historical island. In order to cross the ocean, we had to be transferred to a bus-like wagon pulled by a big tractor. Some passengers sat inside the “bus” while others were on the top in order to have a nice view of the area while crossing the ocean.

Formerly, this island was known as Seven Men Island. Later the name was shortened to Mandø Island. The name came from the tragedy which happened some years ago after the sinking of the island whereby only seven men survived. People in that area and Danish government took a lot of effort to secure land again by putting some pegs in the low water in the coastal area, so as to capture sand just after the low and high tide of ocean water in order to have more dry land and therefore to increase the size of the island. The aim of our tour in this island was to see the consequences of rising water. The tour guide, who was also the tractor operator, told us a lot about the island.

We drove back just before noon to avoid being caught by the rising water. It was really an interesting and enjoyable trip.