Report on South African Winter Camp

Campers at the 2001 Winter Camp in South Africa

United Youth Corps International Projects volunteers Matthew Albright, Sara Griffith and Emily Orsak served at counselors at the United Church of God Winter Camp in the Lapalala Wilderness Reserve in South African from July 1st through the 6th, 2001.

The focus of the camp program was to enhance awareness and appreciation of the natural heritage of the region. Many camp activities centered on the Lephalala River, one of the cleanest in South Africa. The river is so clean in fact that its water is safe to drink, something very unusual on the African continent. Campers and staff swam in the river (a rather chilly experience since July falls during the winter season in the Southern Hemisphere and temperatures varied from the upper 30s F at night to the upper 60s during the day.), studied the river ecosystems, used newly learned recognition skills to construct miniature rafts made of local plant materials, and learned to recognize animal spoor (tracks) around the river banks. Other activities centered on observing the animal life in the reserve. Campers were able to observe impalas, kudus (a large antelope), wildebeest, cape buffalos, zebras, giraffes, warthogs, baboons, vervet monkeys (who occasionally entered the camp looking for food), hippopotami and crocodiles. A high point of the camp was visiting the rhinoceros sanctuary and touching and feeding fully grown black and white rhinoceros. There are also leopards living in the reserve. Though they were sometimes heard at night when on the hunt, only their tracks were seen during the day.

One favorite activity toward the end of camp was a giant mud fight, where campers and staff laughed themselves breathless as they smeared red mud on each other until they became unrecognizable.

Sunday, July 1st was the arrival day. Campers and staff arrived in mid afternoon after the 300 km drive from Johannesburg. Following orientation, campers and staff went for a swim in the Lephalala River. Swimming was only allowed in an area where the river tumbled over rocky areas. The large pools were avoided since crocodiles and hippopotami abound in the reserve. Camp Officers kept watch while the campers and other staff were swimming, to make sure no potentially dangerous animals arrived unannounced.

In the evening the campers and staff settled in to their dorms. Matthew Albright was counselor of a dorm of 9 campers. Sara Griffith and Emily Orsak also were counselors of dorms of 9 respectively assisted by co-counselors Monique and Minette Wallis from the Johannesburg, South Africa congregation. Eric de Campos, also from Johannesburg was the other male counselor.

The campers and counselors prepared dinner over a wood fire. Sunset came rather early, since this is the Winter season in the southern hemisphere. By 6:00 pm it was dark, and temperatures began to drop, so the hot meal served at 7:00 pm was much appreciated. Following dinner and clean up, campers and staff talked around the campfire in the boma, a Kiswahili term designating a round protective fence. The boma is where the campfires were lit and where dinner was served and eaten.

At 8:00 there was a Christian living discussion in the nature center. Christian living sessions covered aspects of "the zone", the safe "envelope" established at UCG camps to allow campers and staff to have fun and to grow in a safe and supportive environment, how nature reveals the intelligence and power of God, the book of Proverbs, and the delicate and temporary nature of life, as well as interactive question and answer sessions.

At 9:30 there were dorm meetings with each counselor reviewing the activities of the day and setting dorm goals for the next day. At 10:00 the camp generator shut down, which meant there was no more electricity or light available and the camp went to sleep in preparation for an early start. Temperatures at night were very near freezing.

Monday, July 2nd:

Activities began in earnest on Monday with an all-day 8 km hike through the Lapalala reserve. The campers and staff divided up into 3 walking groups for a hike across the veld (a Afrikaans word for "savannah"). Camp officers explained the ecosystems of the veld and pointed out various plants and their possible uses. Some of the plants observed were aloe plant, which contains a thick moist substance useful for treating skin ailments such as dryness or burns. As one of the walking groups studied the aloe plant, a group of vervet monkeys observed them before moving on. Other plants studies included the sisal plant, called in a local language the "step-mother's tongue" because of the sharp points on the leaves. The strong fibers it contains can be used to make string or rope.

