A buzz of excitement could be felt as we, the students of P5, assembled for our annual experiential trip from the 11th – 13th of February, 2020. We stayed at the Vinnca Village at Rockhill Adventures, Kolad. We all enjoyed the trip very much! Here’s how it went…
The bus ride to Kolad was about 3 hours long. During that time, we sang songs, chatted with our friends, and ate most of our snacks. We made a pit stop at a small restaurant called Quick Bite. It had a large and spacious balcony that provided a scenic view of the Mulshi Lake. We played several games and then continued our journey.
We were really excited when we arrived at the camp-site. The instructors told us that we had to bunk in groups of 8-11. That was unexpected for some of us but we were all open-minded and bunked with different people. We had a delicious lunch and then had 2 hours of leisure time.
Then we played multiple team building games such as tic-tac-toe with a twist and other fun activities in 2 separate groups. Once we had played all the games, we were informed that we were going raft flipping. So, we quickly got changed into our swimsuits and got called for a light evening snack.
Following the 20-minute bus ride to the lake, we set down our towels and arranged ourselves into groups for the raft flipping. This was to prepare if we actually flipped while rafting. We put on life vests and helmets for safety and then entered the raft. We rowed to a safe area to flip the boat. We got instructions on how we will flip the boat and what we would do when the boat flips. All of us were so nervous but super excited. When the boat flipped, we all screamed with excitement. Mr. Underhill even let us take a few photos with his camera.
After great fun in the lake, we swam back to shore, still shaking with excitement. We got to play on the bank of the river, skipping stones and splashing each other with water. We removed our life jackets and helmets and headed for the bus. We sat down on our towels because we were all very wet.
We freshened up and sat down for a warm dinner. As soon as we had finished our meal, we were told that we were going on a night-trail nature walk. Armed with our long pants and torches, we headed out to the wild.
When we had entered the outdoors, the first thing we noticed was how bright the stars were shining. We were introduced to several constellations in the sky! As we continued our walk, we were able to see and learn about animals that lived in the area. We saw a tarantula, a funnel-web spider, a toad, and a lizard. We were also shown termite hills. They are made from a mixture of soil, dung, and saliva from the termites. We were taught how to tell the difference between a toad and a frog.
After the night trail, we were all very tired from a long day of fun, so we started to head back to the camp-site to get rested for another fun day. We were all really excited to begin a brand-new day!
Before anyone knew it, it was day two of our fun overnight field trip. We all changed into a fresh set of clothes, and headed out of our tents to go to breakfast. We all swiftly ate our breakfast, for we were going straight to white-water-rafting after breakfast.
The moment we finished up, everyone hurried to get into the line. We all jumped into the bus, and drove to the lake. We were all jumping up and down in our seats impatiently and excitedly.
As soon as we got there, we were slightly confused. The water was very low. That’s when Ms. Donna explained to us that the water was going to rise when they released the dam. Mr. Monish explained that there were three alarms to notify the people working near or in the water that the water was going to be released, each with a ten-minute gap.
When the third alarm sounded, we were squirming with excitement! The water was quickly rising, and it looked just like the waves in the ocean. In a matter of minutes the water came very close to where we were standing, which was a cue that it was time to start rafting!!
An instructor explained to us all of the safety precautions when rafting. There were also some commands he told us the instructor was going to use to direct us. The commands were “forward” which meant we had to row the raft forward. “Backward” to row the raft backward. “Drop down” to get inside the raft. As soon as he finished, we split ourselves into several groups including the teachers, instructors and the Adventure mantra staff (eight people in all).
We already knew how to get into the raft, so getting seated was easy. What was hard was paddling correctly. We paddled for about a minute or so, and then entered a strong current, that made the raft speed up. We started to paddle even faster.
Not long after, we got pulled into a rapid. The raft would jump up and down through the strong waves. The small rafts would speed through breath-taking rides, rapid after rapid after rapid. Finally, when the thrill had ended, some people let their feet dangle in the water, or they tried standing up with support from the paddles. We all got to jump into the ice-cold water and swim in the Kundalika river for body surfing.
We got to meet up with our friends from other rafts and play in the river. It was very cold, but worth it.
After taking a short dip in the water, we all pulled ourselves back into our assigned rafts. Paddling lazily along the river we now had an extraordinary view of Kolad. After the extremely fun experience, wet and tired, we arrived on the shore, which was the same spot where we had practised boat-flipping. We all disembarked from the rafts as soon as the raft hit the shore.
Adventure Mantra had kindly gifted us snacks when we came ashore. We didn’t realize how tired and hungry we were. Back on the bus, we headed straight back to the campsite.
We needed a long break to shower, rest and recover from that rush of rafting. We embarked upon a short walk to an obstacle course not far from our campsite. In groups we ventured on the high and low rope courses.
When we got there, we eagerly put on the safety equipment and stood in line to take part in the activity. There were several courses, and all of them were very entertaining. After climbing, crawling, and balancing on the obstacles, we were happy to head back to the site for dinner. We sat by a bonfire and roasted marshmallows. This was the perfect end to our day of excitement
The next morning, we all were woken up with the 6:30 morning call! We rushed out of our tents to have a small snack. We followed a few team bonding games that were fun. It created just the right appetite for breakfast.
Before we knew it, it was time to leave! We thanked the staff, and each got goodie bags with Adventure Mantra hats and T-shirts. As we got on the buses, we were sad to leave, but we thought about all the fun we had had on this overnight adventure. Hopefully, we will go again soon!
– Darryl, Rhea, Charlotte, and Sia P5 A/B