During the annual Kontiki competition, scouts from the Morningside Scout Group took the overall honours by winning the annual Kontiki raft building challenge held at Homestead Lake in Benoni recently.
Kontiki is one of the most eagerly anticipated activities on the Scouting calendar. According to Dave Osmond, the Regional Commissioner for Gauteng, the event attracted a record 62 raft entries from Scout groups all over the province. This year’s theme was, Star Wars, and the Scouts were encouraged to incorporate this idea into their raft design and construction.
Teams arrived on Friday afternoon to set up camp and start working on their rafts. To ensure safety, the rafts were inspected continuously, until they were ready for launch at noon on Saturday. A team of 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. Despite the unseasonably wet and cold weather, spirits remained high among the competing teams.
On Saturday morning, more than 500 Cubs descended on the campsite to participate in the Beaver Challenge. Cubs caters for children from the ages seven to 11 who are too young to be Scouts.
The purpose of the Beaver Challenge is to provide them with an opportunity to visit and experience what the raft building competition is all about. 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 chariot rides to light sabre duels and lazer tag inside a mock death star.
The local Sandton District was also well represented in the competition, with Scouts attending from Bryanston, Rivertrail, Peter Place and Fourways. By all accounts, ti was a fun-filled and exciting weekend for everyone.
Scouting is an outdoor-based educational programme, which aims to equip young people with the skills and self-confidence to become future leaders in their communities.
Membership is open to both boys and girls.
Details: www.scouts.org.za; 011 440 6491.
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