Grade 8 Carries Back Home the “City of Mountains”
From the fresh, glory mornings of April 9-11, Sampoerna Academy L’Avenue’s Grade 8 students embarked their promising start into becoming adventurous explorers in Sukabumi’s “City of Mountains”, where nostalgia and memories collide from violently rafting on ripping, uncontrollable waters to treasuring mellow walks on refreshing open air bridges.
Day 1: Ready or not
Alongside Ms. Ria and Mr. Jun, 22 of our ambitious “explorers” flocked to the open embrace of Sukabumi’s glorious wonders, travelling over a hundred kilometers on bus to first be met with an exciting first impression. The beginning of this unforgettable expedition started on a humble morning greeting the early rays of 9:00 am, where students were launched into a hectic frenzy of paintballs - tainting their military-esque suits into a puddle of red, green and a blaze of pure joy.
As shots sharply echoed across the vast sky, they were soon quickly deafened over crashing waves that swiftly carried heavy rafts across the ‘White Water’ lakes. Consisting in each raft were 8 rowers that depended on their newly learnt skills of synchronized teamwork and the power of determination to conquer and dominate the great waters. As wonderfully remarked by Lateisha from class 8C, “In my opinion, the best part of the trip was when we went rafting. I had so much fun with my friends and it was pure adrenaline”.
Day 2: Only up from here
The second morning unravelled gracefully amidst the warm dawn of Situ Gunung, where it proudly holds its famous 500 meter suspension bridge, hanging parallel to the mountain tops at 121 meters above the lush canopy of West Java’s forests. Soaring through the horizon were flowing valleys and a sea of emerald green endlessly stretching, as swirls of soft clouds gently blankets its shadow over the stitched mangroves residing under.
As Grade 8 trekked deeper on foot, a stroll across the bridge led to the heart of a mountain that treasured a majestic waterfall, towering over 35 feet in all of its grandeur. And in the grand scheme of Indonesia’s hot tropical winds overwhelming visitors, the waterfall served as a humble escape from the sweltering heat with its refreshing mist encapsulating every being around it. The element of water has certainly made quite the strong impression, as the trip progressed further into Situ Gunung Lake, known for its liquid glass complexion and serene atmosphere.
All 22 students were able to spend a rare moment of calm leisure around the lake, witnessing the warm, amber sunset inching away from the horizon. And after a certainly exhausting day, there’s nothing more desired than a long night’s rest.
Day 3: Flying far from classrooms
As the last day approached, the Grade 8 students marked the very last stop from their breathtaking journey: a visit to the Aviary Bird Park. Considered one of the “largest-interegrated aviaries in the region”, it’s widely favoured by locals and tourists abroad for its immersive and interactive aviaries that house 5 total ecosystems and more than a hundred different species. It provides the rare, intimate engagement between visitors and animals with hands-on feeding as well as live wildlife shows.
A wonderful insight to the summary of this trip, was to ask the students if it has fulfilled or exceeded any initial expectations, which Lateisha from 8C states, “I’d say it ‘exceeded’ my opinions because it turned out to be educational and fun instead of being a ‘lectured-like’ learning style”.
This trip to the “City of Mountains” didn’t just provide phenomenal scenery and extravagant road trips, but built and honed the internal skills of perseverance as a community and assisted in developing new physical strengths integrated in all activities such as paintball, rafting and hiking. This travel-based education style proved effective in teaching adaptability, independence and contextual learning of the new exposure in Sukabumi’s rich culture.
