8.1.2007

The final day of Cederberg...

After breakfast everyone got in their uniforms and we assembled for the final parade and the taking down of the flags. I decided to wear my venture shirt this time. It fits me better. And of course, Josh, the other American didn't want to take down the American flag so I did it. I figured that since he was the youth and I put it up he should take it down... oh well. (Funny side story about him: Apparently when their patrol was at a base with a bunch of girls all of them (the guys) took their shirts off. From what I heard, the SAs told the girls that his stretch marks where whip marks from his girlfriend back home (whom he apparently forgot about once he got to Cederberg and saw all the girls)).

After taking down the flags and a few closing words it was time to leave. The scouts that had flights to catch got to leave first. Since we were leaving on a bus the next day, we had to wait til the end. Instead of sitting like a bunch of bumps on a log, we got around to breaking camp. Well, I should say most of us did. I took the opportunity to trade badges. I got a whole bunch of SA badges, a few Irish ones, even a Scandinavian one, and a few scarves. Even when scouts didn't have any patches I really wanted I still gave them (albeit one of the crappier ones) one of my many Lincoln Pilgrimage patches. My shirt came back with two patches on it (my jambo one that I wasn't trading and a quality unit award). I also ran around looking for John Mutti (the man in charge) so I could give him a few badges and Josh wanted to give him the flag.

Badge Swapping requires the use of a pocketknife.

John Mutti, the man in charge of this whole thing, giving his last regards as we're about to break camp.

This is Bob. Bob was the third American at Cederberg. He was on staff in the medical division. He got sick because he took Malaria Tablets (so did Josh).

Breaking camp.

Eventually it was our turn to leave and we climbed on board the huge land rover thingies and had a good 3 hr bus trip back to Cape Town. We just relaxed when we got back to the Sea Scout base and got some food, chatted with other scouts, etc. I wrote down the lyrics to Rare Bog, Tarzan and Rig-a-bam-boo for Llewy and traded some left over badges for a Girl Guide's scarf.



We got up before dawn to catch our bus back to EL. It was another very long trip but enjoyable. We were in the front and made friends with the drivers. At one point they put on karaoke and sang some Celine Dion, Whitney Huston, and BeeGees.

When we arrived in PE Steven's parents presented Josh and myself with bags of gifts. They gave us a scout handbook, a mug and more badges. On the way back to EL I read through the handbook and found it to be mostly the same as ours (no surprise really). We got in really late and just crashed.

The next few days are kind of a blur. I remember going to a music shop so Josh could pick up some drums and to a souvenir shop so we could get... well... souvenirs. They also took us to a game reserve for dinner the night before I left. The Inkewensi Game Reserve to be exact. We all ordered these really huge hamburgers (5lbs I think it was) and there was an assortment of sauces to put on them: mayo, ketchup (tomato sauce), and a few others. Feeling adventurous, I went with the Monkey Gland. It tasted kinda like barbecue.

The next day I said my goodbyes and went to the airport with Brett, Gareth, and Josh. My flights back were pretty much the same (same movies even...) except for one extra stop we made to refuel before leaving Africa for good and heading out over the ocean. I came to find that the extra stop was to account for the rotation of the earth. Since we were going with it we were going to use more fuel than when we went against it. I thought it was interesting.

Anywho, I arrived in Chicago after barely making my flight out of DC (they moved the gates and didn't tell us). I got in around 6, played phone tag with Becky and dad and eventually found him at the baggage return. We grabbed my stuff and headed out. We picked up Becky and Alice and went out for breakfast. I wanted something distinctly American and since there are no horseshoes in the Aurora area (I don't like them anyway) I opted for the country fried steak.

Other than that I slept a lot and handed out gifts. I gave dad the scout handbook and Becky got a carved elephant. The trip back home was rather depressing... just look at the pictures.

7.1.2007: Up in the air Junior Birdmen!

This is the last day of programs here at Cederberg. Tomorrow we'll be back in Cape Town and not long after that, on the bus back to PE and EL.

We had quite the rude awakening in the middle of the night. Apparently all of the staff members left the base to go have a party and a few drinks. After they returned, one of the gentlemen in charge was quite livid and came hollering into our campsite looking for our leader. Since he was the most senior, Llewy went with him and the other leaders to sort things out. What happened was that when they came back they discovered someone had taken a few of their tent pegs. They threatened that if whoever took them did not produce them by morning there would be no programs for any of us. We all knew it was none of us so we just went back to sleep.

