Why do we forget to go camping? I think because camping requires an innate ability to leave yourself exposed, to give up a level of control. So, when you have a few rushed days in which to grab yourself a holiday, you would much rather keep everything under tight boundaries rather than risk losing that precious time to unforeseen elements. So it's not forgetting to go camping, but it's more of a deliberate decision not to bring the possibility into any equations.
Durga will turn five soon and she wanted to go camping. I think the main reason D loves camping is because she gets to make friends with dogs and cats and any other strays that get into her path. Sometimes I wonder how much of her innate love for animals I am stifling by not allowing her pets... am I ruining some beautiful expansive thing inside her and twisting it into some future misshapen horror? Or is that just plain weird thinking?
The very thought of having to be in charge of a pet, when as a family, we are emerging from D's babyhood, is enough to stress me out. No thanks- let the kids become old enough to clean their own poop, let alone some pet's, and then we shall see.
Our camping mainstay in India so far has been Bamboo Rustles, a wonderful place near Krishnagiri. But as BR becomes more and more popular, it's difficult finding available dates to go there. Plus, it's nice to explore a new place, not the same old safe zones.
I used Camp Monk, a website that curates camping areas across the country. We stumbled across Middle of Somewhere, in the depths of that website. MoS had been featured in CM's advertising post on environmentally conscious sites near Bangalore. Loved the description, loved the pictures and went ahead and booked the place. Very reasonable rates (Rs.500/ head) if you bring your own tent, which we wanted to do. We have a stove as well, but no propane to get it going. So instead of running to Decathlon and hunting for propane, we decided to order meals there.
We left for MoS on Saturday afternoon, after spending a hot morning at IISc's Open Day (incredibly crowded. No idea what events they had there- each thing had a mile-long line). It takes about an hour to get there, assuming you don't get lost. And it really feels like the middle of nowhere- you take a mud path from a point on the main highway and drive and drive inside for about a mile and all of a sudden, just when you wonder where in the world you are, you reach it.
Kids are now old enough to help pitch the tent! Hurray!
Wait for it.... And..... all done!
After pitching the tent (during which my sole task was to take pics), I went for a spot of bird watching. I can't spot as many as RK can, let alone identify them, but I would like to think that I'm becoming better. I'm getting more patient, at any rate. Earlier I used to get a little jittery- I would think, man I can hear birds all over the place but can't see a single one, or can't see one long enough to figure out what it looks like. Nowadays, I'm getting to a more Zen-like state (!). I am not thinking (as much) of a bird count, or a list. I'm more like, let me hang out here for a while and if I see any birds, all the better.
In MoS, this attitude helped a lot because there were a TON of birds that I had either never seen or had no clue how to begin identifying.
So. Many, many birds. Amazing star-gazing areas. Wonderful Peepal tree under which we pitched our tent and which sheltered us from a blazing sun the next day.
What I am pleased with reg bird watching:
a) I saw my first treepie!
b) I finally recognized my first Red wattled lapwing- which is a bird that RK has been pointing out to me for years, but this was the first time I saw one and figured out what it was all by myself.
c) I finally saw the white eye of the White eye
Small steps that make me feel great.
When I closed my eyes for a nap this evening after returning home, all I could see were birds, on wires, on treetops, flitting about on the ground.
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