Junior Dragon Bronze Expedition

Year 4 embarked on their Junior Dragon Award expedition with great enthusiasm! We hit the dusty road and found ourselves enjoying nature in the glorious Maasai Steppe. The children set their Dragon award targets and met them with determination and perseverance. Many braved their first nights away from home, and sleeping in a tent. Year 4 was a shining example of collaboration as they worked together to accomplish tasks and support each other. The children peppered our Maasai guides with questions about how to make a fire, which plants are poisonous or have healing properties and how to make a Maasai toothbrush. We learned about the leather making process and made our own beaded key chains with the help of our new Maasai friends.

The class learned endurance as they traversed the rocky terrain and encouraged each other to summit Mount Oldonyo Lendare.

More than anything, Year 4 learned that they are capable of much more than they realized. They returned home covered in dust but with their confidence overflowing and stories of hiking, campfires and deepened friendships.

We would like to thank Mukuru Training Center for being such excellent hosts and making our first expedition a magnificent success.

Mrs Pulei

As part of their learning, Year 4 write a recount of their expedition on their return. Enjoy a child's perspective of their adventure!

My Mukuru Trip by Maimah-Zoe Kahama Bernard

Day 1

On the first day of my Mukuru trip we got on the bus and Ms.Logan said to think of her if we did something bad. We are representing Braeburn. Then Ayanna fell asleep and I tried to wake her up when we got stopped by the police and Shana kept waving around her passport and Mr. O told her that it could get stolen. While Ayanna was asleep everyone started singing. When we got into the bush Ayanna finally woke up and started talking about how she kept seeing sandstorms.

When we finally got to camp everyone ran inside to the livingroom where Mrs.Pulei introduced us to Mr. Jacobo, Mr. Dani, and Mr. Lazaro who told us the rules and how the showers work. By the time we got to our tents we were all so tired that Ayanna was the only one who wanted to clean up. Thankfully Mrs.Pulei called us to learn a Maasai game. After the Maasai game, we went for fun activities where I learned to brush my teeth with a stick. After activities, we rode camels and I cried. When we got back to camp we got dinner and filled out some papers right before we went to bed.

Day 2

On the second day we woke up at four in the morning and went back to bed again.

For breakfast, we had bread with peanut butter but since I don’t like peanut butter I did not have any. After breakfast, we started hiking to the base of the mountain. When we got to the base of the mountain we stopped for ten minutes to use the bathroom which was behind a rock. At the base, I gave the girls chocolate. When I got to the almost top of the mountain I stopped because I could not climb any farther so I sat down on a rock with Mr.O and Mrs. Pulei and talked until everyone else came down. Also, the class had to "bum shuffle" down the mountain. When we all got down and back to camp we got mandazis and watermelon and beetroot juice. After we filled out our papers we had a marshmallow party with smores. I breathed in a lot of smoke which made me tired.

Day 3

In the morning we had bread and margarine for breakfast. After that, we packed up our bags and took them to the office. After that, we went for activities where I made a rainbow keychain. When we got back we got to celebrate Ayanna’s birthday with cake and I lost my keychain so we got on the bus and went back to Braeburn.