Camp Nelu

Camp Nelu has all that the new Grade 5’s in my class and the other classes could EVER want in a camp!

When we got to camp, we got out of the buses, took our bags and rushed to the lapa to meet our counsellors and find out which cabin we were in. I had diverse feelings about this camp. On one hand, I was happy to be away from school for three days at least, if not a week, while on the other hand, last year’s camp not being too good, I was a bit hesitant of this camp.....

But when we saw the cabins, the pool and the counsellors all my fears and suspicions were washed away with the fresh, crispy wind blowing gently in our direction.

Straight after that the counsellors introduced themselves to us as ‘Cupcake’ ‘Biscuit’, ‘Chomp’, ‘Mama Gigi’, ‘Peanut Butter’, ‘Nick Knack’ and ‘Dukes’. All of us knew that those weren’t their real names but we went along with it anyway. After the introductions, we divided into groups of 16 for our cabins. In our group there was Kiasha, Kika, Caitlyn, Gabriella, Tashmika, Eva, Alex, Taryn, Zindzi, Reuben, Masego, Mimi, Ashwarya, Neha, Priya, and..... ME, of course!! We were in the ‘rhino cabin’. We explored the cabins, claimed bunk beds, unpacked our sleeping bags and pillows and generally settled into the cabin which was our home for the next three days.

A bit later, a bell sounded and we ran to the lapa, hoping we were going to eat, but noooo we were getting divided into groups and then doing the activities that we did in our groups. I was in group 1 with Talya, Dylan, Babtiste, Gabriella, two Naledi’s, Misty, Fabian, Kate, Jabu, Moi and a few others. Mama Gigi was our group leader (yay cause she’s really nice). After meeting our group leaders and staying with our group for a while, we finally got to eat and fill our hungry stomachs with hot dogs and juice. Oh boy! the food at Camp Nelu is scrumptious!  Mama Gigi told us we could have seconds.

Later, we went to our cabins and put on sunscreen and our caps because it was time for our activities as a group. Our group went straight for the Discovery Hike in which we literally were BOILED, ROASTED and FRIED on the hot summer sun! Anyway, we got to scratch our names in rocks on the hike. It was kind of fun, I guess.... After the hike we went to do this seriously hard obstacle course called ‘Mission Impossible’ ,named after the new movie. The course’s name sums it up- ‘Mission Impossible’ it is..... I think it took us nearly an hour to finish it, THAT’S how hard it is. Another few minutes later, we ZIPLINED over the dam which is strapping ourselves into a harness with a hook attached to it and then attaching the hook to a strong cord that is stretched between a tree and a platform in a tree we then jump across the line. IT IS SO FUN!!! You get this adrenaline rush when you jump off and open your eyes and see the water rushing up to meet you.....

At night, we were learnt some songs. Here are two-

‘Baaaaby Shark, doododdodddododdo

Baby shark dododddddodododoo

Baby shark ddododododo

Baby shark.

Daaaaaddy shark dododddddodododoo

Daddy shark dododododododododo

Daddy shark dododddddodododoo

Daddy shark

Graaaaandma shark dododddddodododoo

Grandma shark dododododooodoooooddodoodod

Grandma shark dodododdooododoo

Grandma shark

(the song goes on for giant shark, whale shark, psycho shark, swimming, shark attack, where’s my arm, where’s my leg, found my leg and found my arm)’

The other one:

‘Peeeeaaaaanuuut  peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

First you take the bread and you cut it, you cut it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take the jam and you spread it, you spread it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take the butter and you plonk it, you plonk it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take the peanuts and you crush them, you crush them

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take the peanuts and you sprinkle them, you sprinkle them

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take the sandwich and you eat it, you eat it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take your belly and you rub it, you rub it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you go to the toilet and you waste it, you waste it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take the paper and you wipe it, you wipe it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Then you take the toilet and you flush it, you flush it

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam

Peeeeaaaaanuuut peanut butter and jam’

The first song’s called ‘Baby Shark’ and the second’s ‘Peanut Butter and Jam’ There were more songs we learnt, but those are the only ones I remember....  

That night, we first played these funny games in the lapa before going to sleep. What it exactly was, it was like ‘A minute to win it’ that show on TV, except we were competing for points, not cash. The games were funny and kind of average in the ‘difficulty’ area. We played lots of games but I found this one the most interesting - we were in pairs, and one of the Naledi’s was my partner and we had these two pencils each, all the four pencils tied to two strings. We picked up two of the pencils, placed another pencil on the middle of the strings and tried to put the pencil into a cup. That was easy enough but we only got one pencil in and that didn’t count. That was the only annoying part of the games.

That night, all the girls in our cabin didn’t sleep, like last time, but this time, no one could sleep. It was no one’s fault, but it was frustrating and annoying. I managed only about four hours of sleep.

After been woken up by Tashmika, (none of us were happy about THAT) we dressed and went to the lapa for morning exercises, breakfast and the morning activities. Long story short- fun exercises, yummy breakfast then we had our morning activities, which for us were the challenges and the low ropes. First up were the challenges- they were mostly games and logic games as well. 

There were three games but here’s the best one-the game was an entertaining logic game in which there was a half-circle of chairs. All the girls sat on one half of the half circle, and the boys sat on the other chairs, leaving only one chair empty in the middle. The objective was to get all the girls to where the boys were currently sitting and vice versa by moving one girl or boy to the empty seat. It was hard, but finally Reuben cracked it.

After a tiny break, we went to do the low ropes which was another, easier obstacle course in which we had to climb these taut cords stretched between trees and small logs..... but it WAS kind of hard since it was extremely easy to fall off. In the end, we all (luckily) finished it.

That evening it started to rain when only two people had started (and finished) the rock climbing so we had to abandon the activity and sprint to the lapa as fast as we could because there was already lightning in the sky.

At the lapa, we made a huge circle with our chairs and Biscuit called out things like “If you are wearing pink socks, find a different seat!” and anyone with pink socks on had to get a different seat. We played that game until it was time for dinner. 

After dinner, we all went straight to sleep. That night we slept wonderfully the whole night!!

The next day, straight after breakfast, we finished doing the rock climbing that we left off the day before. I got to go after the other Naledi in my group. Rock climbing ROCKS but is hard since you need to pull and push yourself up this nearly five meter wall with only Mama Gigi pulling you up.

When we were nearly going to go, we did archery with Chomp. It was fun but I only got one arrow in the target.It was challenging.

After we left Camp Nelu , we drove to Spur for lunch before going back to school and home again !

AND THAT WAS MY (AWESOME) CAMP NELU EXPERIENCE

http://www.campnelu.org/