Camp at Lake Sevan
This year, for the first time, we held the second shift of our “Tent Camps” on the shores of Lake Sevan, at Armenian Camp. We set up our campsite for August 7–13 and prepared to spend some beautiful days together. The program was designed so that the first half of the day would be spent in the mountains and the second half in the water. However, due to the extreme heat, we canceled some climbs, ascending only Mount Karmraberd and Mount Divants. Instead, thanks to Instructor Semi, we became skilled at canoeing. We even managed to paddle from the camp shore all the way to the Artanish peninsula.
Just imagine: the vast Lake Sevan and 42 children—28 of whom were little ones—armed with life jackets and paddles, rowing independently with very serious and focused faces. It was a beautiful sight, especially when one of the youngsters took charge, steering in the right direction. Most importantly, the children themselves prepared the canoes for the water and, at the end, cleaned them and put away the equipment. Once we were skilled enough at rowing, we held a competition that was both exciting and full of joy.
Playing volleyball on the shore of Sevan in the evening was another pure delight. On the last day, we held a volleyball tournament called the “Sevan Cup,” which was a bit unconventional with the rules but a lot of fun. We also had a movie night, getting absorbed in the events of the film “Everest,” based on true facts, and discussing the climbers’ mistakes.
As for how relaxing and rhythmic the 4th day of camp was, you had to be there to see and enjoy it. Maya’s father surprised us by inviting a DJ, who filled the shore with modern rhythms, making everyone dance and sing, getting lost in the waves of music and moving to the beat.
After living on the shores of Sevan for seven days, we returned to Yerevan with deep tans.
In short, it was a successful camp, as the children were asking at the end, “We’ll come back next year, right?” This means we will be collaborating with Armenian Camp again next year.
