The Best Camp Ever {by D}

When we picked D up from his day at Ventana Wildlife Society's Condor Camp last week, he was ecstatic and gushed, "Mommy, that was the best camp eveeeeeeeeeeeeeer!" Awesome. So, naturally, I had him write about it.


June 12, 2014 -
Today I went to the best camp ever, Condor Camp!

First we went to Laguna Grande Park to meet everyone and get in the van. But, while we were waiting, we played aquarium tag, which is pretty much Snakes and Minnows except you have to think of an animal and one of its adaptations. When the person who is It calls on your adaptation, you run to the other side.

After the game we introduced ourselves and told what our favorite animal was. Mine is a wombat!

Then we got into the van and drove all the way to Big Sur. We passed Bixby Bridge and went all the way to the Ventana Wildlife Society's Visitor Center and learned about animals. Here are a few facts I learned during that presentation...

Mountain lions lick their babies' butts to keep them clean. California condors live in the Grand Canyon, too. They can get killed by electrical poles. Baby condors eat plastic and get poisoned by the DDT, but sometimes they have surgery to remove the poisoned plastic from their stomachs. I also learned that condors can change the color of their skin, depending on how they are feeling. Finally, I learned that the California condor population was down to 22 in 1970.

Then we climbed into the vans and drove to Seal Cove because seal is one of condors favorite foods. So, we set off. When we reached Seal Cove, we didn't find any seals or any condors. We did find a bunch of ants and a turkey vulture was flying overhead in the sky.

Then we drove to private property in Pfeiffer where the condors usually hang out and we heard beep! Beep! BEEP! from the  tracking device. It was Condor #204. He flew through the trees and down the cove. We got out the telescope to see if there were any more condors. We did this for about ten minutes. Finally we packed up, ate lunch, and went swimming.

Best. Camp. Ever.

Summer Camp: Learning About Condors

Summer camps are expensive, typcially. No doubt about that. But they also provide great enrichment. So, we pick and choose camps for the boys carefully. Last year, they did kayak camp and were out on the bay for several hours a day for a week. It was a fantastic experience. And they gained so much confidence on and in the water.

Today, they're off on a one day condor adventure with Ventana Wildlife Society. Click to read more about their work with condors. And, in the range of summer camps, this one is a good deal.

The boys carefully followed the packing list, making sure they had swim trunks, sunblock, and the other items; I loaded up their lunchboxes with carrot and celery sticks, lychee, cheese, granola bars, and wraps with turkey meatballs.

D was up at 5 o'clock. "It's time for condor camp, Mommy! Condoooooooooooor camp! Mommy, get up."

Not yet. Go back to bed, please. Jake pulled the blanket over his head and groaned, "Why is he awake at five?!" He's really excited.

Stay tuned, they'll report back tonight about what they learned!

Have fun, boys! Learn lots.