I was extremely terrified to go on this trip. The last time I went to Borderlands I did not have the greatest experience, I lost my glasses while canoeing and I couldn’t have much fun as I couldn’t see much. The night before we went on this trip, I was a mess… I only cried about five times saying that I don’t want to go but in the end I am so glad I went this year because it was an experience of a life time. From the moment we started white water rafting to the moment we ended our long 10km hike, I enjoyed every moment of it and I want to thank all my friends that encouraged me to go.

Day One 

Going on this trip requires you to have a certain mentality, to love the nature, outdoor and to really challenge yourself and for me I thought it was difficult but somehow I had so much confidence that day. Our itinerary for this day was white water rafting, lunch on the way, canyoning and finally float back to the river. We left OSC at 6:30 am and we reached the rafting station around 9:00, I was so nervous… we went to the river and then our old friend Sumudu aka Mr. Splash, splashed us all with that cold cold river water and we were all screaming. We have to go across the river to the beach so that we would have more space for the safety instructions. While the guides were giving us the instructions all I could think about was the bad that could possibly happen and we finally got split into our groups I left a little relieved because I had some good people in my group and that gave me a sense of comfort. I had Disara, Aidan, Aarnav, Mr Lockwood and our wonderful guide rocks. We called ourselves team RAMBO and might I add we had a wonderful cheer. We ended up going 1st down the rapid, it was the MOST amazing feeling that I have ever had in my life, it was fantastic and lots of fun! After going down about 5-6 rapids our fun had to come to an end and we had to hike to our location where we had lunch. Borderlands food is SO amazing… it could be the simplest meal but its delicious. When it came to canyonning I got this sudden rush of confidence and I was ready to do the jumps. I am thankful for Taneishq because were the 1st to always do it and she was a good example to follow, also I couldn’t back down because there were so many people behind us and I did not want to look weak. So I did it, every single jump and every single water slide and it was amazing! and I was very impressed with myself. I took a risk and I was happy. After the canyonning we hiked back down to the river and we floated back in small groups and as always we had some interesting conversations while the current of the river took us with the flow.

Day one was such a good day! I stepped out of my comfort-zone and did some activities I thought I would never do again… it was a good day. I am so glad I went on this trip.

Day Two 

We knew from the start that day two would be a challenge because it was a lot of hiking and physical work. I have a problem where my hemoglobin is very low so sometimes it is very hard for me to breath while doing physical work but I had a good mind set, I thought to myself… No I am going to do it. Every single thing including the abseiling. This was my mind set at first however towards the end it changed.

The hike up to the cave seemed like forever but actually it was nothing, it was a small 2km hike up to a cave where we had our TOK lesson. On top of the hill was an old ruin of a temple. There were these cut-outs in the ground and they were deep, honestly knowing me I knew that I would fall in so I was extra cautious. After exploring the temple area and drawing maps we proceed to another cave, it was there but a little more climbing was required, to be honest that climb was really sketchy and scary. This cave was under a waterfall and the view was amazing. This is where we were taught the allegory of the cave. The allegory of the cave really got me thinking, what if everything that we are experiencing is an illusion? What if there is another reality… but thats just my thoughts on the allegory of the cave. After exploring this cave a little we proceeded back to the old temple and went down the way we came and started climbing up some hill and we hiked for a very long time… I am sure we walked about 3km to where we had our lunch. After we had our lunch we hiked up a steep hill, it was tiring and exhausting but I already had a good mindset. “I CAN do it” was the mindset that I had. On the way up I got bitten by two nasty leeches and it was disgusting, I know this has nothing to do with this trip but I just found it gross. When we finally reached our destination it was beautiful… the view was breath taking and I looked down the waterfall I have to abseil down and I was absolutely terrified. I didn’t do the abseil, now thinking about it, I should have done it but then again you only regret the chances that you don’t take. I am surely going back with  my family, just so I can do that abseil. We hiked back down, it wasn’t easy it was stony and slippery and anyone could have fallen down the hill like a ball and that is what I had imagined so i was scared but we made it down and it was a nice hike back down. By the time we got back I was so tired, after dinner I was so ready to sleep.

I regretted not doing the abseil but that’s all part of the learning. I promised myself that I am going back there and I will do that abseil. Stepping out of your comfort-zone might be scary but I do think sometimes it is necessary to try new things.

Day Three 

Today we had to conduct our interviews with the locals. My group and I got the artist, he was an artist that made degradable wedding pieces. Traditional Sri Lankan weddings have this thing called a poruwa where the bride and groom have an ceremony. Make purowa’s were his main work but on the side he did some sculpture work and he is an amazing artist. He had done this really cool art work with water colour.

After had conducted interviews we came back to camp and we had lunch. After lunch, sadly we had to depart. I had so much fun I really wouldn’t have mind staying there a couple more days. The guides and the crew we had was so amazing, leaving them and coming was even more sadder but then again in life saying goodbye and moving on is an important thing to learn.

My Overall Experience

I am so happy that I went. All I talked about when I got back was talk about what an amazing trip that it was. This trip challenged me, it made me step out of my comfort-zone and try new things. It showed me that sometimes I need to have faith and take chance it could lead to something good. I am definitely going back before I leave for university in 2020.