The Journey Through Nature (JTN) is a hike through a forest organized by the Senior Scouts and Rover Scouts of the College.
This event takes place every four years, and this year it was held at Victoria Park, Digana on the 29th of February 2020.
Junior Scouts and Cub Scouts also came along as they will have to organize this event in four years time.
Girl Guides and Scouts from many schools round the country participated in this event. Some schools that participated were: Vidyaloka Vidyalaya and Rippon Balika Vidyalaya from Galle; Maliyadeva Girls’ College and Maliyadeva Boys College from Kurunegala; Kingswood College, Dharmaraja College, Gateway College, Mahamaya Girls’ College, Hillwood College, Girls’ High School, and Vidhartha College from Kandy; Ferguson High School from Ratnapura; St. Joseph’s Balika Vidyalaya from Kegalle; and Thurstan College and Ananda College from Colombo.
The Senior Scouts collected sponsors and raised money for the event, with the College also providing a financial support.
All the scouts were taken to Digana by College transport and it was a bit of a squash in the bus and some children weren’t lucky enough to get a seat.
As soon as we got there, we were divided into groups and the hike started! There were many checkpoints in the route and there were arrows to show us the way so that we wouldn’t get lost.
We had climb up steep hills and go down slopes, we had to climb over rocky terrain and hold on to nearby plants to keep balance. We didn’t see the red arrows that were marked on rocks and we got lost a few times but organizer came to help us every time we got lost. The Junior Scouts travelled 10km, but the Senior Scouts had to go on even longer.
After every group has completed the route, our lunch was provided. Then the teachers gave us some time to play before we headed back to the College. Again, it was a squash in the bus when we headed back.
After we got back, the closing ceremony was held from 7 to 8pm. All our parents came and it was very grand. There were lights everywhere and the teachers and Scouts had created a huge poster and hung it up behind the curtain in the main hall.
They introduced the winning schools as well, from the Girl Guides section, the winners were Ferguson High School, Ratnapura and runners-up were St. Joseph’s Balika Vidyalaya, Kegalle.
From the Scouts section, the winners are Thurstan College,Colombo and runners-up are Maliyadeva Boys College, Kurunegala.
Could this be the best scouting trip of the year?
