Over the plateau regions of Satara, through the meandering roads of the village of Bhilar and across strawberry fields and farmlands, P5 experienced adventure camping for three days. It is a trip that will always be etched in their memories, a trip that witnessed strong bonds of friendship, laughter and adventures!
Looking Forward – Collaborative Thinking Routine by P5 Learners (Compass Points)
Learners worked on this collaborative display prior to their field trip to share their hopes and worries linked to their upcoming adventure with each other.
Day 1 – Wednesday, 15th February 2023 written by Charlie, Yeowon, Jaynah, Malene, Geonjun, Vandan, Andrey, and Advita
The three-day two-night trip began with a bus ride across the scenic Maharashtrian landscape. Songs, games, and excitement filled the bus as P5 headed to the campsite where the activities varied in intensity. Here are some comments from the P5 learners:
“First of all, I did not know that the buses had so much space for you and our bus went super-fast. I was so excited because I wanted to do the zip line since I have never done the proper zip line. When we arrived, they offered us strawberry juice. It was so good it took seconds to finish. On that day we did a Burma bridge, zip line and then went back to our cabins. We went on a small night walk and saw three planets and constellations.” – Charlie
“I mostly enjoyed seeing stars. And I spend time at the campsite with my roommates.” – Yeowon
“On Wednesday the first activity was the Burma bridge. We walked across the whole bridge and then there was a zip line. (We were attached to sitting harnesses.) We also went on a ladder. We climbed the ladder and then we rang the bell. When we rang the bell, we came slowly down. (We were attached to harnesses here too!)” – Jaynah
“First, we came to the place and got strawberry juice. Then we went to our tabins to get ready, next we went ladder climbing, after that we went on the Burma bridge, and lastly, we went zip lining.” – Malene
“In campsite I was playing Uno and battleship with Seong Jun and I enjoyed to ziplining and rope bridge that was my most enjoyed activities in field trip.” – Geonjun
“On Wednesday, after reaching the camp we had lunch. Then we were shown to our cabins and then stayed there for half an hour. After that, we went onto team building exercises like when we did the rope ladder, we had to distribute everybody and give them all a role. We then switched in the middle and went onto the next activity called ‘Burma Bridge.’ It was enjoyable and I liked this a lot because we got to cross a rope bridge where we were standing on a rope. The thing was that it was 2 part and that part of it was a zipline that scares you at first but then becomes fun and easy.” – Vandan
“On our first day when we arrived at the campsites, after being shown our tabins and settling in, we were put into groups and assigned activities (I was in 8 Adventurers).
My first activity was ladder climbing, which is where some people had to hoist you up on the ladder whilst you climbed it up. Once we reach the top, we ring the bell and completely let go of the ladder. We decided to sing songs on our way down which was a little cringe and embarrassing. Next, we went onto a rope bridge which connected a small metal tower to a big tree. Once you got to the tree, we put on an extra harness and rode the zip line down to another smaller tree which had a ladder leading down. Once it got dark, everyone set out with flashlights and had a night walk. I spent some time talking with friends along the road and then we sat down on a hill and started night gazing. We saw planets, stars, satellites and constellations.” – Andrey
“First, we came to the campsite and had a delicious strawberry juice as our welcome drink. Then, we went to our tabins to freshen up and we came back down to be divided into two groups. Once we were divided into 1 group and went to do the ladder climbing and 1 group went to do the Burma bridge and zip lining. In the end both teams did both the activities, and they were tons of fun! Burma Bridge was my favourite.” – Advita
Day 2 – Thursday, 16th February 2023 written by Anastasia, Sanjana, Keshvi, Andrey, Charlie, Baptiste, Yeowon, Teo, Seong Jun, Amyra, Akshaj, Malene, Alice, Darrel, Koki
Exploring nature and the regional art forms of Panchgani were the highlights of Day 2. Hiking, rappeling, discovering and art appreciation were experienced throughout this amazing day. Here are some of their reflections:
“I liked the cave exploration the most, because it was a lot of fun. At the same time, it was a bit nerve-wracking, because it was a very closed space. I also liked the art village, because you got to see the different ways they create art over there. It was a fun day.” – Anastasia
“I think the special thing about Thursday was the bonfire and roasting marshmallows. I loved the cave exploration. We saw a big view at the top of the mountain. We also saw a person making puppets out of coconut shells.” – Sanjana
“Thursday was special to me because breakfast was amazing. I probably mostly like the cave and rappelling because it was scary at first, a little hard at the mid part but easy at last. The scenes I saw were trees and forests!” – Keshvi
“On Thursday, we had around 3 activities which were a lot of fun. For me, I can’t decide whether grappling was better than caving because both of those were really fun. I found caving very fun because we had to climb up hard rocks and small spaces, luckily no one that I know of got stuck. At first, I had second thoughts on grappling since it was literally climbing down a cliff with a rope holding you up and it was also my first time doing something outside. Eventually I did get to the bottom with some advice from the instructor.” – Andrey
“On Thursday we went to a cave which was super-duper narrow and nerve-wracking but super fun. We also went rappelling which I did not quite do the first time since it was scary, but I did it the second time I guess third time is the charm is not always right.” – Charlie
“I had breakfast and then, I went for a walk with the group to go to the top of the mountain. I started with the cave exploration, it was very good because it was an unknown cave, and it was very dark. We had to climb to pass in small holes, it was very fun. I went to the rappel, and even if I did it only once, it was very fun to discover a new activity.” – Baptiste
