Troop Camp 2025
On the 6th of January 1st Claremont, 1st Rosebank and 1st Cape Town teamed up for an exciting troop camp. Scouts worked in teams to complete bases and objectives. They also competed in a obstical course. Finally everyone gathered around the campfire for songs and skits. This unforgettable trip embodied the scouting adventure. Until the next one, happy scouting!
Oliver Ringrose
Troop Scouter’s Camp Report
From the 6th to the 10th of January, 46 scouts and 14 adults from three troops (1st Claremont, 1st Rosebank, and 9th/16th Cape Town) embarked on their joint annual camp. We camped in the beautiful Slanghoek valley, on a farm called Moreson which is situated right on the banks of the Breede River. The five days of this camp were full of the classic scouting activities: burnt food, pioneered campsites, campfires, stalking, hiking, and more.
One of the highlights of the camp was the obstacle course that was set up by our team of new Troop Leaders – six old Patrol leaders from 1st Claremont. This obstacle course comprised various tasks, including a zipline into the lake, a scavenger hunt on an island and a swim through the lake and over a barrel. Each patrol had to complete the course, but afterwards we opened up the course for individual attempts.
On one of the evenings, we sent pairs of patrols up to the top of small hills scattered around the farm. From the tops of these hills, patrols tried to send morse code signals with their lights to the other patrols, attempting to leap-frog a message from the first mountain to the third mountain. This proved much harder in practice, although all the scouts seemed to enjoy the experience of being out amongst the clear night sky.
We had a variety of smaller activities too, including a “board game session” where scouts could escape the heat of the day by playing various card/board games (like Taco-Cat-Goat-Cheese-Pizza), and “interesting interest badge session” where we offered the swimming, drone operator, and sharpshooter interest badges.
On the second morning of camp, we decided to shake things up with a different take on PT. We took the whole camp up the mountain to a cave that was overlooking the campsite – roughly 30 minute walk. At the top, we ate breakfast which was cereal. As always, one particular scout decided to be a genius and make their cereal in a Pick n Pay packet. He mixed his cornflakes and milk in this blue bag and proceeded to slurp it down, while spilling half of it on the floor. We also discovered that there was a crawl-through at the back of the cave, which led out onto the roof, overlooking the cave mouth.
Perhaps the most exciting aspect of this camp was that Robbie, the Troop Scouter of 1st Rosebank, was able to organise for 12 of our senior scouts to go gliding on the second-last day of camp, thus earning them their gliding interest badge. This was greatly enjoyed by those scouts that got the opportunity to go, and I really hope we can organise something like that again so more scouts are able to experience this.
The final night of camp is always a special one, and this year’s troop camp was no different. We had spoken to the farm owner – Pieter le Roux (who, by the way, is one of the friendliest men I’ve men) – about the scout tradition of ending camp with a campfire, and he suggested holding it on the bank of the Breede River so as to mitigate the risk of fire spreading. Let me tell you how absolutely magical it was to be sitting under the stars on such a clear night with a raging fire not 30 centimetres away from the river – truly a unique setting for the campfire.
Running a camp for close to 60 people was exhausting, and coordinating so many scouts was a logistical nightmare at times. However, the adults and patrol leaders on camp really shone, and made the 2025 joint troop camp one to remember. All the scouts went home exhausted but satisfied after a long week of scouting.
Overall, I’d highly recommend the site we went to for its beautiful views and close swimming facilities – something that’s very needed when it’s 35 degrees each day!
This was an awesome troop camp, and I’m really proud of what we pulled off and were able to accomplish. Now that it’s over, we can start planning the next one…
Daniel le Jeune – Troop Scouter 1st Claremont
