8th Grade Trips

September camp trips are eagerly anticipated by many students at the beginning of the school year, and they often become the highlight of the first term. In the case of the 8th-grade students, our adventure led us to a delightful resort nestled near the charming town of Karjat. This excursion promised two days of immersion in the tranquil embrace of nature, offering a refreshing break from the hustle and bustle of school life. 

 

Our chosen destination was the renowned "Dr. Modi’s Resort," a haven of leisure and recreation. From a tempting swimming pool to a lively table tennis area, a sprawling football field, and a well-maintained basketball court, the resort left no stone unturned in ensuring our stay was nothing short of extraordinary. Karjat, a beautiful green city near Mumbai,  had been carefully selected as the backdrop for our camp trip. Its picturesque landscapes and natural beauty provided the ideal setting for our collective adventure. The lush green fields and serene surroundings of Karjat promised an escape into the heart of nature. However, as fate would have it, the weather seemed to conspire against us during our stay. Despite our initial excitement, both days of our camp were interrupted by non-stop rain. Undeterred, we found ourselves facing the challenges of the great outdoors while drenched in the heavy rain. Activities that were meant to be enjoyed in the warm embrace of the sun, such as rock climbing, took on an entirely different character in the midst of the cold,  pouring rain.

 

The first day began with a bus ride, meant to be only one hour, ending up being almost three, because of the heated weather conditions, and traffic, and after leaving at nine, reaching only just in time for lunch. After eating lunch in the dining area where we took all our following meals, we were allocated rooms and told to rest before team building games. The hour following was to acquaint ourselves with the new habitat and then begin the team-building activities in the resort. These activities featured a variety of games, which might have been intriguing if they were new to us, but our enthusiasm decreased as they turned out to be rather ordinary, and all the things we had done before. A key idea of the first day was the concept of mapping coordinates and learning to use a compass which would have been very fun if we weren't tired, bored, and sleepy 

On the other hand, the second day was rather interesting, we went, outside of the resort, to another one somewhere nearby and did rappelling and rock climbing, as well as raft building. Rock climbing was enjoyable for most people, and raft building was controversial, because of the unexpected rain and was repeatedly spoken of as  “muddy and disgusting, there was trash in the water which we had to go into ''. However, the one big highlight of the day was the rappling which everyone enjoyed. Our grades specifically, bonded upon the things we hated doing and instead of rock climbing we spent our time inside one big room playing cards, uno, and monopoly deal.  On the last day, we ended things with a fun treasure hunt, incorporating everything we learned throughout the trip. This was a nice ending since everyone worked as a team to win a final prize of chocolates. The winning team very much enjoyed this. 

 

Overall, this trip was extremely interesting and helped our grades understand each other a little better, even though there were some mishaps in the activities planned. They didn't cater to our grade very well, but we found that the camp overall was an experience to remember.

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 - Ira Gandhi and Mira Gupta