JuHöFoLa 2018 – a report from Poyraz Runa Uhri from Turkey

My name is Poyraz Runa Uhri. I am 20 years old. I started studying Physics at the Faculty of Sciences at the Aegean Uni in Izmir in 2017 fall. At the University I joined the Caving Club, EMAK. I really enjoy spending the weekends and holidays exploring caves. In January 2018 in my group they told us that there is a Caving Program on the Swabian Alb in summer. There you could learn much more about caving so I thought it’s better learning something about caves than sitting at home in summer. I applied to the program in February and I was very happy when I was accepted. Through out that time I had good connection with Petra Boldt. She answered all my questions. I was very excited.

Poyraz beim Vermessungskurs  (Foto: Petra Boldt)	JuHöFoLa-Teilnehmer vor der Bärentalhöhle   (Foto: Jannes Sörgel)

The first cave we entered, someone from the team got stuck in a crack. It was an interesting experience and it was the first time I experienced something like that. I learned what to do in such a situation and it was a bonus lesson for me.



Poyraz beim Messen von Kluftrichtungen für die Erstellung einer Kluftrose   (Foto: Martina B. Cooper)

The geology course was really satisfying for me. I learned a lot about fossils. I learned that what I would describe as stone could be some kind of sponges (caves in Germany have much more fossils than the caves in Turkey,  there were many different species). The excursion to the museum was very good. But especially the fossil searching activity after the museum was my favorite.  I found a lot of fossils. At home I have a small rock and fossil collection so I filled my lunch box with fossils (therefore I couldn`t use my lunch box during the camp). I couldn`t take lunch with me. But it was worth both for the fossils and for the chance to have more space in my stomach for the delicious dinner.

Fossiliensuche im Steinbruch der Firma Holcim bei Dotternhausen  (Foto: Jannes Sörgel)

I tried to improve myself at the SRT track. Due to my extra kilos this was not very easy.


SRT-Training in den Bäumen   (Foto: Marc Krömer)

I was very interested in the electronic course cave communication and electronics attracted my interest a lot. I am interested at electronics and I also have a ham radio license. Luckily Markus had a ham radio license, too. So he could answer my more advanced questions. Knut was an electronical engineer he made really good presentations and gave us a lot of information. I learned the fundamental ideas of underground telecommunication. Now I`m using this knowledge to create my own radio location system.

Kommunikationstechnik im Kurs Elektronik   (Foto: Marc Krömer)

I saw here in Germany caving is mostly about digging in the cave. The caves are unlike in Turkey, generally horizontal (in Turkey caves are mostly vertical). Since I am not good with ropes this was a welcoming experience for me. The speleo formations in Germany are less, but there are lots of fossils. The Vetterhöhle is one of the most beautiful caves I`ve seen. First time in my life I saw an underground river and the galleries were the largest I`ve ever seen.

This is what I can remember at the moment, but I will never forget the delicious food I tasted at the camp especially “Maultaschen”. Thank you all for that good organization. It was an unforgettable experience for me.

Beim Abendessen   (Foto: Knut Brenndörfer)