CJA Camp – February 2022 – Ignite Creative Academy

CJA Camp – February 2022

Written by Martin Turner

Canon Juniors Academy was finally out of the classroom and into the field to take some photos. This trip was designed for 2020 but with all the Covid-19 issues we finally delivered the camp 2 years on. It was worth the wait.

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The camp in partnership with Challenging Adventure was a 3 day/2night photography camp with an adrenaline activity and a couple of energiser activities also included.

The students were all picked up from a location in Dubai and travelled the 90 mins into the RAK mountains where we arrived at camp at around 1030am.

The Challenging Adventures crew took the students on a trip around the camp and started by doing some energiser activities and some ice breakers so they could all get to know each other.

After lunch the students went on their first walk around the perimeter of the camp where they got some lovely views of the landscape and made friends with the numerous goats of whom they took loads and loads of photos of.

A quick swim in the cool oasis water from the nearby mountains before dinner was followed by a night around the campfire trying long exposure photography techniques whilst munching on marshmallows toasted on the campfire. The students got some amazing photos

Up early for day 2 and after breakfast we set out for the abandoned villages around 8km for the camp. The students got to take photos of the landscape, the many goats that live in the mountains and the different rock formations in the mountainside. The walk lasted for around 3 hours.

The students took a quick dip in the swimming pool before lunch to cool off. After lunch we walked up the hill beside the camp where we started the 2.5 hours rock climbing course. Along the route the students could stop and take out their camera to take photos from the unique views and as we came to the end of the windy course sunset was in full flow so the students were able to capture that as well which was a bonus.

That evening one of the Challenging Adventures staff took the students on a night walk and to see if we could find a few UAE creepy crawlies. Using the flash on their camera the main animal found was a scorpion hidden under a rock which please the students!!

The next morning the students had a competition to get the best photo around the camp, they completed their workbooks and finally had a last energiser activity before lunch before the transport arrived to take us back to Dubai.