Several hours into the hike, the groups arrived at baboon rock a high cliff on which baboons sleep at night to protect themselves from the leopards that live in the are, and which like to hunt them. Campers and staff observed the river at the base of baboon rock, and looked carefully for crocs and hippos that were not present that day. The groups walked on a narrow ledge along the river and worked their ways around "hug rock" which had to be crossed one person at a time, because of the narrow passage and the need to carefully choose and navigate handholds. We were also careful where we placed our hands since strong odors here and there showed that the baboons were not too careful about their sanitation needs... .

Then the walking groups then climbed the approximately 150 foot (50 meter) heights of baboon rock for a beautiful view of the valley below, where several herds of impala could be observed. The groups had some personal quiet time on the cliff top, during which they could reflect on the beauty and complexity of the creation stretched out before them.

From the there the walking groups climbed down, surprising a hyrax in the rocks on the way down. Once at the bottom of baboon rock, the walking groups skirted the river, noting crocodile and hippopotamus foot prints in the sand and mud, which made everyone in the groups more alert as they walked along the crystal-clear water.

A bit farther on, the groups stopped for a late picnic lunch along the river. The lunch site was chosen for its rocks and rapids, which prevented hippos and crocs from approaching without being seen. After lunch, campers could swim in the babbling river, which was refreshingly cool (to say the least...).

Youth Corps volunteer Matthew Albright had some slight difficulty in navigating the rocks which formed a possible dry path across the river and ended up with a closer (and much moister) view of the river, much to the enjoyment of the campers and staff who observed the whole procedure... .

After the rest break, the walking groups headed home. One walking group of campers heard hippos calling in the distance and walked along the high ground along the river, eventually coming to an observation point where they looked down on a family of 8 hippos including several young ones soaking and calling to one another in the river. On the rest of the hike back, campers observed other wildlife including kudu (a large antelope) and warthog, as well as hearing wildebeest and zebra running near by (identified by their tracks).

Tuesday July 3rd:

Tuesday morning began with a water studies class. Campers and staff divided in to small groups and attempted to capture various kinds of creatures living in the river. Animal life captured included many kinds of insects, water spiders and small crabs. Campers observed what kinds of animals were to be found in still water, in slowly moving water and in swiftly moving water, and then observed how each one was perfectly made for its own type of environment. Camp officers explained how they are all necessary to keep the river water clean and healthy.

After lunch, the walking groups headed out to the site of a former Pedi (an African tribe) village nearby. The archeology of the site indicates the village was inhabited up until about 200 or 250 years ago. One piece of Venetian had been found on the site which has been dated to approximately 800 years ago, showing that trade with Europe existed with the tribes in this area, even that long ago. Stone foundations of various structures, and shards of baked clay pottery were found by the camper-explorers.

Matthew Albright, Emily Orsak, and Sarah Griffith

Following the Pedi expedition, campers participated in an "eco-auction," during which three teams competed with each other to answer questions about plants and animals which they had learned about during the camp. Whoever answered the most quickly earned game currency (dubbed "berries"), with which they could bid to purchase various parts of nature (trees, plants, sunlight, water) which they needed to complete a functioning eco-system. One high point of the game was when Youth Corps volunteer Matthew Albright had to bark like a baboon in order to earn some berries. Never having heard a baboon bark, Matt quickly asked the members of his group what a baboon sounded like. They didn't know much better than he, but his entertaining effort was close enough to win the berries. Unfortunately we are unable to produce Matt's winning sounds on this web site....

 Wednesday, July 4th

Wednesday was set aside as the game drive day. Because the large camp safari truck had broken down, smaller vehicles were used, and each of the 4 dorms had its own. Mattresses were placed in the beds of small "buckies" (pickup trucks), and the campers and counselors dressed warmly and climbed on. During the morning game drive, campers observed many impala, Cape buffalo, giraffes, baboons, warthog, zebras and wildebeest among others.

A "biscuit (cookie) break" occurred at mid morning, at a favorite watering hole in the river. We were able to observe the "spoor" (tracks) of baboons.

