WRITTEN BY DANIEL WILBRAHAM
As the sun rose on 16 December, I felt a wave of exhilaration… I was about to go on my first five-day troop camp!
We all arrived at the scout hall to help pack the gear that had to go with us to Vogelvlei. Once all the tents, poles, ropes, food, sup boards, kayaks and other gear had been loaded, we departed at 12h00 and arrived at our destination just after 13h00.
It was very hot when we arrived, but despite the heat we pitched tents and built a gateway. After all that hard work we dashed off for a swim and wallowed in the tepid dam water until sunset. The six sup boards and kayaks as well as the Saldanha were launched with great enthusiasm! What a privilege to have had access to all the awesome water sports equipment.
One of the highlights of troop camp was the banquet which was held on our last evening. The theme was “Gaming” and we were all given the names of “gaming” characters which we had to stick to throughout the banquet. Whenever we wanted to ask or say something, we had to use “gamer” lingo and anyone who didn’t do so had to participate in a skit from a computer game with other scouts who had also broken the rules.
Dean van Schoor organized a wide game which involved collecting a number of picture squares which made up a complete picture of Dora the Explorer. The first patrol to complete the picture won the game and the losing patrol had to cook dinner. The winners were allowed to eat first.
Another fun game was run by Hannah Murphy. It involved throwing a raw egg from one person to the next without breaking it. You can imagine how that went! Shortly afterwards, Guppie appeared with a bucketful of water balloons and then it was war!
Several of us participated in building a gladiator platform on the water using poles and ropes. The greatest fun was had when we had to try and knock each other off it.
All too soon the final day of camp arrived and after breakfast we started packing up. After the closing parade our parents arrived and we flopped into cars for the long drive back home. Despite our exhaustion, we all pitched in with the unpacking when we reached the scout hall and then said our goodbyes.
Thank you Ray, Nick and Guppie for an AWESOME troop camp!