And they’re off!

How long does it take to get to South Africa from Camp Samac? Anyone? Take a guess! 6 hours? 14 hours? 20 HOURS? You are mistaken. In fact, the travel- via London Heathrow International Airport- took us 25 hours. One may ask how you spend 25 hours cramped on a plane/car with people you met only days before. Answer: Friendship bracelets. We’re not kidding. (Thanks Joyce and Alanna.) Do you know how many boys now know how to make friendship bracelets? The answer is more than two.

Also, those strangers aren’t really strangers any more but an extended family of sorts. Every family has to have its nuts...except those allergic to them, of course.
Several people claim they have been to London, England, although we were just running through it…literally. Some would say travelling to three different continents on your 16th birthday would be cool, others may say 25 hours on the go is not the best way to celebrate. You’ll have to ask Thomas- even the ladies next to him sang happy birthday at midnight with us. Birthday gifts included travel pillows, travel toothbrushes (you can never have too many) and safety instruction cards.
Going through security with 23 people was hectic at best. While some fantastic employees opened new lines for us, some things they just couldn’t look beyond. While the saying goes- a Scout is never without his knife, there are some instances this should be avoided, such as: Carry-on luggage (I would like to point out this was an adult, not a youth member). Glares in his direction. (Kevin would like to point out it wasn’t him…process of elimination, anyone?) We also learn from each other very quickly. Watching Dawn go through security first, we discovered our Scout belts set off the alarm and whoosh! All the belts came off. Thanks for taking one for the team, Dawn.

Yours in Scouting,
Three Extremely Tired Rovers