First shot at a fun Adventure Camp!
This year COVID-19 finally took a step back and we were allowed to move out again freely with the pandemic’s rules glued to our brains. In my school, when you go to 5th grade you get to go for a 2–3-day educational trip. But we were stuck at home with our online classes and hence missed our trip. One day, my friend sent me a document which had the details of a 3 day stay at an adventure camp. In front of my own eyes, things began to take shape. We pulled two other friends of ours and then there were endless video calls and conference calls. We showed off our new bags, shoes and equipment that we had been asked to bring. Finally came the day when our bus came and we were off to Kolad. At that moment we all felt that we had become much more responsible to take care of ourselves and each other.
Before Leaving for our Trip!
Kolad is a small village in Raigad, Maharashtra. This trip was by Backpackers India Group in a collaboration with Decathlon, the sports brand. The team members were U, N, A and D (I have used initials for safety purposes) and they took amazing care of us. The campsite’s name was Z-Bac and we were given rooms that resembled tents. In one tent there were 7 (including 1 team leader) of us and we were each given a single bed with some space below to keep our luggage. But in every tent, there were 8 beds, hence 1 bed was empty. If we came out of the back door, we would face the toilets and the bathrooms. If we walked through a certain path we would be in the cafeteria. The cafeteria was the place where we ate our meals and assembled before activities. Now that we have come to the cafeteria, let me tell you about the simple but scrumptious meals. For every meal, there were a couple of options as many people may not like one vegetable but like the other. Breakfast was delicious but heavy as it was the most important meal of the day. Lunch was simple with 2 vegetables, dal, chapatis, a dessert and a nutritious salad. Dinner consisted of the same type of food, but on the 2nd day, we had rich food as the next day we would leave. We had chicken and veg Biryani, Pav bhaji and for dessert, we had Gulab jamuns and two types of cake! Now let me tell you about the activities and the routine we had.
Food!!!
Day 1
We had boarded the bus at 11 which was 1 hour late due to the infamous Mumbai traffic. We reached at around 2 o’clock and after keeping our luggage in the rooms, we straight headed to the cafeteria like hungry lions. Next, we went to Ghone Wood Museum, which was fascinating.
Ghone Wood Museum Entrance
Inside the Museum
Later, after we relaxed for some time, we went rock climbing, which was scary but exciting too. At dusk, we did the tent building activity which was fun though our team got tangled with the sticks and we didn’t know which cover would go first! We had our homely dinner and headed to our rooms. The time to sleep was at 10 but once we started talking there was no full stop to it. Finally, we hit the sack at 11:30.
Tent Building!
Day 2
To surprise our lovely tent leader, U we got up at 5 though the wake-up call was at 6. That day, we had water activities in the morning after exercises.
Yoga Time!
Hurriedly we dressed up in our water costumes with our beds piled with stuff. After exercises and breakfast, we went for a trek to Kundalika River where the water sports would take place. The exercises were refreshing in the early morning breeze. We had to trek across a rocky forest to reach the river. We kept our bags in the cabin where we wore our life jackets. I absolutely love water and the blue water was a beautiful sight to my eyes. First, we had a team activity that was Raft Building and our team successfully bagged 2nd place.
Raft Building!
Rafting!
Then we had Flying Fox and Kayaking which were simply mind blowing. All wet and muddy we trekked back to the rooms in the hot scorching sun. Later we had lunch and then we had a team activity that was Obstacle Race. After which we had Rifle Shooting and then my favourite (after Flying Fox), Burma Bridge. It is basically a rope with sides to catch and knots to keep your foot on. You had to climb a ladder first and then start climbing. That night after dinner we sat by the bonfire and told ghost stories. Then, the team leaders gathered us together and we played Housie/ Bingo in which I won one of the full housies’. That night we slept at 12:30!
Housie Time!
Fun with Friends!
Day 3
As we had slept late, we couldn’t lift ourselves from the bed before 6. We had exercise again followed by a yummy breakfast. Then came the final team activity which was Treasure Hunt! Our team could find only 3 clues out of 8 and we were in 3rd place. But we learnt how to read a map well to find the clues.
Map Reading during Treasure Hunt!
Later, we just lounged in the cafeteria till we were instructed to go to our rooms and pack our bags. We were also told to assemble for the farewell ceremony. The winning team was Team 4 and one of my friend’s was on that team. We boarded the bus and as ours was the first stop we bid goodbye to the friends we made and to our team leaders.
It was our first time away from our families and we enjoyed every bit of it. Only the toilets, were an issue as many children forget to keep them clean after they have used them. We learnt so many things like- map reading, survival skills and most importantly, how to adjust and do things on our own. All the leaders were funny and caring; they made our first trip memorable. All the photographs that were taken will be added to the sweet memories of our first camp……….
Say cheese!!!
