Janda Baik's Wilderness Skills Camp - 13-15 Aug 2014

Posted by Xian Wei

I joined a wilderness skills camp for 3 days at Janda Baik. It was organised by Radiant Retreats. There were many levels of camps and this camp was Level 3 under the Bronze category. There were only 14 participants as it was held during a school week. Without hesitation, I joined the camp because I love camping, going outdoor, meeting new friends and learning new life skills.

Learning the basic First Aid. It was our first and very important lesson.

Arm sling (elevated) is when your collarbone is broken. 

After that we went river trekking at Kg. Chemperoh. We learnt how to filter clean water from the river.

Examples of what we should do when your friend is injured and when you are lost in the jungle...

Helping an injured man... 

My first time riding an All-Terrain Vehicle. It was very easy - like riding a motorcycle.

Jumping from rocks to rocks instead of playing electronics, climbing over fallen trees instead of sitting down at home and watch TV, walking on cold water instead of a pavement- it was better here than in the city. 

Having a short rest.... quite tiring....I learnt that "no man is an island". We have to work as a team to survive.

On the second day, we went hiking for 7 hours at the Gunung Nuang track!! We went to 2 waterfalls.  We learnt how to build an elevated shelter and how to make a fire from natural materials.

The second waterfall was shallow but FREEZING cold!!

At night the instructors taught us self-defence, how to make animal traps and bamboo gadgets as well as tie knots for rafts... There were so many uses of the machete that I didn't even know!!

  

The instructor taught us the uses of bamboo. It could be used as a pot to cook food and boil water over the fire. Now that's bamboo-tastic!!

On the third day, we went rafting. But, we have to built the raft ourselves. Luckily I knew how to tie the knots, thanks to the instructors. It turned out to be simpler than I thought.

Mission Accomplished!! Now we're ready for our raft race.

But first, we had to overcome our fear. The water was cold. In the middle of the pond the depth is 20 metres!! That's why we wore life jackets.... We were divided into 2 teams for the raft race to see who's the fastest.

Some water confidence exercises...Trying to adapt to the water's temperature...

It was very hard to paddle and required a lot of strength. Well, it looked like the "idea" of this activity was about teamwork.

Paint ball time!! It was my first time playing it. The gun was quite heavy. I think our team lost because we didn't communicate, which was the key to the game, besides accuracy and strategy.

My strategy was to rush to the tower and simply pull the box, but it didn't go as planned. The other team was smarter because they planned their strategy properly.

It was a good game and a good experience for me too. Now I know how some soldiers feel when carrying the guns...

This was a fun ending to the camp.

I actually missed the camp as soon as we left. I was kind of sad that I won't be seeing my new friends. Radiant Retreats almost felt like a second home to me...