The picturesque Cheengery Mala, an emerging adventure tourism destination in Wayanad, on Monday witnessed perhaps a rare event with the trekking of a group of senior citizens, all above the age of 60 years.
As many as 50 senior citizens from Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu took part in the trek up the hill, one of the tallest hills in the district at around 2,200 ft above median sea level. The event was organised by Globetrekkers India, a hiking community, in association with the Wayanad District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC).
“Though I have had several trekking experiences, this one, with a large group of senior citizens, was quite different,” said Devan Verma (65), a retired engineer from Bengaluru.
Varghese (85) from Kanthanpara in Wayanad was the eldest among the group. “We had a great experience in our hike atop the hill,” he said. “The 360-degree view of Wayanad from the hilltop in the evening, including the major tourist destinations in the district such as the Karapuzha reservoir, Chembra peak, Edakkal caves and Banasura mountains, was memorable,” he added.
Apart from the veteran group, about 65 other youth hikers, including Kozhikode Sub-Collector V. Chelsasini and Wayanad Sub-Collector R. Sreelakshmi, took part. They covered the first 500 m of the trek through the leisure trail, followed by a 1.75 km guided trekking to the hilltop in two hours.
Globetrekkers India have so far organised more than 10 trekking expeditions across the country with the support of trained hikers. “We organised this event (in Wayanad) to remind senior citizens that they are not alone in their old age and that their vigour and courage would still help them take part in adventure activities such as hiking,” said Shaji P. Mathew, an executive member of the community.
“We are planning to organise trekking expeditions to the Himalayas, Nepal, Indonesia and Uzbekistan soon,” he added.
DTPC secretary K.G. Ajeesh said similar trips would be organised for senior citizens in the coming days as well.
