It was a regular Sunday morning. Mani and I had returned to the camp after seeing off a bunch of friends at the airport. Two new guests had checked into our white water river rafting camp at Rishikesh (India) meanwhile, while we were busy doing our run over the Ganges river.
We slumped down at the campsite to unwind after doing two hectic days of river, beach and the rapids. Then, sooner than we had expected, it started drizzling. About half an hour later, an eerie silence prevailed, and the wind started to blow again --- gaining horsepower, every passing minute. I recalled having read somewhere, that a strange calm always precedes, a mighty storm.
The strong wind swept the sand from the beach and began to create weird, swirling patterns on the calmly flowing river. I had never witnessed anything like this before; a squall of this magnitude in all three years that I'd been going to the mountains. I surveyed the campsite and saw tent poles clutching at the strings. Most tents lay in a collapsed state, and before we could assess the full damage, the wind returned with brutal force, making us scamper for cover under the... read more >>
Camping Travel Stories
When most people go for a weekend of camping, they usually picture sitting around a campfire with loved ones, toasting marshmallows and taking in all of the sights that nature has to offer.
However, on one recent camping trip, I had more than my fair share of nature just in one day than most people have after a week of camping.
Every summer for the past fifty years, my relatives from across New England meet up at a summer cottage along the coast of Maine. It's a tradition that everyone looks forward to all year, and it’s a great way to catch up with relatives while enjoying a weekend of camping, hiking and canoeing.
One day, I decided to go canoeing by myself for a couple of hours to enjoy the ocean scenery. However, they don't call it the rocky coast of Maine for nothing! As I was pulling my canoe up on a little island to eat some lunch, I accidentally dragged it over some jagged rocks, with then punctured the bottom of my flimsy canoe. Realizing that if I tried to go back out on the water I would capsize, I was forced to spend... read more >>