Unlocking Nature's Secrets: A Summer Camp for Young Explorers

Unlocking Nature's Secrets: A Summer Camp for Young Explorers

During this year's summer vacation, I wanted to give our nature-loving kids a different experience. So, I spoke with my friend Nitesh and booked his property, Adith Greenela, in Madikeri. Nitesh is developing this 12-acre coffee estate, adjacent to a forest and only 9 km from Madikeri town, for kids' educational purposes in memory of his son.

Day 1

As soon as I announced this program, like-minded kids showed interest, and a few parents also expressed interest. Finally, our journey started on May 9th early morning from Bangalore. Everyone reached the meeting location on time, and we had a nice time during the journey, stopping near Mysore for masala dosas. All the kids enjoyed the dosas, and after that, we headed towards Madikeri.

By 11 AM, we reached our destination. After settling into our rooms, we were welcomed with a refreshing nimbu sharbat. Following a delicious home-cooked lunch, 

we had our first session with Apoorva sir. Apoorva sir has been working and doing research on bee awareness and conservation for the last 17 years. He explained the importance of bees, different types of bees, and their significance in our ecosystem. During the 2-hour session, both kids and parents had many questions and exchanged practical knowledge about bees. Apoorva also demonstrated the bee box and how to use it.

After this wonderful session, we had tea and coffee and started our evening bird walk inside the coffee estate. There were a couple of ponds within the estate, and the kids were lucky to spot common and white-throated kingfishers up close. Malabar hornbills, parrots, bulbuls, mynas, woodpeckers, and many more birds were seen by the kids during the evening walk. 

After a short break, we lit up the campfire for a storytelling session. Everyone shared their stories. I shared my journey into birding and my most scary experience during a bird survey inside the forest. Day one ended with joy and enriching learning experiences.

Day 2

Everyone woke up early by 6:30 as scheduled for the morning walk and birding. When we went outside, it was completely covered in fog and mist. A local person on the estate said it wouldn't clear until around 8 AM. All the kids packed their binoculars, cameras, and field guides, and we started our morning birding session at 7:00 AM. The place we chose was near the estate and had an open grassland terrain. We reached there by 7:20 and started walking in the mist and dry paddy field. By that time, bird activity had started, but the mist and low visibility made it difficult to see them properly. We enjoyed the walk and started noticing spider webs, small insects, etc. Kids were trying to get good photos of paddy field pipits and other small ground birds. 

Slowly, the sun came out, and the whole paddy field revealed itself like a curtain being drawn. Wow! We were between dense trees, and on the other side, a small water stream flowed gently. Now we could see the bird activity more closely and started taking photos. The kids enjoyed the beauty of rocket-tailed drongos, Malabar parakeets, pipits, larks, lapwings, peacocks, Malabar hornbills, spotted doves, ibises, egrets, and many more. Within 1 hour, we were able to spot more than 40 residential birds. Then the kids crossed the small river stream and played with flowers. We spotted a rare variety of dragonfly with beautiful green wings on top. After a successful walk, we started returning to our homestay by 9:30 AM.

At the homestay, hot idlis and lemon rice were waiting for us. Everyone enjoyed the delicious food and got ready for the next activities. After everyone freshened up, we assembled near the car parking area by 10:30 AM. It was time to understand more about our little feathered friends. I started explaining about the surrounding birds, their behavior, and how to identify them, also showcasing the Early Bird posters about different habitat birds and behaviors. Kids and parents asked many questions and clarified their doubts. After this wonderful session, we played the Bird Survival Game, a wonderful game designed by Early Bird that makes it easy to understand the problems migratory birds face, their nesting behaviors, and survival aspects. Kids and parents were in different groups and enjoyed this game very much. Later, the kids started drawing and coloring kingfishers. Finally, I gave them a task involving selfies with different nature-based objects, like selfies with flowers, selfies with water bodies, selfies in yoga positions, and selfies making bird calls. This was the most fun and memorable part for everyone. One group completed all the tasks and won the game. Also, I explained that May 10th is World Endemic Bird Day and why we celebrate it. We wrapped up the learning session and rushed towards the camp for lunch.

During the afternoon session, we decided to visit a nearby lake called Chiklihole Dam, one of the beautiful dams in Kodagu. It was a 1-hour drive from our homestay. The kids enjoyed the dam views; it was lovely and scenic. Unfortunately, there wasn't much birding activity there. In the evening, we visited one of the old temples in Madikeri called Omkareshwar Temple, a very divine place surrounded by a beautiful lake. In the evening, we returned to our homestay camp.

In the evening, as usual, the campfire started, and our beloved friends from the wildlife rescue team crew from Mysore and Tumkur were waiting for us. Pradeep, Akshay, and Praveen started an interesting talk about snakes and their rescue operation experiences. Everyone was so engrossed in their stories that they didn't realize it was dinner time. Dinner was ready and waiting for us. Finally, at 9:30, everyone started dinner. After finishing dinner, everyone was excited about the night trail or night walk inside the estate – herping! Along with the experts, our little kids embarked on an adventurous journey for the first time inside the forest terrain in search of reptiles. What a wonderful walk it was! The kids were both happy and a little scared, but they thoroughly enjoyed noticing different types of frogs, insects, hares, bats, and owl sounds. Everyone was geared up with shoes, torches, etc., and enjoyed the night walk. When we returned, it was 11:30 PM. We spent another 30 minutes exchanging information with the experts. Finally, I had to end the 2nd day at midnight because we needed to wake up early for day 3 activities.

Day 3

As usual, everyone was ready by 7:00 AM, but coffee and milk weren't ready, and it was still completely covered in mist. So, we decided to stay inside the homestay for some time. After finishing coffee and milk, we headed towards Kote Abbi Falls, one of the unique and beautiful spots in Madikeri. The journey took more than an hour to reach this destination, but it was well worth visiting. I organized a bird bingo game activity. It was a group activity, and everyone was busy playing. We spent a good amount of time near the waterfalls and offered biscuits to the fish. After a light breakfast, we returned to our homestay. One more session was lined up for the day after finishing brunch and rest. Pradeep, Praveen, and Akshay walked us through pugmarks and how to identify them. After this session, Nitesh sir had planned a lovely surprise. He brought cake and jackfruit for all the mothers on the occasion of Mother's Day. All the moms enjoyed the cake cutting and the delicious jackfruit.

Finally, it was time for us to return to Bangalore, but the kids were busy playing games and other activities. After finishing lunch, we started our journey back to Bangalore by 4 PM. With lots of memories and valuable learning experiences in nature, everyone shared their experiences and takeaways from this nature-based summer camp on the bus.

Speical thanks to Nitesh , Apoorv, Pradeep, Praveen and Askhay.  lovely and wonderfull session about bees, snakes and pugmarks, 

By Guruprasad.