March 11-16, 2017 | Young Women’s Spring Break EcoAdventure
Fourteen River Watchers from seven different high schools had the opportunity to go on River Watch’s 18th Annual Spring Break EcoAdventure. The EcoAdventure is a transformative, educational experience that cultivates the imagination and environmental awareness of our future environmental stewards. This experience allowed the students to gain valuable outdoor skills, build core values such as teamwork, courage, and self-reliance, and helped foster a love for the environment through activities that take place outdoors. Three of our students were first-time campers, 3 first-time canoers, and 4 said this trip was the farthest from home they had ever been. After the adventure, all 14 students said they made a new friend, and all 14 said they would go camping again!
River Watchers camped in Brazos Bend State Park and had the opportunity to visit the Brazos Bend Nature Center where they learned about natural history and the diversity of species that inhabit the area. The young ladies were able to touch and get up close to a resident baby alligator and a Texas rat snake. Near the nature center, students viewed numerous wetland bird species and a seven-foot alligator near the bank! The River Watchers were also able to visit The Houston Museum of Natural Science’s George Observatory where they toured and learned about one of largest public telescopes in the US.
River Watchers later visited Galveston Beach, traveled on the Port Bolivar Ferry, visited the Smith Oaks Rookery, and camped at Martin Dies Jr. State Park. While at the Smith Oaks Rookery, owned and managed by the Houston Audubon, River Watchers were treated with seeing alligators and a host of water birds, including the colorful, Roseate Spoonbill. The young ladies also learned to fish and canoe, and prepared dinner fire-side.
On the last leg of the trip, River Watchers drove through the Piney Woods of East Texas, visited Stephen F. Austin State University in Nacogdoches, and camped at Caddo Lake State Park. They learned about the unique, natural history of Caddo Lake and East Texas Piney Wood Ecoregion, toured the sloughs and swamps of Caddo Lake, had a special dinner at Riverbend, and shared memories and experiences of the trip around the campfire.
