IB Orientation trip to Borderlands- Day 2

Day 2 of Orientation camp:

(Inside the Beli Lena cave and ruins)
(Photo credits: Mr. Lockwood)

On the 27th of August our class came to the Borderlands River Camp using rafts. On day 2, our activities for the day were to hike to the Beli Lena cave where we had our TOK lesson in the beautiful ruins situated on top of the mountain while having a look at the famous Beli Lena Cave. After that we hiked down and up to another mountain where a waterfall awaited for us to abseil on. To do this our class was divided in to 2 large groups, one group went to Abseil and the others including me went for the Hike. The cave, the ruins and the waterfall too was an incredible view, even the hard pouring rain and the freezing temperature did not take this opinion from my mind.

Person in green- Mr DeSilva (TOK-math)  In white and
wearing cap- Me
(Photo credits: Mr. Lockwood)

We had our TOK lesson in which our teachers Mr DeSilva, Ms Snyder and Mr Mctavish gave us a few activities to do that tested our logical part of the mind. This gave us the opportunity to work collaboratively with others because it involved partnering up with someone else.I can proudly say, I was successfully able to complete 1 out of 4 of the activities that were assigned to us, of course with help from Erandhi whom I was partnered with. Two of these activities are math based and the other two looked in to our creative and artistic side (I completed one of the math ones). Out of all 4 of these activities I would say my favourite was the second creativity based activity where we were divided in to groups of 4 and had to make what ever piece of art we could using only the material we could find from around that Cave. This was a chance for me to plan and initiate in an activity as well as to work collaboratively with others. My group made a brilliant mini-cave using rocks, leaves and bits of twigs! Shown on the left is us about to start our first activity. Through out this session, I showed perseverance and commitment in order to complete the challenges that were given to us.

During our lesson, the rain continued to pour, So when we hiked up to our abseiling activity, we were unable to take part in it because unfortunately, the rain had made the water level rise to an uncontrollable amount and our guides told us that it would very unwise to even attempt to abseil on the waterfall. I was slightly disappointed by this but I knew what the guides were saying was true and so we accepted it and went down to our bus. But like I said before, the beauty of this area stayed despite the rain and cold and so I tried to take as much of in, before we reached our bus.

What I learnt that day:

• A challenge may look very difficult and even impossible to do, but if we thought outside of the box and try several times to achieve it, you will eventually find the solution. I found this out when during our math/logical activities, out of which I achieved one. 
• We cant always achieve what we planned to do but we should not feel bad about this, accept it and hope to try again another day. The incomplete abseiling activity thought me this and I will try to do one day.
• Honestly, I was not really looking forward to Hiking the whole day but when I finished the day, I was really glad I did. I was able to see some amazing sights and it certainly made me healthier! All you need is to give a little appreciation to what you do and anything can become fun. 

IB Orientation trip to Borderlands- Day 1

On August 27th, our class left to the Borderlands River Camp in Kithulgalla where we were to stay for two nights. However, we did not get there only on our buses. We used a much more unorthodox method:

Left: Sid  Center: Shwetank  Right: Me!
(Photo credits: Mr. Lockwood)

After we reached the Kithulgalla River we got off our buses and went down to the river (after we had a few refreshments). In the river, five rafts we waiting for us along with the Camp leader- Wade and four other guides. I was able to undertake a new challenge here since I have never been rafting before. We got in to the rafts, I was in Wade's Raft along with Ms Snyder and four other people. We were given instructions on how to hold and use the paddle and then we were off! 2 hours of rafting, passing through around 6 rapids; these are places in the river where there are many rocks and the water is very shallow, due to this the current is very strong here and will literally make your raft bounce up and down this area. Half way to the camp, we stopped and had our lunch on top of some very slippery rocks under a bridge (those sandwiches were amazing by the way!). When we finally reached our camp we dried off  and were given books where we had to write our reflections of the day. These reflections helped me increase my awareness of my strengths and areas for growth and hopefully apply these to the days to come.

The picture on the left shows us before we embarked on this journey where Yohan (a camp guide) was giving us instructions on rafting. We also did some trust activities and got used to the cold water in to which we may have fallen in while we were rafting.

What I learned that day and what I took from it:

• On that day, I learned that team work was essential in order to achieve the task of rafting to camp and also in our survival had anything gone wrong. I was able to work collaboratively with others to get that raft to the finish line. 
• You must always be careful, but you should never pass on anything just because there is a chance of injury. If you use your mind correctly you will be able to overcome it and still have a lot of fun.