Kids camps

Without cell phones in the wilderness for five days

Observing animals, hiking, making a fire and sleeping outside - the children's daily program in Neukirchen.(Bild: Nationalpark Hohe Tauern)

In the Hohe Tauern National Park, children camp without electricity at an altitude of around 2000 meters. The wilderness camps inspire city and country children.

What some children cannot imagine beforehand - in Obersulzbachtal in Pinzgau it is possible: Being without a cell phone for five days.

In the so-called wilderness camps of the Hohe Tauern National Park, children from the age of nine leave out much of what their everyday lives otherwise offer. Because at the Hofrat Keller Hut there is no cell phone connection, no electricity and no hot water. Year after year, the camp children take the opportunity to be in the middle of the pristine nature of the Hohe Tauern.

At the beginning it's still "Wähh"
Together with rangers from the national park, they roam through the high mountains and observe marmots, for example. "Some have never played in a stream before and when they start, they are immediately enthusiastic," explains ranger Roland Fricker. City kids often say "wahh" when they step barefoot into the mud for the first time. But the new environment and, above all, sleeping in a tent with the older children "really suits them", as Nadja Jäger from the national park describes it. In the evening, the children are "exhausted but happy".

Most of the children come from the province of Salzburg, but there are also children from the city of Salzburg and German holidaymakers. It remains to be seen how much parents have to persuade their children to take part. In any case, the wilderness camps are usually booked out quickly. That's why there is an additional camp this year for 290 euros: there are still places available in the last week of the summer vacation.