Rise and Shine, Up and Go!

Bush Camp.  Yikes.  Here we go. 9:45 a.m., everyone is ready to go.  We pile into vans and are anxious to arrive.  We finally begin driving, starting our journey – one hour late.  One hour late?  This was our first experience of what they call “South Africa time.”  The fast paced American culture is much different than in Africa, as many have warned us about.

On the long trip to Bush Camp, we took an unknown stop to the Addo Raptor and Reptile Center.  When I woke up Friday morning, I never thought I would be holding a giant Burmese python that day, but it happened!  The owner of the center, Darren, was definitely the most “daring” person I had ever met.  After showing us a bunch of different species of snake and sticking the whole head of a snake in his mouth, he proceeded to snatch up a crocodile so we could pet it.  We were also educated on South African snakes, which ones are dangerous and what precautions to take.

Next stop:  Bush Camp, located in Umlambo, meaning “land of the water.”  By 3:00 in the afternoon we had finally arrived.  But not quite – first all 50 NMMU(Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University) international students had to cram onto the back of a tractor with our bulky backpacks and go down the long bumpy road into the thick of the bush.  The whole trail ran alongside a brown and muddy river that was not looking to promising. 

We were greeted by the camp staff, a mix of all races, ages and genders.  The Bush Camp layout was very simple.  It consisted of one dirt floor mess hall/meeting area, a dock with a nice swimming river, a tent campsite and a cabin campsite.  Also visible were the climbing wall, zip line and tire swing.  The rest of the obstacle course was hidden in the trees.

We were finally allowed our first real meal of the day (at 3 p.m. mind you) which was a delicious chicken stir fry and rice, one of South Africa’s staple foods.  After that we grabbed our swimsuits, which are called “costumes” in SA, and headed down to the river.  Just 30 minutes later it began to thunder and lightning out.  Back to the mess hall for some games, a campfire at night and bed time with three people per tent.  However, the boys were lucky enough to have cabins.

7 a.m.: “RISE AND SHINE! UP AND GO!  RISE AND SHINE!  UP AND GO!”  The camp counselors yelled at the top of their lungs and used whistles as an accompaniment to wake us up.  It was extremely unpleasant.  Needless to say, I woke up, had some “mealie pap” for breakfast and was ready to get dirty.  We played tons of team building games, ran around a lot, had some more water time, went canoeing, ate lunch, and went rock climbing all by 2 p.m. that day.  And then…the rain came.

It must have poured for hours.  The counselors said it had never rained that hard in the six years they had been there.  But that didn’t stop us.  We ran to the chocolate factory, a giant mud pit in the middle of the bush, and made a complete mess.  To finish off our time spent in the rain, we danced and sang “Waka Waka” all together and had an absolute blast.

When it was time to head inside the mess hall and get ready for dinner, the rain decided to come with us.  It started flooding in one of the corners of the building.  Being that the floors were dirt, you can only imagine what happened…

For the final event of the evening, we split up into groups and had to get creative.  Our tribe name was the Chicos, we spoke Chicosa and wore our clothes backwards.  Everyone’s tribe performed a song and dance, leading to some much needed laughter.  It was a great way to end the crazy and completely exhausting time at Bush Camp.

After one more night of sleeping in tents and waking up to a whistle, we left for Langerry.  When we got home I became reacquainted with my new best friend: my bed.

More adventures to come as we take on Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University this week for orientation.  Wish me luck!