Scouts beaver away

Held at Homestead Lake in Benoni, the event provided the perfect atmosphere for the Scout groups in Gauteng to go head-to-head in the annual raft building competition, while giving the younger Cubs the opportunity to learn from the older age groups. The theme for this year’s event was, There be Dragons, which was incorporated into each team’s raft design and construction.

Spokesperson for the Bryanston Scouts, Gary Pienaar said, “In addition to seeing what the Scouts get up to, a host of fun-filled activities was also provided to keep everybody busy. Activities ranged from a ‘dragons lair in the haunted castle’, to archery and sword fights, pinning the tail on a dragon, pillow fights on a pole and handcrafts.

“The annual KonTiki event is one of the most eagerly anticipated activities on the Scouting calendar and attracted 55 raft entries from Scout groups in the Gauteng province.”

Teams arrived and began setting up their camps and started building their rafts. To ensure safety, the rafts were inspected continuously until they were ready for launch at noon the following day. The Scouts then had to spend the next 24 hours out on the lake on their rafts which had to be equipped with the necessary cooking and safety equipment. During this time, the teams also had to complete a number of tasks to test the mobility and seaworthiness of their rafts.

Robin Hills A team were the final overall winners of the competition, with last year’s winners, 1st Horizon coming in second place.

Pienaar concluded, “The local Sandton District was also well represented with the 1st Morningside Scout Group finishing third and 1st Rivertrail in 17th place. In all a fun-filled and exciting weekend for everyone.”

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