A Journey to Saputara

Yashasvini, Silver Award participant from The Cathedral & John Connon School, Mumbai is sharing her Adventurous Journey experience here
On Wednesday 22nd, after a seven and a half hour bus ride, 44 Award participants and four teachers reached Saputara -- and so began our adventures. The next morning we did some exercises and then went on a three hour trek through the dense jungle of Saputara to reach the watchtower on a hill at the Maharashtra-Gujarat border, from where the view was beautiful. We returned to the camp tired but happy and had a hearty lunch. The weather was perfect, a balance of cold, the right amount of sun and a slight drizzle. In the evening we performed the following activities in our respective groups -- ladder climbing, jummaring, crossing the Commando Bridge, and net climbing where we all definitely developed our biceps. Late evening was spent in learning about Warli art, and we were each given a chance to display our skills, which we carried home with us as a memento.
The following day we went on a longer trek down a stony river path and across fields where once again the weather seemed to be on our side. We trekked downhill from 08.00 hrs in the morning to 13.00 hrs in the afternoon and reached Jakhana via Malegaon. The trek through the forest, streams and meadows was amazingly beautiful. We rested on the bank of a river and had our lunch. As everyone was muddy and dead tired we returned to the camp by bus. The evening was spent in team building activity, followed by a session on mountaineering equipment and backpacking techniques given by the students getting their Gold Award.
On the second-last day we travelled to Sabri village in Daang where each one of us planted a Khair tree sapling. We had an interactive session with a tribal household. We were included in one of the tribes for 24 hours after getting a vermilion tikka and a white cap. We ate lunch in the house of one of the tribes, post which we did planting of rice on a big plot. Shin deep in the mud we were all busy planting rice and two hours just flew by. This was a unique experience one may not encounter again. Even the tribals appreciated the effort of our students. Post dinner, we went on a trek where we saw many fireflies, beautifully lighting up the night.
The next day, fatigued but unwilling to leave, we returned to Mumbai by bus, bringing an end to one of the most memorable IAYP camps. Click for pictures