We sailed to the bridge over the Berezina River, on the border of Dokshytsky and Lepelsky districts.

If you want to test a person, get in a boat with them. Remember Vladimir Vysotsky’s song, "Take a boy to the mountains, take a risk, don't leave him alone, let him be in the same harness with you..." In the mountains – in the same harness, on the river – friends are tested in the same boat.

However, the tourist trip, organised by the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve, the Department of Education, Sport and Tourism, and the Centre for Children and Youth, aimed not so much to test the relationships between its participants, as to "examine" educators in additional education in tourism practically. The Reserve sought to demonstrate its "eco-tourist opportunities in shaping children's worldview". Well, these are the official formulations. But how did it all look in reality?

On a magical summer morning, eleven employees of the district Centre for Children and Youth – Alexander Volchek, Tatyana Ilyina, Irina Trubeka, Alla Misnik, Fedossya Lagoyskaya, Elena and Yury Lebedev, Viktor Radko, Marina Samonova, as well as director Alla Churo and educator in additional education, who is also a reserve employee, Alexey Bagovets – set off for Domzheritsy. The educators were already waiting for them there. The Reserve's tourism department organised an excursion for them to the House of Ecological Education. They looked at the enclosures with animals, and then by bus, having loaded the boat and their tourist provisions, they drove to the village of Berezino, Dokshitsky district. It was there that the starting base for their water tourist rafting was located.

Together, they cheerfully inflated the boat. Where else would you see such a boat! A whole inflated "tanker", which comfortably accommodated not only the eleven tourists but also all their rather substantial provisions. The boat was of complex construction, with numerous compartments, etc. And so, at last, the raft was launched onto the water. Bon voyage!

To be perfectly honest, most of the expedition participants were novices and amateurs in this undertaking, but among the rafters, there were those who, as they say, had "eaten their dog" on the water. These were, at least, Alexey and Alexander. They took turns at the helm. Everyone else rowed. The snug life jackets, thrown over their shoulders, not only served their direct purpose but also kept them from relaxing. An hour or two with an oar, and sweat was pouring down like a stream. A breeze, of course, wouldn't chill your back in such a vest, but what breeze could there be – the weather was as if ordered. No wonder, during this rainy summer, our tourists were truly unusually lucky – the sun shone brightly, and in its gentle rays, the Berezina River appeared before them in all its beauty. However, there wasn't much time to admire that beauty. They had to carefully monitor the water route, where anything could happen – they could run aground on a snag or get caught in an eddy. In one boat, as in a single team: if someone stopped rowing, the boat would immediately spin, changing course.

In one place, however, on the way back home, they had to stop – the path was blocked by a huge tree that had fallen across the water. No matter what they did, they couldn't get around it. They had to get out and carry the boat to the other side by hand. They lost about half an hour or more because of this. Otherwise, they reached their destination without any particular incident, if you don't count the frightening stories about a fierce she-bear that supposedly ruled the opposite bank. Perhaps the guys were trying to scare or intrigue the girls this way?

Finally, they reached the Mastiche tract, the final destination of their journey, where they stayed for two nights.

They pitched their tents, made a campfire, and got down to culinary matters. Alla Misnik was in charge here. She also purchased the provisions using trade union funds. They cooked pasta with stewed meat and prepared fragrant herbal tea.

It would have been nice to swim after the difficult and, for many, unusual journey, but the river water was cold, like from a spring. Only water lilies were comfortable in such water. Nowhere before had our travellers encountered so many yellow and white water lilies. The sauna saved them... And such a luxury was planned for the hike! A sauna was specially set up in one of the tents, where stones were heated, thus creating steam. They could wash. And after the sauna, some brave souls even risked diving into the river.

The next day was a day of rest. They played ball, reminisced about their childhood games, such as lapta. They took photos. Viktor Radzko, a professional photographer, so to speak, arranged a photo session for the girls in the lap of nature. In the evening, there was again a campfire and songs with a guitar. What kind of trip would it be without the night romance of guitar strumming!

And in the morning of the third day, they began to pack up to go home. Suddenly, a light, warm drizzle started – so what! The drizzle could no longer spoil the elevated mood that the tourists were in. On the way home, heavy, swollen clouds tried to catch up with the travelers, but failed. The sun still baked them in the back.

They covered about thirty-two kilometers of water route in two days along the Berezina River. At first glance, not much for someone experienced in such trips. Children tourists sometimes cover more. However, one should not forget that this was the first trip for the additional education teachers of the Children and Youth Center. The first, and God willing, not the last.

They paddled to the bridge over the Berezina, on the border of Dokshytsky and Lepel districts, deflated the boat together with a friendly crowd, loaded the provisions back onto the bus, and headed home. They agreed to definitely go on similar trips every year, because for the team it is not only pedagogical and practical training – it is something more: a sense of camaraderie. In one boat, as in one climbing harness, a team matures, hardens, and is tested for worthiness. Because, despite prosperity and life comfort, we are now extremely disconnected – in apartments, on sofas, at computers, in front of televisions, in our own kitchens and summer cottages, after hours of daily numerous tasks. What we lack in our peaceful lives is precisely this sense of camaraderie in one boat.

Uladzimir MIKHNO.
In the photo: teachers of the center for children and youth on a hiking trip along the Berezina River.