by Timothy Ijala

Created on: June 24, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

Personally I just love going camping. Especially in the National Parks of East Africa. But when you add good friends to the experience it always becomes an unforgetable trip. I remember the last time I went camping with friends. We had this big ten sleeper tent which no one had any idea how to put up. The good thing is that we had the tent manual with us. So while one person was holding the manual and reading out the instructions on how to put up the tent, the others were busy trying to follow through on the instructions. It was just a lot of fun with some people in the group getting it totally wrong. However with the help of everyone we soon had the tent very well set up which was also a great relief.

Going with friends camping also has the added advantage of you not going on a trip that you will end up feeling bored. Because with friends, especially creative friends, you will always get good ideas of what you can do that is interesting and that will keep you busy. I remember again the last trip I went on with some friends. We had done what activities there were to be done for the day yet we still had half a day ahead of us. After lunch and a nap, the question was what next. Someone came up with the idea of a card game. But we did not have the cards. Why not ask from a nearby retaurant. We did that and yes they had a game of cards and we were soon seated playing cards and some of us in the group ended up learning some new card games that we did not know before.

On another camping trip I really appreciated having my friends along. We had driven for quite a distance and we were running short of gas in the van and were not quite sure what to do next because it was the sort of place you could drive for miles without meeting anybody. Along the way we found a lodge which had a gas tank. However the rules of the lodge said that the gas was only for the vehicles that belonged to the lodge. I was stuck for what to do and yet everyone was looking up to me because I was the one who had organised the camping trip. Before long I was called into an office where I found one of my friends and someone else who my friend introduced to me as the manager of the lodge. And yes because he was the man in charge he had no problem with us getting some gas for the vehicle and we exchanged business cards and parted the best of friends thanks to my friend who had taken it upon herself to go talk to the big man himself.

Another great thing about going camping with friends is that you get to hear stories and see another side of your friends that you would normally not see in your every other day interactions. Friends tend to open up and tell something about themselves that you have never heard from them before when you are seated around a campfire. And that often leaves you feeling closer as friends than you felt before.

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