Around noon the group arrived at a cliff overlooking the river and began their climb down a steep path to the bottom. Once at the river, lunch was served on a beautiful rock outcropping. Following a brief rest the raft building began. To build rafts, campers and staff split up into groups of 2 to 4 people and, using natural materials to be found nearby, engineered and built 50 cm square (about 20 inch square) rafts. Materials used included branches, pieces of driftwood, vines, grass, and sisal fiber which was the key to making strong string to hold the rafts together. The goal was to build rafts that would support a one- liter (about one quart) water bottle filled with water. One hour was devoted to the exercise and the constructions were original and mostly well-made, though several sank under the weight of the bottles. Several camper rafts supported more than one bottle and received special recognition.

Then the climb back up the steep hillside began. About half way up the camp diverted off to a ledge where bushman paintings had been found. The Bushmen are the native people depicted in the movie "the gods must be crazy". Thought they are now only found in the Kalahari area, at one point they lived in many other areas around what is now South Africa. In some areas they left paintings on cliff sides. Though the meanings of the paintings is not known with certainly (they contain interesting symbols such a people with animal heads and such like), scholars apparently now believe they had religious significance for the Bushmen.

The sun was setting as we reloaded into the vehicles for the drive back to camp, so the trip became a night game drive. Using spotlights camps and staff looked for game near the road, looking especially for eyes shining in the night. Reddish-pink eyes indicated the presence of a bush baby, a small tree-dwelling animal that makes a sound like a crying baby. Other eye colors showed the presence of other animals.

 Thursday, July 5th:

Thursday began with a morning conservation talk. As the rising sun began warming the temperatures after the cold night, the campers and staff sat and discussed the delicate nature of earth's eco-systems and learned how they are damaged and what can be done to protect them.

Following this there was a treasure hunt. The campers and staff divided into 4 teams, two were hunted and two were hunters. The hunted teams left an hour early and left clues to allow the hunters to follow their trails, but only if the latter could use their wilderness skills of plant recognition, and compass use, as well as riddle solving skills to find each of the succeeding clues. The last clue led to the location of the treasure (a bag of marshmallows).

Then came one of the high points of the camp: the mud sharing activity (also called the mud fight). Campers and staff in swimming suits walked into a small pit containing very red mud and on the signal to start began smearing each other with the mud, to the point where everyone became unrecognizable at the end. The sound of laughter never stopped during the mud fight, and the results were extremely amusing. After posing for a group "family portrait", where all the races present had become the same color, everyone headed down to the river to try to wash off the mud. The mud did not come off easily and some people were still washing it out of their hair the next day or two.

That night after the Christian living class, most of the campers and counselors slept outside around the campfire in the boma (the round wood-enclosed area where the campfires and meals occurred). Temperatures were near freezing and not everyone had very warm sleeping bags, so the fire was kept stoked up all night. Even so, not everyone slept very well.

Friday, July 6th:

Friday was departure day, but the camp activities were not over yet. After breakfast, the camp walked across the river through a section of the park where wild rhinos like to browse. Scouts had been sent earlier to make sure wild rhinos were not in the area, since they are extremely dangerous to people. Because they don't see well, they are apt to charge anything that might be a threat (rhinos have been known to charge trees and even dead elephants). We all kept fairly quiet during the hike, but not too quiet since we wanted any rhinos in the vicinity to know we were there ahead of time so as not to startle them. One of the offices explained the proper strategy for walking in brushy areas where there might be rhinos. "Always have a tree picked out, a few meters in front of you. As you reach that tree, pick another further on. At the first sign of a rhino run and climb the tree to a height of about 3 meters. And don't change your mind about which tree in the middle of your run, just go for that tree..."

The goal of the hike was to reach the rhino sanctuary nearby in the reserve. There we were given explanation about the small numbers of surviving rhinos in the world and the dangers of poaching, and then we were introduced to an adult Black and an adult White rhino. The male Black rhino was a bit tamer than the White and could be fed by hand. Because of his prehensile upper lip, we could place our hands containing food onto his bottom lip, and he would scoop the food off with his upper lip. It was a wonderful experience to feel the gentleness of such a huge and potentially dangerous animal. We were able to touch his head and back and he seemed to like the contact with the young people. The female White Rhino was less tame, and so more care had to be taken. Here mouth is more flat and square in sharp so we would simple throw the food in when she opened here very large mouth. If she felt she was getting too closed in, she would bash her head against the reinforced fence holding her back. We humans didn't have to be told to move back when she indicated she wanted more space. The power and size of these animals was awe-inspiring.

