Mindzle

Posts Tagged ‘camping’

Me and my friends have always stuck together. We were friends during high school and stuck together after as well. Now that we’re adults, we get together once a year for our camping trip up north. Every year on the second weekend of August, I jump in the van with my dreadnought acoustic guitar and hit the road for a great weekend.

Everyone has a different idea of what roughing it means. That’s okay with me, though, as one of our gang is a head chef at a highly rated restaurant. He comes up with coolers full of food and cooks the whole time. You’d be amazed at the magic he can make over a campfire. Everyone eats like absolute royalty. He’s up first thing in the morning with his hand mixers making pancakes from scratch!

Susan also has a very different idea of camping. She rolls up in a compact RV, all set with all modern conveniences, a generator, and some hefty batteries to keep her powered. I’m pretty sure she gets satellite TV in that thing too! This thing is amazing, all set with her home decor accents to make it feel like she’s really at home.

So we’ll eat and drink and reminisce, and then go on our customary 15 mile hike. I used to be a lot better at that, but now not so much. It’s the high altitude that gets me, and probably the 30 or so pounds I’ve gained since we first started doing this thing 10 years ago.

It’s not an easy hike when you’re running on no sleep. Everyone has a case of insomnia with Dave around. His snoring keeps everyone up! I swear it was so bad the first year we were there we thought it was a bear trying to get our food!

Now our trips have even more meaning since one of our crew was killed on a highway motorbike crash. He was always there with us, but now it brings us even closer and it’s like he’s still there with us year after year.

Our trips will likely come to an end in the next few years, what with us getting married, having kids, and all that. We’ll never stop being so close, and we’ll always make sure we still connect, even if it isn’t as often as we’d like.

Usually the time we get as leisure is spent on recreation. It has an important function in our lives. Amidst the stress and strain of modern life, recouping and energizing the body and mind is vital. There are many ways that this can be done. Some of them are bungee jumping, skiing, hang gliding, snowboarding, rock climbing, sky diving, backpacking, canyoning, motor sport, adventure tourism and ecotourism. Ecotourism is where one visits the natural habitats to enjoy nature. However, there are two kinds of ecotourism in vogue. The first is what has come to be called responsible ecotourism. This is when the visitor is sensitive and respectful to nature and feels socially responsible to protect it. The focus here is on learning from nature and reflecting on the adverse human impact on nature. Central to it is the profound appreciation of nature. The second category is where nature becomes incidental to profits. Primarily a commercial enterprise, nature becomes a commodity for business. Tragic enough, this type of ecotourism continues to dominate.

Ecotourism is promoted indiscriminately without concern either to ecology or local culture. Ecotourism is made a mere marketing tool. Resorts, lodges and luxury hotels are located in rich natural locations and often in ecologically sensitive areas. These facilities offer modern luxury with all the wasteful lifestyle. Ecology becomes a commodity to be exploited rather than respected and conserved. Building tourism infrastructure in the name of promoting ecotourism leads to deterioration of the habitat and deforestation. The more the facilities the more are the waste generated. A large number of visitors also mean more garbage and pollution. Many of these ecotourists have no understanding of the ecological consequences of their visits and how their lifestyles in these tourist facilities impact on nature.

Responsible ecotourism on the other hand is in stark contrast to this destructive ecotourism. Typically the visitors come unobtrusively in small groups. They invariably carry their survival needs in their backpacks. These include flashlight, first aid kit, personal care products, utensils and map amongst others. Sleeping bag and the camping tent are the most important for their minimal comforts. There are many camping tent manufacturers such as Black Diamond, Sierra, Kelty, Eureka and MSR who manufacture tents. Camping tents are designed for different seasons and capacity. The features that come along with it can be previewed from each of the reviews of these tents for instance searching the Internet for MSR Hubba Hubba reviews.

Camping is usually associated with responsible tourism because the negative aspects of tourism are minimal. There is much attention given to energy efficiency, recycling, water conservation and economic benefits to local communities.

There is much talk of ecological crisis. It is said that most of these are man made. The ecological crisis that is being talked about consists of a vast array of problems. There are the oil spills that devastate vast areas in the sea and the coast line. The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 off the coast of Alaska is one such. Global warming, a result of the emission of green house gases because of human activities could flood many islands that dot the Pacific Ocean. The depletion of ozone layer will increase the radiation from the sun reaching the earth. Many species will disappear as a result of deforestation as well as desertification. Large plain areas will be threatened with devastating floods due to the vanishing forests up in the hills. It is estimated that some 17,000 to as many as 100,000 species vanish every year. Over the last five decades, seven million square kilometers of forests have vanished. Only one-fifth of the original forests survive intact.

We do know from science that there is a strong inter-relationship between species, and between species and the non-living things in the environment. The survival of the species depends on the extent to which this inter dependence between species, whether micro-organisms, animals or plants, is possible. Ecosystems, scientists say, cannot be engineered and created by humans. It is only by letting the ecosystem survive that species will survive. That is why the importance of conservation and preservation is considered vital. But human progress through development and growth is threatening the survival of species.

It is hoped that the large scale appreciation of natural reserves will lead to conservation of these reserves. Camping in such reserves for the purpose of recreation and learning is considered to be one way of strengthening conservation. Responsible camping in such reserves also requires a living experience with camping tents. You need to select a tent that is suited to your needs. Kelty Green River 4 person tent accommodates four persons. It is a two season tent which could also be used as a base camp tent. Tents accommodating one to even ten persons with different features are available in the market.

The adherence to the principle of non-interference with nature while you are in such camping trips is an important principle to be followed. Local cultures, usually with strong roots in nature, are to be respected. Understanding the complexity of nature and its diverse role is a critical learning that these experiences seek to offer. The truth that we are part of nature and that nature does not belong to us is important to realize that the relationship between nature and human beings is that of between the mother and her children.