“I mostly liked the zip line. The first time I saw the zip line for rappelling, I was very worried about safety. But I did it one time. It was very fun. And the cliff was lower than I thought.” – Yeowon“On Thursday we started the day by eating and hiking up a mountain when we came to the top, we got the news that we were going to 1) cave exploring and 2) rappelling down a cliff. I enjoyed the rappelling the most because it was a little scary, but I loved it.” – Teo
“It was cold at night because it was in the mountains, but after waking up and playing with friends, it was not cold. I had various experiences, and it was fun.” – Seong Jun
“So first we woke up early in the morning and went for a 45 mins walk up the hill. The view from the top was beautiful. After that we were split into groups and then we either went rappelling or we explored the cave. Then we laid down a picnic mat and had breakfast. I had pancakes. It was very fun but then we had to walk 45 mins down the hill as well.” – Amyra
“On Thursday, we woke up in the morning and ate some biscuits before we went off on a hike. When we went on a hike, we saw the strawberry farm and we discovered that the rocks were actually lava rocks. Soon we reached the top and started the activity of rappelling of a cliff and cave exploring, like on Wednesday, we got split in the same groups and then started the activities. Once we were done, we had lunch, rested for a while, did a few activities and then we had bonfire and we roasted marshmallows.” – Akshaj
“First we had some delicious breakfast, then we went rappelling, next we went into the caves and out, after that we went for some resting time in our tabins, and lastly, we went and had a lovely time at the campfire.” – Malene
“Thursday early in the morning we left for a hike of 45 min to 1 hour to reach the cliff and the starting point to visit the caves. I started with rappelling, at the beginning I was a little stressed because I didn’t really know what 100 feet meant, but as soon as I approached the edge it was not very high nor very difficult, but it was fun. For caves what I liked is that we had to climb without protection just with a helmet.” – Alice
“On Thursday I really liked the cave exploration because there was a lot of climbing and strength involved. For me it was not so hard to go through the very closed space. I also liked the rappelling, but I liked the cave exploration more. I saw people have fun and enjoy themselves. I liked the way the people at the art gallery made things.” – Darrel
“The special part of Thursday is that we get to do activities from the mornings, and we get to do the most activities out of the 3 days. Also, I liked the zipline and other activities that I did was all fun, but my best activity is the roasting marshmallows.” – Koki
Day 3 – Friday, 17th February 2023, written by Ayussh, Oliver, Yeowon, Teo, Lina, Sofie, Charlie, Baptiste, Seong Jun, Akshaj, Jaynah, Darrel, and Koki
With a heavy heart and happiness on the horizon, the P5 learners enjoyed their very last day in the Adventure Mantra campsite. Yummy strawberries, a challenging obstacle course, and a lovely lunch nearby. Here are a few reflections from the P5s:
“I have wanted to go to Mapro for a long time and I did, and I was very happy that I went on this field trip.” – Ayyush
“I was sad about it being the last day. I went strawberry picking. I went home by bus.” – Oliver
“On the last day, I take my things. I was happy to go home, but I felt little sad to leave.” – Yeowon
“I think it was a little sad to go back to Pune because I enjoyed it so much to be there and wanted to stay longer but we had to go the highlight of Friday was to see my brother and the rest of the family” – Teo
“Friday was unique because we went strawberry picking and ate very good food at Mapro! In the morning we packed everything up and we were very tired because we slept very late… Before going back to Pune, we ate Mapro which I already mentioned in the beginning! I was sad to return back to Pune…” Lina
“Friday was unique because we got to eat pizza in Mapro. The highlights were that we went there, we explored, we did some activities, and we got to pet a kitten.” Sofie
“We went strawberry picking and OH MY GOD they were the tastiest, yummiest, most perfect, cute, little, big, strawberries EVER! Then we came back home and did a fast and quick parkour then got ready at the cabins had a little rest and boom we were on our way to MAPRO! We ate pizza fries and these delicious strawberry ice creams because why not. Then we were on our way to the school.” Charlie
“I was sad that it was the last day of the field trip, but I was happy to go strawberry picking. It was cool that we could eat the strawberries that we picked up. We went to Mapro to eat good pizzas and fries. The bus ride was cool because we put some music on.” Baptiste
“I felt good at the thought of going home. I also had fun playing in the playground. It was fun. It was fun when I went back to Pune.” Seong Jun
“Friday was unique because it was the last day before we went to Pune, and we got to have lunch somewhere else. I felt sad that the trip was coming to an end and all the fun would be over, but I was also happy because I got to see my family and sleep on a nicer bed plus it wasn’t that cold. In the morning, we woke up, had breakfast, went strawberry picking, did a few more activities and then did a reflection. After that, we went to Mapro garden to eat lunch and right before we went to the bus, we saw monkeys and a kitten. Then went home.” Akshaj
“Friday was unique because it was the last day, so we enjoyed ourselves even more than we did on the other days. I felt sad but happy. I was sad because I had a lot of fun with my friends. I also faced my fears a bit. I was happy because I wanted to go see my family again. In the morning we went strawberry picking, and we went on an obstacle course. We went to Mapro for lunch.” Jaynah
“On Friday I liked strawberry picking and going to Mapro. I liked the pizza and French fries. I was a little happy going back home so I could meet my family. I also wanted to stay a little bit longer.” Darrel
“It was a little sad about the last day of the field trip, but we did fun activities in the morning that were a little challenging. Also, before going back to Pune in the bus, we played music and have fun.” Koki