We woke up early to go parasailing. I was really excited because they actually let you steer the plane for a bit and I had never gotten the chance to do so before. However, when we arrived we found out that the peg was not returned. One of the staff members took us down to the beach and lined us all up saying there was going to be no activities, no parasailing, no flying, nothing until the peg was returned. No one fessed up to it. The staff member that had been with us, guilting us into confession left. Incidentally, my patrol knew him from PLTU (Patrol Leader's Training Unit I believe) and knew he was just puffing a lot of smoke. He came back shortly and said that we could go but only one boat could go out parasailing (I'm pretty sure they caved b/c they knew that if we didn't get to do programs at all we wouldn't help them tear down camp). We were crushed, we had to choose between flying and parasailing. Most of the other patrols opted to go parasailing and were even nice enough to give up their spots on the boats for those from my patrol to go. I chickened out at the last minute and decided to go flying with Brett and Jan.

So, we crossed the runway and climbed into the little four-seater prop plane. Jan and Brett were in back and I was up front with the pilot. We took off and the ground was soon far beneath us. We had talked to the pilot yesterday and he said that he might take us up and do some tricks. Rolls and dives... that sort of thing. Nothing of the sort happened though. He flew us around a bit and showed us the surrounding area. He then explained to me how to fly the plane. What all the peddles do and that sort of thing. His accent was a bit thick and it was difficult to hear over the roar of the engine but I got the gist of it. I started making turns and going up and down. Nothing fancy. I'd almost bet that he had his hands on his stick the entire time and was just letting me think I was doing something. It was fun while it lasted though it seemed too short to me. We were quickly back on Terra Firma.

De plane! De plane!

Me looking over my shoulder, laughing at the two fools in the backseat who just put their lives in my hands.

When we got back to the rest of the group we found that there had been no parasailing. The staff said the wind was too rough. We went back and got some breakfast. Bacon and eggs and some cantaloupe (or spanspek as they like to call it). Afterwards we had the sailing and canoing base. They were just across the lake but came to us to do the program. We canoed around for a bit and had a good time watching Aiden and Llew try and windsurf. They just kept falling off their boards as they tried pulling up their sails. It was quite amusing. We would have ended up sailing across the lake to stay at their campsite afterwards if it hadn't been the last day and we weren't getting bused back to base camp. I was quite relieved. During our run tubing yesterday we kept passing the sail boats on our way around and I watched them all abandon ship as it started taking on too much water and begin to sink. I don't think I could've done it.





Luckily, I didn't have to do it. Instead, we hiked back out to the main road and caught the bus back to base camp. When we got there we met up with our other patrol and picked a good place to spend the night. We got our other bags out of storage and quickly changed into uniforms. I let Jason wear my merit badge sash and I put on my OA sash. There was to be a huge campfire at night. As we waited for dark to come we milled about and talked with other patrols. There was little badge swapping but not much. Llewy tried talking to the Master of Ceremonies to see if he couldn't get me on the evening's bill to sing my Tarzan song. He said he'd see if there would be enough time or not. So everyone gathered around the big bonfire as the sun was setting. The staff had put together a slide show of pictures that hikers had all turned in. There were a few of my patrol. The one that sticks out in my head is of Christine on the donkey.




There were plenty of songs, Zulu Warrior, Boom chica boom, Joe and the Button Factory are the ones I can remember off the top of my head. There was also a fire dancer that was really awesome. I will admit though, I was kinda let down by the campfire. For as long as I've known him Brett has boasted about SA campfires and how great they are and (even he agrees with me) this one left a little to be desired. It was fun, but could've been more fun. To really top things off there was a group of older guys (I'd say 20s or so, I only heard them) that were drunk and kept hollering and making a general disturbance throughout. Then there was the patrol next to us that kept blowing their vuvuzelas. Stephen finally had enough after a few blows and got up, ripped the vuvzela from the child's hands and twisted it in a knot and threw it back at him. I know it was bad to laugh but I did anyway. It's been a good day. Tomorrow is the closing ceremonies and then we go home. It's been a lot of fun but I guess it always has to end.

