ON the edge of a cliff 4,000 feet above sea level, with a magnificent view of the Sahyadris and the Krishna river, Megan and Andre Savard run their Eco Camp in great bohemian style. He is almost nomadic in his lifestyle, a hearty outdoors type of Canadian with French blood in him, a skilled worksman who can construct roads and repair automobiles, and an daring adventurer who rides horses in Panchgani and hang-glides over the valley. Her grandfather came to Panchgani in 1922 from Bombay to build the St. Joseph�s Convent and the family has been here since then. The grandfather first bought a plot, then the father added to it, and soon Megan became part of the first generation of the family to really start enjoying Panchgani.

Where she and Andre now have Eco Camp, her family had the Hillside Farm, where they used to grow strawberries. All that changed in 1998, when after marriage to Andre, she returned to Panchgani because the couple wanted their children Mathew (10) and Arianne (7) to grow up with Indian values. Megan and Andre met in Goa in 1987 by chance, kept in touch, and then she met him again when she went to the US to study. �He was across the border in Quebec, the French part of Canada, we met and got married in 1991,� says Megan. Like the English couple who was to the manor born, Megan and Andre were just meant for the Panchgani wilds.

Quickly, they set up Eco Camp, a wonderful campside that offers five plateaus to explore, treks down to the Krishna river, ecologically-run vermiculture project demonstrations, picnics, forts to visit, an old palace, a museum, river-side temples, caves and waterfalls, nature walks, bird-watching, bonfires and barbecues, bicycle rides, and the piece de resistance � hang-gliding for four months in the year. Eco Camp has large, comfortable tents that are equipped with lights and fans, beds, and with toilet and bath facilities. At night, the tents� rooftops roll back to offer campers a full view of the night sky. Andre lends them his telescope to study the rings of Saturn then.

Eco Camp gets big school groups that come on nature treks, the National Defence Academy�s cadets, several families, and just couples too. �We give families and couples a tent,� says Megan. Then there are the corporate types that come with the idea of roughing it out and getting close to nature, big companies send their top managers, the elegant Adi Godrej spent several days in a tent once. �We introduce them to the history of Panchgani, to the geography of the land, we teach them water harvesting and compost making, and then there is the added attraction of hang-gliding,� reveals Megan. A qualified pilot, Dee Cee Patel, offers French certification courses in hang-gliding to the uninitiated. A tandem ride costs Rs. 1,500 and the instructor takes you all over Panchgani, over the Table Land, sometimes fliers don�t want to come down for six or seven hours!

The rate of living at Eco Camp is dirt cheap by Panchgani�s accommodation standards. Staying at the tents costs Rs. 150 a day for adults and Rs. 75 for children. Meals cost Rs. 150 a day extra. There are four large tents and four small ones. Altogether, the tents can accommodate 50 people, remember that when you are planning to go there in a big group. Additionally, Eco Camp has four rooms and bungalows that are offered to couples and families. These cost Rs. 500 a day. �We have been doing this for five years,� says Megan, �and both, Andre and I have not looked back since the time we came here.� Andre, who is an amazing handyman, practically built Eco Camp from scratch. The season here is from October to June. Between July and September, Eco Camp is closed for the monsoon that descends upon Panchgani, when rain clouds settle gently on the hillside.