An extraordinary trail to the lap of nature, accompanied by 33 scouts was an awesome experience for all of us.

Under the auspices of Forest Dept. Govt.of Kerala, a three day Nature Study Camp was conducted at Elephant Rehabilitation Centre,Kappucadu from 29.10.2017 to 31.10.2017.

With God's grace and blessings of our dear ones,we were honoured to be a part of the mesmerising impact that stirred the innate talent in  us.

The Camp began with a trekking to the woods..tracing a footprint here,listening to a chirp there...we learnt the importance of the word  SILENCE, to feel the spirit of Nature

Our guide Binu taught us the nuances of observing Nature...how ,all the god bestowed  five senses of humans are important in trekking.

We traced monkeys, squirrels,rare species of birds,Bison etc......

Kizhakumala,our trekking destination gave us a panoramic view of River  Neyyar and Agastyarkoodam.

One of the moments of the camp to have felt proud of being a Trivandrumite.

On our way back we enjoyed a dip in the cool spring water below the mountain...every single drop enthralled us to the maximum.

Courteous staff in the canteen brought back the warmth in us with hot tea and yummy snacks.

All along our trail,we had the company of a white doggie whom we lovingly named as ROGER

She was honoured with a scout scarf for her constant mental and physical support throughout the camp

Time just flew by.Our intraction with the mahouts was indeed an eye opener. We learned a lot about elephant behaviour especially the inhabitats of ERC and the notorious "KOLAKOLLI" who once send chill down the spine of Kerala in general.'Food time' and the ' break time' of  Raja,Podichi,Rana,Jayasree,Maniyan and ofcourse the great and mighty SOMAN, was indeed no less than a thrilling experience.

Our meal break and tea break were the most disciplienend ones. We had a bunch of courteous staff in the canteen led by Sateeshan uncle who was surprised by our group prayer before meal and the organised way we had our food and the following petrol wise cleaning of the kitchen and dining areas.

Another source of our constant support was Mr.Rajendran the deputy range officer who strught away give a wonderful class on forest life and ERC in general. He also encouraged to make use of the bamboo boat [changadam].The whole batch was thrilled to be a part of it.photo sessions followed. We had the deepest gratitude to the rain god who was benovolent to us throughout the camp.

Other attractions that added colour to the camp were virtual reality show,Barbeque during outdoor campfire, indoor campfire using campstove,singsongs,skits related to 'scouting for boys' etc.......

None of us wanted to leave ERC ,our home for three days and two nights.

But as someone has rightly said 'life goes on.................we've to move on; Maybe for a better and more intresting camps are store for us.

Winding up with a heavy yet hopeful heart !

Keep Smiling Scouts!!!