Just Like That: Outdoor and Nature Summer Camp

Summer vacation means fun, school projects, summer camps etc. The word summer camp sounds exciting, right! But what if it is summer camp with adventurous activities? Doesn't it sound awesome...?

Something like this happened with me this summer vacation. My mom registered me for an Outdoor and Nature Summer camp conducted by GHAC (Great Hyderabad Adventure Club). I was a little nervous initially about attending it.

Greenery

The camp commenced on 20th May. The camp was held at Divya Retreat Resort, near Keesara Village which is surrounded by lush greenery and rocky hills. On the first day we had a brief introduction session and we were divided into two groups; Red and Blue. I was elected the Captain of ‘Team Red’ and ‘Team Blue’ was lead by Amogh.

Captain

We had all kinds of team activities like tent pitching, raft building, tile and duct tape games, rock climbing, rappelling, cooking, zip lining, lashing, bird watching, swimming, stars gazing and cultural activities, where co-ordination and team involvement were required and my team had won most of them. In the evenings we had talent shows conducted by both the teams.

My team members were Tarun (Dy.Captain), Niharika, Deepali, Pranav, Sameer, Gaurav, Yashasvi, Chandu, Nanda, Greeva, Tanshiq, Harsha, Akshit, and Advait.

My tent mate was Akshara from the Blue Team.

Gazebo Hut

This summer camp was conducted on the four hottest days of the year. The organizers kept us well hydrated by providing us with lemonade and watermelon. We spent the peak heat time, 11:30 am to 4:30 pm in a learning 'Gazebo' hut which was kept cool by covering the outer side with wet jute bags and desert coolers inside. When the temperature out was 46 degrees Celsius, the inside temperature was 28 degrees Celsius. We spent the nights sleeping in the T2 tents. The mobile toilets and makeshift bathrooms were a unique experience.

I as the Captain had to take care of everyone in the group. We had to get up at 5.00 am in the morning but I as a Captain had to get up at 4:20 am to make sure everybody was up and ready.

Millipede

Rappelling

On the second day we went for bird watching with Keku sir and it was a nice experience trying to identify different birds lizards and insects. I overcame the fear for insects at this camp. Later in the day we learnt knots and lashing. For the cultural programme in the evening we had to prepare a skit.

Baby Lapwing

The third day was really thrilling. We did rock climbing, rappelling and went trekking. When we went trekking lead by Shariq Bhaiya, I saw an amazing sight that of a baby lap wing coming out of its egg. Later that day we did zip lining and river crossing too. In the night we had a cooking competition and tile game which our group won.

Zip Lining

The concluding day, May 24th arrived when we were going to share our experience at the camp to our parents at the closing ceremony and our results were to be announced and to our joy, we the ‘Red Team’ had won the rolling cup for the overall performance. It was a big achievement for me and my team.

My parents, aunt (mami) and my little cousin Advait came for the closing ceremony and to take me back home. They enjoyed the lovely place, the yummy breakfast, tea and lemonade provided by the organisers.

With Diya Sir, Founder of GHAC

I would like to thank all the mentors of the summer camp, Diya sir, Keku sir, Joseph sir, Swati didi, Nikhil bhaiya, Shariq bhaiya, Kiran bhaiya, Nishanth bhaiya, Sanjay bhaiya, Devender bhaiya, Sujay bhaiya and Sanjay sir. And also I enjoyed the coverage by Khushi TV and giving interviews during the camp, which was fun. All of us in this camp had become like a family.