Ok so we failed!
Last weekend we trekked into the forests of Sussex in the hope of finding and photographing roe deer. This time around they didn't show.
Now our little dudes are still on the learning curve when it comes to maturely dealing with disappointment. Luckily, so is their dad.
The Deer Didn't Get The Memo
Fortunately, we'd packed our Tentsile tree tent and booked a slot at Dernwood Farm, a lovely spot for some pretty wild camping.
We'd always made sure these trips felt like a proper adventure beyond just the wildlife, and sleeping up in the trees with a 4 and 6 year old definitely qualifies.
Five Feet Off The Forest Floor
I've recently become pretty obsessed with a camping company called Tentsile. These guys design specialist tree tents and their range goes from simple one-person hammocks all the way up to the family-sleeper, 4-person Stingray Tent I invested in a few years ago.
Katrien (my wife) feared (and hoped!) we'd never use it. I was desperate to prove her wrong.
Once parked up at Dernwood, we picked up our firewood and marched half a mile into their woods. Apparently we could put the tent up anywhere*.
(*Anywhere with 3 pretty perfectly positioned trees at the right angle, I should add.)
Katrien was pretty quick to point out the obvious downside, that on a rare summer's day when the sun is actually out, we're making a base deep in the gloomy forest. The boys however loved getting their head torches on right from the off. Looking for snakes of course!
The tent itself took about 90 minutes to put up, and I have to say it was a lot of fun and looked pretty cool. The toughest part was using the ratchets to create the right tension to keep the whole thing straight, but we got there in the end.
Our Tentsile tent finally elevated up in the trees
Once up, the whole thing was wondrously floating about 5 feet off the forest floor, like some kind of tented UFO.
The extra investment of a ladder (which the boys were obsessed with) and an insulated sheet to stop the upward draft are well worth it.
The idea is you each take one side of the triangle to sleep in, and we were impressed with the size, it was pretty spacious once inside.
One Side Of The Triangle Each (Please!)
After a tricky day of wildlife spotting, we all settled down for what I hoped would be a cosy night's sleep up in the air.
Our overnight set-up at Dernwood
The problem? The kids wanted to sleep with Katrien. They didn't quite get that if you all pile in on one side, much like a small boat, the whole thing dramatically shifts to a pretty extreme angle that's not overly conducive to sleep.
What's more, every time one of the boys needed to go to the loo, there was a genuine sense of sea sickness as we lurched around while they found the exit.
We did all manage to get a few hours of sleep at least, and I have to say it's an awesome experience and the boys really loved it.
Worth The Trip?
100%!
I mean, I don't remember my parents letting me sleep in the trees at that age.
It does take a bit of time and skill to get the tent up, and we agreed we'd probably bring our ground tent next time, just so we can all collectively get a little more sleep.
The skill is in getting the alignment and tension right (definitely takes practice!)
It's not the cheapest piece of kit, but the Tentsile website has a brilliant map showing where in the UK (and worldwide) you can bring your own tree tent, or rent one already installed.
For example, there's a couple you can book through the National Trust on Brownsea Island, one of the best places in the UK to find and photograph red squirrels. That's firmly on our list for later in the summer.
What we're loving at the moment
Last night I was lucky enough to attend a live recording of the Royal Geographical Society’s new podcast, ‘The Future Of Exploration’. It was a fascinating evening with Bruce Parry and I was lucky enough to ask him a question:
Where has he witnessed the most interesting parenting techniques with the indigenous people he’s spent time with and what could we learn from them?
He described time spent with the Penan people, a nomadic tribe deep in the rainforests of Borneo, where children are raised with virtually no rules.
No boundaries, no hierarchy, no "don't do that."
And yet, rather than chaos, what emerges are kids who instinctively protect and prioritise their collective community.
Now I’m not saying that’s the answer for every parent navigating modern life, but it genuinely made me think about why we take Jax and Finn on these trips and our hope for them to feel connected to nature and the wildlife we spend time with.
But who knows, maybe the Penan are onto something.
An inspiring evening with Bruce Parry at the RGS
Photo of the fortnight
Not from this trip, but I've been thinking a lot about taking the boys to Rwanda one day. A country I was lucky enough to spend a few months in, and one I'd love to share with them.
It would be brilliant to take them on a Mountain Gorilla Trek, and this is a photo I took a few years ago of a huge silverback that was literally squaring up a few metres away. An absolute once-in-a-lifetime wildlife encounter, even if I did screw up most of my camera settings.
