Paradise exists on Earth. It's there as part of every little country in this world. Discovering paradise is only half the battle. Protecting it is the next battle, and we need to be able to pass on our observations on paradise and how to protect it.
This is part of a series, where I take my little 5 year old son with me on my travels to help him understand responsible and sustainable tourism, so that he grows up to be a responsible citizen who can help inspire others also to understand the importance of respecting and nurturing nature. In this series, we explore the Andaman Islands as part of #ResponsibleTravelForKids series. Can travel be made more meaningful and enjoyable for kids? Lets explore and find out. Here are a series of travel post cards that held a little lesson for my son and me.
This is an excerpt from the detailed travelogue originally published here
Lets do a bit of intro of both of us, before we get further.
Nandu's Lesson #1- Understand Public Transport and travel inside that to understand how the locals in a place travel
Nandu’s Lesson #2- For a calming day out, always trust the sea, and some time by the beach staring at the sea is always fun!
Nandu's Lesson #3- Why use wall papers in laptops when the reflection off a laptop screen is more beautiful than a screen saver/wall paper. Travel is a good way to dust off cobwebs in the mind.
Nandu's Lesson #4- That sunset is basically our explanation of happy moments. The sun is nature that keeps giving endlessly.The clouds are life's situations. When the situation permits our life will be in highlight filled with happiness. Other times it will be dark, but we need to be ready to bask in the sunshine when it comes!
Nandu's Lesson #5- When you have a sea as open as that, you just go and lounge the day there. Its easier to spend the day playing in the sea, than it is to spend time getting bored changing channels.
The sea is a beautiful place to spend time, even though its warm, and we never do this in the city. Whenever it feels warm, apply sun cream lotion and take a dunk into the sea.
Nandu's Lesson #6- The joy of playing in the sea is un-paralleled. It's an endless S P L A S H game.
Nandu's Lesson #7- It's possible to stay without air-conditioning in a humid place. The trees, the birds have their ways of making you feel part of their environment.
Nandu's Lesson #8 - When you are at the sea the minutes and hours don't matter. Time is inconsequential. Its important to recognize the moments in front of us. You feel hungry and sleep as well when you should. Nature has its 'app update' to our bodies, that is a 'patch' long needed.
Nandu's Lesson #9 - The sea can play Santa to you every hour of the day. It shows up some toys every now and then. Nandu learnt about sea shells.
Youtube is a great place to learn art, but there’s no place quite like the beach and mother nature to pick random twigs, sand. shells and the sea water to learn about elements and art work. There is life beyond Youtube and a 100 MBPS internet connection!
Nandu's Lesson #10- When you see little animals like cats, dogs or hens running around, do keep aside some of your water from the water-bottle. It helps them quench their thirst. A little care always helps in spreading good vibes across the world.
Nandu's Lesson #11- Plastic is not meant to be in the sea!
Nandu and I started picking loose plastic around the beach in the form of food wrappers, plastic on nets, and water bottles and went and left it in the bin.
Plastic- That killer materials that sea animals some time consume without knowing what it is.
More plastic in the dredging area by the Phoenix Bay Jetty. It's a pity tourists leave behind such ugly footprints.
Nandu's Lesson #12- A little hut by the sea, a book that you like, and maybe some coconut water. Ingredients for a peaceful life! Life should be about acquiring moments and memories and not material things (Typed from a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge Phone for a layer of irony)
Nandu's Lesson #13- Life is always better with Sandy shoes. He had no restriction on how dirty he could be while he was playing. You are with nature and nature is never dirty!
Nandu's Lesson #14- Waking up in a rainforest to the smell of the monsoons, is a beautiful way to understand the sights and smells of the place that we go to. He also learnt that there is a new colour in the market -'Monsoon Wala Green'
Nandu's Lesson #15- Food in the Andamans is expensive as it costs money to bring vegetables from the mainland. As a random act of kindness, I decided to buy food from a local idli/vada seller on the road, thereby giving him business, and then went ahead to the main market to pick people to give a packet of food. Nandu basically learnt not to waste food, and to be in a position to help the local people by feeding them a meal. Maybe too early for him, but feeding people is a way of thanking the world what it's bestowed upon you!
Nandu's Lesson #16- Nandu spent most of his time apart from the beach, at this little store outside our hotel. It's a little shop leading into the village where a migrant runs a little petty shop, amidst her mud flooring house, which has a lovely dog and a beautiful hammock. I thought it's important Nandu spends time with the locals in the village and learns and appreciates their lives.
Nandu's Lesson #17- Always use a water-bottle to re-fill your water and never buy plastic bottled water. Live like the locals do and trust nature in an un polluted place. Every resort has water that can be refilled. The island's jetty also has a re-filling point. More plastic bottled water means more plastic wasted and strewn into the sea or the forests.
Nandu's Lesson #18- It's magical to be able to play games by the beach. Whether its cricket or beach volleyball
Nandu's Lesson #19- The beauty of the vast expanse of the forest and open space is too hard to resist.
I don't quite understand why we spend most of our lives under 10 X 10 cubicles from school to work. Our sense of the world expands, when we see so much space. We stayed at Flying Elephants Retreat in Kalapathar Beach and enjoyed staying in a no mobile signals, no TV, no air-conditioning place.
Nandu loved his trip. Now you will listen to him, and make your children also learn a bit about the environment while traveling, wont you?
And It's possible to have fun with nature, rather than confine yourself inside a 10 x 10 room in a 5 star resort! Makes Sense?
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