On the 1st and 2nd of February, the students of PYP 2 went on their annual overnight field trip to Durshet Forest Lodge. The lodge is set against the stunning Sahyadri range and has the river Amba running adjacent to the property.
This trip was very special for most of the students as it was their first time away from their parents. An important milestone for these young learners. The trip provided lots of opportunities for the development of the student’s social skills and self-management skills. The students participated in a variety of team building activities such as: rappelling, ziplining, crossing the Burma bridge, laddering, swimming, night walk on the dry riverbed and a campfire. They participated enthusiastically in all these activities with some of them being risk takers, pushing themselves to try out new things. They also showed independence and confidence on this trip.
Read some recounts to know more about about their amazing trip-
My field trip to Durshet by Hari Le Cheminant
On Thursday my class and I had an overnight field trip. I got a small suitcase to school at 8:40. We went to Durshet in the blue bus. It took an hour and a half. When we got to Durshet we got into our rooms. I was to sleep with Hridaan and Andre. We changed into track pants and a T-shirt and went to the dining area/cafeteria. We made team flags and I was in group 3. Our team’s name was “Shooting Star” and our flag had a shooting star zooming past the moon. Then we went to play games. After the games we went to have lunch. For lunch I had chicken nuggets, fried chicken, and half a chapati. After lunch we climbed a mountain. Half way up we were so tired so we had a little rest. We crossed the Burma Bridge. The Burma Bridge is a rope bridge. Later we did the zip line and we went down the mountain. After the zip line we went rappelling. I was last in line. When it was my turn I went down. Meanwhile when I was rappelling I lost a bit of balance and went right and left. I struggled but I managed to stand up. Later that evening we went swimming. The pool was warm. I splashed a lot of people. That night we went on a night walk. We got our torches from home. We went down steep stairs. One of the people that were helping us play a game and showed us “Orion”. We then went back to the camp. We had a bonfire. We roasted marshmallows. When I went to bed I was very tired and I went to sleep.
My Very Very Exciting Field Trip by Soobum Lee
On Thursday I went to Durshet with PYP2 class. First I got in and the bus was clean and me and Daniel sat together. Later PYP2 and myself went inside of Durshet. Next we chose the partner. Daniel, Michel, Oiva and myself were together and Hari, Hridaan and Andre slept together. Then we went outside and the sun was shining bright to my eyes. So I wanted to close my eyes but I didn’t close my eyes because it went to another friend’s eye. I sat with Michel, Daniel, Oiva and Hari and had my breakfast. We played some games. We went on the zipline, rappelling, swimming, night-walk and bonfire. I was very tired. I did not sleep well because I kicked Daniel. Daniel woke up and said “Soobum, you kicked me”. I felt very embarrassed. The next day we woke up and went for an early morning walk. We ate our breakfast. Later, we changed into our swimming costume and it was wet. I was cold. Finally, I packed my backpack and suitcase and I said bye to Durshet and I rode back to school in the bus.
The Amazing Trip to Durshet by Emily Loden
On Thursday PYP2 got on a blue school bus and drove for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Then we finally got to Durshet. First we went to our rooms. I was with Mischa a
nd Michal. We all got changed and went to the play area and the instructors put us into teams. I was with Michel, Naisha, Hridaan and Tia. I was the team captain. We made a flag. Our’s had a cape with a star and multi colored dots around it because our team’s name was “Super Stars”. Next we all went to a place near the ground and played a game where we had to find the right path through the bombs without stepping on them. Team 2 – The Rock Stars won. Then we went for lunch at the dining area. I had chicken nuggets, carrots and another thing I did not know the name of. After lunch we went on a trek. After a few minutes we came to the Burma Bridge (a bridge made of ropes). We slowly went across it but Oiva almost fell off it. Soon we came to the zip line. I was quite fast. I went second. After that we carried on our walk till we came to a very tall rock. It was almost vertical and we rappelled down it. It was very scary. We found crystals in a stone trench and we made stone castles. When we finished our stone castle we went back to the hotel and got changed for swimming. Michal and myself played a game for about 10 minutes and then we got out and sunbathed with Mischa. We went back to our rooms and had a shower. We washed our hair and body and got changed for a night walk. After we walked down almost 50 steps we came to a rocky space with a shimmering lake at one end. We turned off our torches and sat down and listened. After a bit the instructor showed us “Orion” the archer constellation and the bull and the scorpion. We went back to the dining area and had dinner. Then we had a bonfire. We ate roasted marshmallows. Then we went to our rooms and went to sleep. I felt happy and sad because I missed my family. On the second day, Ms. Christina woke us up. We got changed and went downstairs. We did our morning exercises and had our breakfast. Later we were split into two groups. My group did the ladder climbing. Meanwhile the other groups were net climbing. The ladder was made of rope and plastic bars. The ladder was very wobbly. Next my group did the net climbing. It hurt when I had to roll across the top. At last we went swimming. It was cold because it was the morning. When we finished swimming, we showered and got changed. We packed our suitcase and walked to the bus. I sat with Mischa. Eventually, we reached school and went home.