Following this wonderful experience we hiked back to the camp site and loaded our gear for the 5-hour drive back to Johannesburg.

Lapalala was a wonderful experience for everyone involved this year. Plans are for the camp to be repeated next year.

Youth Corps trip to Kruger National Park:

Though the Lapalala camp was finished, the Youth Corps volunteers were not finished with their adventures.

Following the Sabbath in Johannesburg and a Saturday night and Sunday spent with church families in the area, Sunday evening we began preparing for our 3 day trip to Kruger National Park, South Africa's most famous game preserve. United elder Neil Becker and his wife Erlene had very kindly made all necessary arrangements for us to have 2 nights and three days in Kruger. Mr. Becker, who has been visiting Kruger for many years (this was his 40th visit), was the perfect guide and driver for our trip.

We started out at 4:00 am on Monday morning in a VW van for the 5-hour drive to Kruger Park, on the border with Mozambique. We arrived at the Melalane gate at the south of the park and began our drive north into the reserve. Even as we were parked at the gate we were able to see impala males fighting with each other for control of a herd of females. We drove in to the Berg-en-Dal permanent camp for breakfast and as we ate observed many interesting birds. Berg-en-Dal overlooks a water reservoir in which we saw turtles, a crocodile sunning himself on the sand and several hippos.

After breakfast we drove up toward the Skukuza camp where we would spend the next two nights. On the way we saw elephants, and several giraffes up close. I got a brief glimpse of a leopard, but he was so quick that only one other person in the party saw him, so we all decided we needed to see more. Leopards are the hardest of the big five to see because they are the most careful about keeping to cover. The "big five" were the 5 most sought-after trophies of big games hunters, sought-after because they were both difficult to hunt and dangerous to hunt. The big five are the: elephant, lion, Cape buffalo, rhino and leopard.

We settled into small rondavos, structures built in the typical fashion of local tribes (but which also had showers and hot water...). Then we started out for more game viewing. We had to be back in the camp by 5:30 (night fall) at which time they close the gates. People coming in later than that must pay a fine for being out after the park closure.

One Tuesday we started out at 6:00 am to try to see predators on a fresh kill. We didn't spot any right away but later in the morning we was a lioness in tall grass with the ribcage of a zebra in her jaws. It was very impressive. As we drove further on, we saw much more game including, lions, hippos, impala, bushbuck, waterbuck, steenbok (a small , springbok (a very small rock loving antelope) kudu, nyala, hyena, vervet monkeys, and baboons. We also saw fascinating birds including the glossy starling, the yellow-billed hornbill, tick birds, vultures and several kinds of eagles.

Tuesday night Matt, Sara, Emily and myself went on a night game drive organized by the park administration. We dressed up very warmly since temperatures were low and we'd be in an open-sided truck, and started out at 8:00 p.m. for a three-hour drive. On that drive we saw an aardvark, a genet, a civet, zebra, bush babies, and many antelope.

Wednesday we started out again at 6:00 am for our last game drive on the way out of Kruger. As we were headed toward the exit to the park, we had a special treat. Mr. Becker spotted (no pun intended) a leopard! He walked parallel to the road about 20 meters from us for a distance of 200 meters or so. It was very exciting to see this elusive cat up close, and it was a perfect way to end our visit to this little piece of paradise.

Following the long drive back to Johannesburg, Emily went straight to the airport for her flight home which left that afternoon. Matt and I left the next day. Sara traveled on to Capetown for the weekend where she spend time with friends before returning to the States.

The Youth Corps project in South African went extremely well this year. Special thanks go to the Beckers for their help, and to all the brethren in Johannesburg for their support and generosity. And thank to Sara, Emily, and Matt for their excellent work on the project this year!

(See related article "South African Winter Camp a “Wild” Success".)