As Mark Twain once quoted, “Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off your bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover

When we get closer to nature – be it untouched wilderness or a backyard tree – we do our overstressed brains a favour. Technology is proven to be slowly ruining our lives in a lot of ways. Ruining in the sense, turning us into fast twitch animals. It’s like an alarm clock running half every 30 seconds.Its snapping our ability to concentrate for a long time, to appreciate the natural world, get away from sprees. 

When was the last time that you breathed in a lungful of fresh air or spent the night gazing at the starry sky or experienced the sugar rush of adventure? Really, think hard about the last time that you spent a few hours in fuzz therapy, petting and talking to animals. Was a long time ago,  wasn’t it?

Now you can be in a constant conversation with nature while also getting your adventure pick-up! Sugar Rush Outdoors is an interesting combination of experiencing animal interaction, enjoying adventure zones, engaging in special workshops and exploring the sensory garden! These recreational activities offer a kind of cleaning the mental windshield that occurs when we’ve been immersed in nature long enough. Living off the grid, trying to be self-sufficient, flocking to the wild-leaving the rat race behind, getting dirty in the mud forms the concept of creating this space including all age groups. It doesn’t matter if you are a preschool teacher with a class of mischievous toddlers or a family that wants to bond over a picnic lunch or a corporate team looking to de-stress over fun workshops, Sugar Rush Outdoors is your one stop destination for everything!

I got a superb tour by Amrita, one of the four founders, who remembers the names of each one of the emus, pigs, pigeons, chickens, donkeys and ducks at Sugar Rush Outdoors. My favourite part about the space though was the sensory garden. It’s almost like a sacred experience as you remove your shoes and enter a place designed with multiple textures, materials and forms for your feet to experience each one and become more aware of your senses. It’s truly an experience you must undergo to appreciate.

A very important aspect of a pre-existing human-animal bond has become a subject of research which has now been termed as dog therapy! At Sugar rush, rescued animals are trained to understand mental health problems like anxiety, borderline depression, loneliness, stress, nervous breakdowns, etc. The sense of touch talks about love and compassion and can help patients solve these issues. Our dog trainers come from Ahmedabad, Pune and Turkey. They are trained under Caesar Milan- one of the best dog trainers in the world. 

“If you’re someone with a disability and we bring you a therapist or psychologist, you’ll still feel a little conscious about them judging you. But if we bring to you a fluffy dog, that element of consciousness just fades away. That’s the beauty of being around animals and creatures whose primary instinct is to be compassionate”, says Rahul Sehgal, one of the founders of Sugar Rush Outdoors.

I, quite naturally, asked the founders about the choice of name. Here’s what Soham, their animal behaviour specialist,  had to say about it. “We had been brainstorming for quite a while now and nothing was clicking to all four of us (the four founders) and one day after petting the animals or just working with them, one of us said, “Oh! It’s like a sugar rush” and that was it!

Here are some quick answers to the most commonly asked questions:

What experiences are created by Sugar Rush?
You can explore their space and pet the animals while feeding them. This can be done by booking their 2 hour slot off their website.

2. What can I do apart from being around animals?

They host a variety of workshops and classes like baking, art & craft, sky viewing etc. You can keep an eye out on their Instagram handle for updates on the same. If you have a skill that you’d like to teach, you can even get in touch with them to host a workshop in collaboration with them.

3. What group experiences does the space offer?

Apart from the individual bookings, Sugar Rush also hosts birthdays, evening dinners and the like on their grounds. During the winter months, they also create camping experiences for small groups of people.