Responsible Travel for Kids- 19 Lessons from the Andamans!

Tripoto
28th Apr 2017

The Good Life!

Photo of Responsible Travel for Kids- 19 Lessons from the Andamans! by KatchuTravels
Photo of Responsible Travel for Kids- 19 Lessons from the Andamans! 1/1 by KatchuTravels
Paradise as seen through the twigs and leaves!

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.

Kartik- Mac Lover , Traveller, Photographer and Beach Bum and looking for places like this to say 'Work From Home'

Photo of Kalapathar Beach, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

Nandan Kartik- Wannabe explorer. For now slays addition and multiplication sums in Class-1

Photo of Havelock Jetty, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

Nandu's Lesson #1- Understand Public Transport and travel inside that to understand how the locals in a place travel

Public Transport Buses from Havelock Jetty to Radhanagar Beach

Photo of Havelock Island, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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!

A boatman fishing off the waters of Kalapathar Beach in Havelock Island

Photo of Kalapathar Beach, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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.

The reflection off the waters of Kalapathar Beach in Havelock Island

Photo of Kalapathar Beach, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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!

Sunsets at Sea

Photo of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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.

Life is a Beach at Kalapathar!

Photo of Kalapathar Beach, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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.

The pure joy of the sea!

Photo of Kalapathar Beach, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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.

Early morning walk to the reception at our hotel-Flying Elephant Retreat in Kalapathar

Photo of Flying Elephant, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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.

Time? Is that required in paradise?

Photo of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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!

When the sea plays Santa!

Photo of Radhanagar Beach, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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.

Everyone likes some water to drink!

Photo of Responsible Travel for Kids- 19 Lessons from the Andamans! by KatchuTravels

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 Plastic all around!

Photo of Wandoor, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

Plastic- That killer materials that sea animals some time consume without knowing what it is.

Say No to Plastics

Photo of Wandoor, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

More plastic in the dredging area by the Phoenix Bay Jetty. It's a pity tourists leave behind such ugly footprints.

Polluted Shipping Jetty

Photo of Phoenix Bay Jetty, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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)

That chilled out life by the sea!

Photo of Kalapathar Beach, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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!

Lets make castles, shall we

Photo of Kalapathar Beach, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

Sand Art!

Photo of Kalapathar Beach, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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'

Monsoon Wala Green

Photo of Flying Elephant, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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!

Distributing food to the needy

Photo of Aberdeen Bazar, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

Distributing Food to the Needy

Photo of Aberdeen Bazar, Port Blair, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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.

Chilling in a hammock at a local's house

Photo of Kala Pathar Beach, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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.

Always refill your bottle. Never buy plastic bottled water

Photo of Flying Elephant, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

Nandu's Lesson #18- It's magical to be able to play games by the beach. Whether its cricket or beach volleyball

Photo of Radhanagar Beach, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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 running in the pathway that connected across the jungle to the reception

Photo of Flying Elephant, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

The reception area near the Yoga Place

Photo of Flying Elephant, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

The view from our rooms. Our rooms opened out to the jungle. We were nature!

Photo of Flying Elephant, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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?

Photo of Havelock Jetty, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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?

Photo of Kalapathar Beach, South Andaman, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, India by KatchuTravels

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