Summer camps are becoming more and more popular with young people, but what are they like? Last month, junior reporter Sally Henshaw travelled to Loch Lomond, Scotland, to find out.
‘I’ve been travelling for ten hours,’ I thought, when the minibus finally drove past a sign saying ‘Welcome to Camp Lomond’. It was dark, and I just wanted to go indoors and jump into a nice, soft bed. But the camp leaders had other ideas. We all had a barbecue, then we sat around a campfire and talked (or fell asleep). Finally, one of the leaders divided us into groups of three and gave us the really bad news.
‘Now it’s time to put up your tents,’ he said. I don’t know how three of us managed to sleep in a tent the size of a single bed, but somehow we did. When we woke up the next day, my new friend Ingrid opened the front of the tent, and we all looked out. There, shining silver between the trees, was Loch Lomond. ‘Loch’ means ‘lake’ in Scotland, and Loch Lomond is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever seen! That morning after breakfast, we went horse riding around the lake. I’ve never ridden in such an amazing place.
In the next few days, I went BMX biking, tried rock climbing and played volleyball every day until I couldn’t stand up! It was great! The camp organises different activities every day. Most sports activities are in the afternoon, and in the morning you can choose lessons like drawing, chess, drama and cookery. I’ve never been very good at art or board games − and I’m not a great actor − so I went along to the cookery class. I love food, but I didn’t know how to cook anything before I went to Scotland. Since I’ve been home, I’ve been baking cakes for my parents! (And they haven’t been to hospital with food poisoning yet, so I must be quite good at it!)
You have to work hard on a summer camp. Everybody has to do chores, and you do activities all day, too − you can’t just sit around and hang out. But I really had a great time. The best thing about the camp was making new friends. Since I came home, Ingrid and I have been texting every day. The activities are great, but the people are even better.
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to go on a summer camp? I’ll tell you the answer in two words: exhausting and fun!