Borderlands Youth Adventure Camp: Day 3

Day 3's entry courtesy of Thilina:

As usual today was another day filled with adventure and excitement. We woke up, got changed and went kayaking straight away. Since this was my first time I was designated a kayak which was easy to use. It took some time getting used to, but eventually I really began to enjoy it. We were greeted with a scenic view of the mountains as we paddled downstream.

Unfortunately our kayaking session was cut short because we had to eat breakfast!

After breakfast we had to face a test of the skills we had gathered in the past two days - the Adventure Race.

We were divided into two groups and assigned ourselves team names and leaders. After a lot of thought the team names came down to "Team Ludacris" and Team Bavagass" - I was in team Ludacris with four other team members.

 
Our first challenge was a to build a boat with cardboard boxes, tape and a tarp and race the other team down the river to the finish line. Much to our disappointment we lost the race and were given a five minute penalty.

Team Bavagass

Team Ludacris

Boat Race

After our penalty was up, we faced our second challenge - untangling a knot. After many clues from the camp staff we managed to complete the task.

Our next task was a set up a camp fire and boil an egg. After successfully completing the task both teams proceeded to the next challenge.

As a team we were supposed to crawl under and over ropes whilst holding hands. Ludacris fell behind on this task but we finally managed it.

  The next task took less than a minute and involved picking up a coin with our hands tied behind our backs.

 

 Our team hurried and crossed the river and began making our way to the canyon without a guide.

Our final task was the one that challenged our teamwork skills the most - we had to cover up holes in a long pipe whilst we filled it with water to get a ping-pong ball out.

When we got back to Borderlands we celebrated our final night with a night of music and dancing.

Overall I believe this day was the most exciting since it involved everything we learned but was compressed into one competitive day!

Borderlands Youth Adventure Camp: Day 2

Today was another great day for the kids at our Youth Adventure Camp.
Today we hear from Saira, who has a personal reason for celebrating today!

"Today we woke up at 6:30am and went out onto the river. We were learning basic rafting skills, after which we played a few balancing games on the raft, which was fun. After breakfast we started on a very long walk where we learned to helped others when they were struggling.

We finally reached Belilena Cave where we learned a lot about the history of the cave and we had a waterfall shower.

After lunch we hiked to Sandun Ella waterfall where we were going to be abseiling. We got a lot of leeches an us and some of us were scared of them so that was a bit of a problem. I came to camp three years ago but I was too scared to go and since that day I've been waiting to abseil.

When we got there I was a bit scared, but after a while Leila and I started laughing and then it was ok, but when I went to get clipped on to the rope I was terrified! Mahesh was very helpful and showed me that it was safe and if it wasn't for him and Lelia I wouldn't have gone down. I found the last bit very difficult and when I got to the bottom I was so relieved and happy that I had finally done it!

Saira and Lelia

Tarik

Misha and Sarini 

 

Ariana

 

 

 

More again tomorrow!!

Borderlands Youth Adventure Camp: Day 1

Borderlands is currently running a Summer Youth Camp for 13 - 17 year olds.
Here is how one participant, Emily, described her first day with us in Kithulgala:

 "Today was great! Learned so much - about communication and team work. We did a game called "The Human Knot".  Misha found the first solution to the cross knot. The much harder second knot we worked out as a team, but there was a lot of miscommunication.

Following on from this we did some trust exercises because it's essential to our stay at Borderlands. We started as partners, then in groups of three and soon we were falling from the ledge into the hands of our team.

After lunch we headed out as a team on our hike to go canyoning. Some of us more worried about the wildlife than anything else but then, lost in the adventure, forgot all their fears.

We reached the canyon and were taught how to position ourselves properly. The last jump was from sooo high up that everyone had some fear but we all made the jump and there's no regrets. After a long day of canyoning we floated down the river as everyone laid back and relaxed.

After a long day of fun activities and meeting the funny and supportive staff we're all almost falling asleep from exhaustion. The activities that we will take part in tomorrow is all that will be in our minds. We're all very thankful to our instructors who really got us over our fears :)"

More tomorrow!