SKANDAGIRI

 

Well, I have just returned home from my first summer camp with a group of friends in Skandagiri, a group of hills around two hours bus ride from Bangalore. The summer camp which lasted six days was organized by a group called Inme. 

 

OUR INSTRUCTORS

 

1. C.C (over-all head of Skandagiri Inme camp)

2. Tony (over-all head of our group)

3. Manju sir (our backpacking instructors)

4. Veer (Photographer)

5. Suljo  

6. Appu mam (our camping teacher)

7. Goldie 

8. La La

9. Nandi sir 

 

THINGS WE DID

 

1. Backpacking

2. Climbing

3. Ziplining and Rifling

4. Water diving

5. Helter Skelter

 

1. BACKPACKING

 

As our instructors told us, backpacking is a mix between hiking with a backpack and camping. It was also the first activity we did at the Skandagiri. On the first evening, my group and our instructors hiked out to one of the lakeshores to watch the sunset and decide upon a name for our group. After a lot of arguing we came up with a name: The Skywalkers. We had a warm-up hike for about one hour on the 4th March, one day after we reached. We returned to the camp after we learnt how to build tents that could fit three people.

On the morning of 5th March, we left the camp and hiked up the tallest hill in Skandagiri with backpacks around five kgs each. A formidable achievement, now I think about it. I was the fourth person in our group to reach the top of the hill. We reached at 2:00 pm where we had lunch. Our instructors told us that we were only the second group to hike to the top of this hill. Then we descended and reached the bottom at 5:00 pm. Though we were only a fifteen-minute walk from the camp, we wanted to stay overnight outside the camp on a field. So, some people from the camp brought us the basic ingredients for making dinner. We set up our tents and rested for some time. Then we gathered together on a tarp and Tony taught us about the seven Ds and how to answer the call of nature outdoors.

 

The Seven Ds:

Desire: You need to have the desire

Devices: You need a few materials: a stick or shovel; soap or sanitizer; water

Dig: You need to dig a hole

Do: Aim and shoot into the hole

Disinfect: Clean yourself with water, soap and sanitizer

Disguise: Cover the hole with soil

Done: You have finished

 

After that memorable start to the evening, we cooked dinner. We ate our soup and dahl rice and talked till around 10:00 in the night. Afterwards, we went to sleep. Each tent had space for three people, so we had eight tents plus four tents for the instructors. We went to sleep in the intense heat of the tent. I woke up at 7:00 next morning. A few other people were awake at the time and packing up most of the materials. Three of my friends and I found a few big sticks and did play fighting which resulted in a swollen index finger for me. At eight, we packed up all the tents and left the campsite to reach the main campus. As we returned to the camp, we celebrated the end of the backpacking part of the camp.

 

2. CLIMBING

 

On the evening of 5th March, we were taught about all items used for climbing: 

 

Items used for climbing:

-Carabiners

-Harness

- Rope

 

We started with tree climbing in the evening after our camping expedition. Then we climbed a small boulder around 10 feet.

The next day we went to a group of boulders near the camp, where we climbed boulders of multiple sizes. That evening, my friends and I played football with Veer and the camp doctor. Early the next morning at 6:00, we left the camp and reached a rock 20 feet high. On one side, we climbed the rock while attached to a harness and rappelled back down to the ground on the other side. It was extremely scary but also enormous fun at the same time.

 

3. ZIPLINING AND RIFLING

On the second last day, we did two activities: Ziplining and Rifling. In the morning, we did Ziplining. The instructors attached harnesses and carabiners to each of us and sent us to the tower from which we ziplined. The starting point was four storeys up and I have to admit, as I was hooked to the wire, I was feeling tense. But the actual experience was amazing, as I sped down from the tower to the platform at the end where the rest of the group was waiting.

In the evening, we tried our hand at rifling. We had to shoot at a tiny sheet of paper twenty feet away with pellets instead of lead bullets. It was exciting to hold a gun for the first time in my life. The rifle was way heavier than expected and I got only three shots out of six on the paper, none of which were anywhere close to the bullseye.  

 

4. WATER DIVING

 

Probably one of the most exciting moments of the camp was water diving. On our last morning at the camp, our group was led down to a pond inside the Inme campus. We were to dive into the pond from a cliff thirty feet high, and I got to be in the first group of four who jumped. We were given life jackets and we swam around the pond for a while before our jump from the top of the cliff. I learned something: always close your nose when diving into water from heights, otherwise your nose will sting like anything and you’ll sneeze for the next five minutes.

 

5. HELTER SKELTER

On our last evening at camp, all our instructors organized a group of activities for us to participate in, in four groups.

The four groups in Helter Skelter:

-Alpha 16

-Night Wings

-Limitless

-Knight Warriors

The activities played in Helter Skelter

Hula hoop race: Each of us in pairs had to keep a Hula Hoop between our stomachs and walk sideways to a basket around twenty feet away from us. Whichever team got the most Hula hoops in the basket won.

Ball in the basket: Four baskets were placed extremely close to each other and each of the teams had to throw balls into their basket. If it fell into their basket they got points, if it fell in the other team’s basket the other teams got the points.

Balloon pop: Each of us had to take a balloon, blow air into it and sit on it to pop it. Whichever team popped the most balloons won.

Shoe find: The instructors threw all of our shoes in a group and each of us had to find each of our shoes. Whichever team got all the shoes of the people in their team won.

Stick catch: The instructors stood close to each of us and dropped a stick. We had to catch the stick before it reached the ground.                            __________________________________________________________________________

The next day, we left the campus after lunch and set out for Bangalore. We reached there by 3:30 in the afternoon and by 5:15 I was back home. The camp was definitely one of the highlights of my summer vacation. I enjoyed this new experience immensely and hope that it will not be my last.