Dancing with Fire

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6.1.2007: Going Commando, Shooting people, and waterfront jerks

The next morning we went to the Commando Course. Basically, it was just a big obstacle course with ziplines, cargo nets, tunnels, etc etc. I was apprehensive at first b/c it was timed and I knew my blisters were going to slow me down but I decided to go ahead and try it anyway. Being out of shape, it wasn't a cakewalk by any means. I was doing just fine, maybe a bit winded, until we got to the part where we had to build a raft and cross a stream. I was cool with it b/c I figured we would be on it and that the water really wasn't that deep. However, as I jumped in, the cold water rushed right up all around me up to my shoulders and I pretty much panicked. Tammy and Lew helped me to cross and I ended up using the raft to get to the other side. I was really shaken up by it all and it slowed me down. I made it through a few more obstacles but my mouth was so dry and I was just exhausted by everything that I had to give up. The whole thing really shook me up. Afterwards, I took a long warm shower to clear my head.

Get everyone up and over the log 10 ft in the air.

Tunnel #1

Weave in and out of the logs up and down.

Zipline!

Waiting for the zipline.

The stream that was my bane for the day.

Almost plummeting to certain doom.

For lunch we went to dutch-oven cooking (still at base camp). We had (you guessed it) chicken, garlic-cheese bread, chocolate chip cookies, and apricot cobbler. It was lecker. I also talked (tricked?) one of the base staff (John, aka 'Adam') into giving me a boerwurs. "I'm an American, I've never had boerwurs before. PPPPPLease can I try some?"

Cheesy bread

Big cookie

mmm... cobbler...

Chicken

The ungodly amount of dutch ovens

That afternoon we took a short hike up to the AIDS Awareness base. Since I was over 18 I didn't have to participate in the base. It was basically just the staff talking about AIDS and handing out pamphlets. We were then supposed to hike up the road and catch a transport to our next base to stay the night. We got up there and waited ~15min. We saw it come up and then drive on by. The bus driver even smiled and waved to us. We hiked back and radioed HQ about it and the driver said he didn't see anyone... Bullcrap... Jerk... It was all good though. We ended up staying the night there and the staff was very nice and gave us some bratwurst to cook.

At AIDS Awareness.

The food the staff was generous enough to give us.

These kids stayed at the AA base with us. They were mixing peaches and baked beans and seeing who could eat it the fastest.

The next morning we drew a line in the road and stood all across so that the bus couldn't pass. He sure tried though. Lew could just barely touch the grill with his outstretched hand. We got on and headed to handicraft. Our other patrol was there so we all said hi and played some volleyball as we waited to begin. We tie-dyed t-shirts. Mine was a spiral and turned out pretty cool I think. I then made a leather woggle and branded my other boot (I branded the other at the 2001 jambo). I also made a turk's head woggle from some wire. After all of that we chilled as we waited for our next transport.

I schooled the S. Africans in volleyball.

I schooled the trees as well... stupid trees...

All of the things available to make.

Prepping for tie dyeing

Bus-surfing

That afternoon we got bussed to paintball. We went swimming in a pool (Steve ended up swimming me across the deep parts) and found a cool cave to take some pics in.

That evening we played paintball and stomped the competition. I shot a few guys, mostly headshots. I tended to take my time and sneak up on them from behind and pop off a few rounds. I wasn't a Rambo going out shooting everything. I think after each round I had probably 3/4 of my ammo left. The last game the other team decided to just sit and wait for us. I got impatient and ran for the flag. I nabbed it and got shot by a guy waiting in the grass. He was exposed though and my team got him and freed me and I made a mad dash for the other side and won the game.

The little cave we found swimming... I was actually quite scared to death to be in it.

Suiting up for some major pwnage

We got attacked by fruit bats.

For dinner... we once again had some chicken.

This morning we hiked to the Seabase. We got a bit off the trail but we left early enough that we still got in around 8.30. We were supposed to go parasailing at 10, however, the staff refused to take us. They said we were late. WTF Mate?!? Then, they said the weather was too rough. The entire time others (read: staff members) were out parasailing. One guy running one of the boats hollered and asked if anyone wanted to go up and we all ran over for it but he laughed at us and said he was talking to the staff behind us. Needless to say, all of us were pissed at the staff. A couple of the nicer staff members came and talked to us and told us that the staffers that owned the boats had pretty much been jerks the entire time. They were also running low on petrol b/c they liked to just drive their boats around so there may not be a chance for us to go out on the lake or up in the plane.

This afternoon we went tubing. I personally did not, but I was in the boat taking pictures of everyone. When Brett was riding the tube got underinflated and popped out. He ended up tearing up his shoulder pretty good and is in a sling now.

Building a pyramid.

Ta-da!

Doh!

Tubing

This ends the portion that I actually wrote down in my journal. There's still two more days at Cederberg and a few days left in SA after that.