A P Adventure Club

If you thought the sub-Himalayan regions or the reefed waters of the Andamans were the only places in India to get a bona fide adventure experience, you would be sadly wrong. Of course, you need an A P Adventure Club to tell you that Andhra Pradesh, with its heat and boring rocks, is every bit as adventure-friendly as the more touristy destinations.

Apparently, A P has every kind of terrain (except snow-clad mountains) and natural resources for outbound actions and activities on land, water and sky. These resources provide great scope for adventure and nature-cum-environmental studies.

The 1991-born A P Adventure Club is the only one in Hyderabad that promotes activities of this nature. They have something for everyone in their range of land-, water- and air-based activities, and they conduct their events with fair prolificacy. Almost every week there is an adventure program, whether in Ali Sagar of Mallaram or Muttugundam of Khammam. To say their charges are economical would be a euphemism. At Rs. 150 for a day's trekking exhibition, including food, they are downright cheap!

However, they insist on maintaining their exclusivity. The hoi polloi cannot be an active part of the club. Instead, they have to suffice with a mailing membership that lets them know of the various events that they can individually attend. Professionals in any of the areas the Club covers are most welcome. And the really regular mailing members are invited to join volunteer programs where they can learn techniques like rock-climbing etc., and start contributing as full-time members.

While they are not doing the dreamy stuff, they also help in relief operations in disaster-prone areas: a case of rare skills put to good use. A P Adventure Club members help with the pushkaras at Bhadrachalam, the Medaram yatras, and even flood relief operations. Within the club, training camps are often held to teach rafting and building makeshift boats with commonly available material.

The following is a complete list of activities of the Club:

Terrestrial Activities: trekking and expeditions, rock-climbing, rappelling, jummaring, sliding, river-crossing, camping, wilderness survival camps, forest exploration, nature study, rescue operations, navigation on ground - by day and by night
Aqua Activities: rowing, sailing, kayaking, short sea-faring, forays in fisherman boats, sailing expeditions etc.
Aero Activities: gliding, para gliding, para sailing, hot air ballooning, sky diving etc.