Getting into the swing of summer camps

On our way to the swimming hole we passed a group of campers holding butterfly nets and looking intently at a wildflower thicket.

"Catch any yet?" asked Camp Taiwan's co-director, American Tom McDonald.

"Lots! And two that are only found in Taiwan," replied his wife and the camp's other co-director, Canadian Nara McDonald.

Daily life at the newly opened North American-style summer camp is filled with adventure, learning and a deep appreciation for nature.

The McDonalds came upon the opportunity to realize their dream of building a summer camp through a friend and partner who owned a piece of land nestled in the foothills north of Yangmingshan in Wanli (萬里), Taipei County. With two small rivers, overgrown rice terraces and a lot of "jungle," the area was perfect for what the McDonalds had in mind.

After a year of clearing and building, Camp Taiwan was completed. The camp consists of three clusters of safari-style tent cabins, a five-sided rope-course structure, a small stable with three horses and a large mess tent.

At present, the camp accommodates 60 campers and 15 staff, but the McDonalds plan to continue building in coming years and eventually accommodate 120 campers.

Nara McDonald, born into a diplomatic family, spent her childhood in various countries around the world. But every summer since the age of five she went back to Quebec for Camp Ouareau, a bilingual summer camp for girls, where she eventually worked as counselor and program director.

Tom, who grew up hiking, surfing and swimming in California and Hawaii, decided after 15 years of working in Taipei that he no longer wanted a job that required riding in an elevator.

The eight-rung rope ladder that hangs from the 10m-high climbing structure built by the US-based company Project Adventure is a far cry from an elevator. Watching two 13-year-olds using teamwork to reach the top is both suspenseful and inspiring.

Camp Taiwan embraces the concept of "challenge by choice," which means that each participant chooses the degree to which they participate in the challenges presented by the ropes-course activities.

"If one kid can get only two-thirds the way up the climbing wall, we celebrate that as much as another who gets all the way to the top," Tom McDonald said.

The ropes course gives campers a sense of accomplishment through accepting challenges but also teaches them how to respect and support each other.

Camp Taiwan is also dedicated to teaching campers an appreciation for nature and outdoor living. Educational activities teach the kids to identify plants and insects around camp and provide a basic understanding of ecology.

Though the mix of Chinese and Western food cooked by Tom and a local caterer is appreciated by all, campers must learn how to cook their own meals over the campfire. Fire-starting, hiking, horseback riding and archery are just a few of the activities that provide an appreciation for an older, simpler way of life.

"One of the most important things is what I like to call camp lore, which is the singing, the stories and the skits," said Tom, who feels that one of the central goals of summer camp is building a sense of community.

Earlier this week, the sense of community was glowing on the faces of campers and counselors.

"There's no boring part about it," said French counselor Benoit Zullo. "It's all fun."