Our Guide Company was invited to participate in the annual Boy Scouts' overnight hike. This was a "first" for us as we had never done this type of activity before.
Ladybird was invited to be on the organising committee and was therefore not allowed to give us too many tips or ideas. We knew the basics i.e. that we would be hiking the whole night, and that there would be "stations" along the way where we could earn points. We had not set a goal of winning, but just to have a lot of fun.
We started at 19h00 up a steep mountain to the first station - Ladybirds!! There we had to retrieve an object from the middle of a large circle on the ground, without letting any body part touch the ground inside the circle. We found out afterwards that we were the only team to get it done in record time and with the most ingenious method!
Other stations along the way were: first aid, lighting a candle from a distance, obstacle course, model spaceship building and a coffee/soup break!! We were also marked on our presentation of our team and our behaviour.
We eventually arrived at the end point at 02h00, exhausted, but proud that we had finished! BUT, we not only finished, we WON the whole competition and took the Scouts' Trophy home!! (There were some very disgruntled Scouts there when that happened and somehow we don't think we will be invited again).
Ladybird decided we all needed to experience a real rough camp for a change, so she arranged for us to go to a dam in a nature reserve about 2 hours drive from Pretoria. She warned us though that there was "nothing" there except a dam, lots of wild animals and a few "long-drops".
We arrived, filled our 2 x 25 litre bottles with water at the entrance to the dam (the ONLY tap), found a 'suitable' place on the edge of the water to pitch our tents and then unpacked the trailer. The ground was so hard though that we battled to hit those tent pegs in! Ladybird put up her new gazebo and Kingfisher set up the kitchen and washing stand. The toilet tent with our 'portaloo' was also erected as the long-drop was quite a long distance from the campsite and Ladybird didn't want us walking at night.
It was very very hot and we were all given strict instructions to stay under the gazebo until 16h00, so we lay down and either read, or played games.
Ladybird and Kingfisher explained that this was a "free-for-all" camp and that the only important rule was that we were NOT allowed to swim in the dam because of the crocodiles, but we HAD to drink lots of water. There was no "set" program, and we all planned our day as it went along.
Because it was so hot, and the weather was clear, we all decided to sleep under the gazebo. Some of us were a little apprehensive about the possibility of a crocodile snatching us while we were sleeping, so Ladybird and Kingfisher slept on the outside! As it turned out, we had actually camped at an Otter pool!!!
The next day we were awakened by a "coo-cluck-coo" sound in our ears ... it was 2 wild quails looking for scraps of food around our gazebo!!
After breakfast we all put on good walking shoes, rubbed on sunblock, put on hats, and went for a long walk to the other end of the dam. On the way we identified birds, talked to fishermen and other campers, and were invited for a boat ride later that afternoon. The 2 rubber boats arrived, we climbed in and had a fantastic time driving around the dam, and then sitting in a quiet gulley where a crocodile had been seen the previous day. On the way back to our campsite, Ladybird and Kingfisher allowed us all to swim in the middle of the dam, just to cool off a little.
That night, after supper (a barbecue), we had a small and private campfire with a few initiations then all went to bed. Ladybird had insisted we sleep in the tent and take all the necessary precautions against wet weather. It turned out to be a very wise decision as there was a tremendous storm (we never heard it!!). Ladybird & Kingfisher (who were lying under the gazebo) climbed into the car and sat it out!
After breakfast the next morning we packed up and drove out, and then we saw the damage the storm had done the previous night! All the fishermen had sleeping bags and blankets hung up in the trees!! We had escaped the brunt of it by being in a sheltered corner!
