General
More focus was placed this year on game drives and conservation than last year. We also split game drives into different themes:

Drive 1 Mammal ID
The goal of the activity is to get the children excited about spotting animals and reptiles. A further goal is to foster in them an appreciation of all the creatures in the wild, both large and small.

Drive 2 Bird ID
To foster in the children an appreciation for birds and to show them the diversity of birds that is present in the Makuleke area. A further goal is to get the children to become interested in bird identification and bird calls.

Drive 3 Makuleke history
To teach the children about the Makuleke history and to explain the forced removal to them.

Drive 4  Treasure Hunt
To get the children interested in all aspects of nature. To make them aware of their surroundings and to look closely at nature.

Drive 5  Tracks & Signs
To get the children interested in animal tracks and signs. To show the children how to interpret some of the more common tracks and signs.

Drive 6 Survival Skills
To show the children how they can utilise various things in the bush in order to survive.

Day 1: 2nd December
“Wide eyed and very shy” is a good description of their expressions on arrival. The song and dance got them smiling however and when they received their backpacks and shoes their excitement began to grow. All the CITW staff was introduced and names like Ushi, Hanage, Wazi, and Mama boy-boy had them all giggling.

The tent leaders took the children to their tents first to show them where they would be staying, then lunch and more gifts were handed out: three “new” T-shirts and a water bottle each were added to the growing pile. By now they had received a drawstring backpack, filled with a notebook, pen, pencil, eraser, personal diary, toothbrush and toothpaste. Each child also received a pair of takkies (sports shoes).

After lunch we began the programme with a game called “Tribes” that split the 45 participants into five groups. 45 bandanas, each with a child’s name on, were hung up all around the main deck area, in five different colours. The children were instructed to find their own bandana, put it on and find the remaining eight members of their team. Once there were nine people in a team they went to the “banner painting stations” where each group or ”tribe” had to choose a name, paint a banner and choose a song to portray their team. Once finished, they had to introduce themselves as a team to the others.

The first game drive had the theme of Mammal Identification – and was the first time many had seen a wild animal! The kids returned at 18h30 where some song and dance followed in the turning circle before everyone went through to the boma for a scrumptious dinner of vuswa, roast chicken, spinach, tomato and onion gravy and chocolate nut brownies. The first day ended with everyone going to bed, excited and satisfied.

Day 2: 3rd December
05h00 Rise and shine. Early out of bed to catch the start of a brand new day.

The second game drive activity focused on Bird Identification, where each child was given a Sasol Bird Pocket Guide to teach them more about some of the basic birds found in the area. Obviously, all this birding makes one very hungry so upon return we served some sandwiches and juice.

After this the “life skill” activities began and these included:
Act 1: Keeping the environment clean
To explain the impact that litter has on the environment.
To teach respect for myself and all around me in keeping my environment clean.

Act 2: Arts & Crafts from Recycling
To teach the kids that instead of just throwing away papers, cans etc, they can use these things to make things like handmade paper, tin objects, bottle-top baskets, etc These things can be used in the home or can be used to set up a craft business for additional income.

Act 3: Crossing the Luvuvhu River
This is a game played to build trust between each other.

Act 4: Pain in a Box
Overcome challenges in life. How do I handle problem situations?

Act 5: Learning to be healthy
Make the children aware of the need for good daily hygiene. Emphasise the all-round presence of germs. Show the importance of washing hands thoroughly, especially before meals. Identify the different types of hygiene.

The groups rotated through these over the course of the week.

Once done with some of the above activities, it was time to burn some energy. Some groups went swimming, some played ball games and others tried out an obstacle course. As it was hot the kids were encouraged to make sure they drank enough to keep from dehydrating. After lunch, and with such an active morning, it was time for a bit of “quiet time”. The tent leaders took all the kids to the rooms where they then either slept or engaged in some quiet conversation.

While they children were resting, the beadwork station, clay figure station and music stations were set up, and after quiet time it was time for some creative work. Necklaces and clay figures were made, and at the music stations, the kids worked on a traditional dance routine that would form part of the final night’s music performance.

During the afternoon snack time the clouds began to build up. As the kids went out on their Makuleke History drive, it started to rain. Another 15 minutes later it poured down – Pafuri Camp received 74mm of rain in about an hour. Not unnaturally, the game drive was cut short due to all the rain and the lightning! Everyone was soaked and ran to the rooms to go take a hot shower and put on some dry clothes.

Dinner was served on the main deck. The evening’s planned movie could not be shown as the main deck had to be used for the dinner due to the rain and the sound system could not be set up due to space and weather restrictions. So we did some singing and the kids went to their tents a little earlier to plan their theatre productions for the next day.

Day 3: 4th December
Another early start… Jungle oats, fruit and juice kick-started the day. The guides then took the children out on the treasure hunt activity. They all had to collect as many items that they could find on their list and bring them back to camp. One of the groups even proceeded to make a placemat out of a palm leaf – very original!

Sandwiches were served, one round of life skills activities took place and then everyone gathered in the main lounge to listen to a talk on HIV/AIDS. A lot of interactive questions were asked which kept all the youngsters interested.

Due to the rainy weather, the ball games and swimming had to be replaced by another “indoor” activity. So whilst the HIV/Aids talk was given, the “movie house” was set up in the dining area, and we showed the movie we had had planned for the night before: Madagascar! Then it was lunch, followed by some quiet time and afterwards the five groups planned their theatre activity for the evening.

The afternoon game drive focused on tracks and signs where each participant received a laminated foldout pamphlet on tracks.

Dinner was served on the main deck again due to bad weather. After this the floor opened for the theatre productions. Our Tauck ladies, journalists and media were asked to be the judges. The theatre productions were a summary from each group as to what they have learnt so far in the camp. While some of us couldn’t understand everything, as it was in the local tongue, the performances and acting were amazing. The evening ended with dancing.

Day 4: 5th December
After some Creemy Meal, fruits and juice, Abednigo Masuku held a small “church” service for the kids. This was something that had been requested last year and we thought it appropriate to bring it into the programme this year. Thanks were given to God for allowing us to live in such a beautiful place and for giving us everything we see around us.

Chief Makuleke, Livingstone Makuleke and the CPA came to visit for the day to see the camp. Mid-morning snacks were served and followed by two rounds of life skills activities. After this there was swimming, ball games and obstacle course games as usual. Lunch and quiet time was followed by some more beadwork, clay figure making and practicing for the evening’s music and dance performance. The last game drive focused on survival skills and the children set out for one last time into the bush to explore their beautiful Makuleke Concession.

Final dinner was set up on two long tables on the deck in front of the curio shop. The music/dance performance was amazingly captivating and eventually all the media, journalists and the staff joined in!

Chauke entertained us all by playing his guitar and singing to the kids. As an almost final activity, a slide show was shown to all giving us a quick look on the past week’s activities. Tauck sponsored backpacks for the kids and these were handed out together with the certificates. The evening ended with yet more singing and dancing. No one wanted to go to bed as tomorrow would be the last day.

Day 5: 6th December
Today started a little bit later, everyone packed up, cleaned their rooms and brought their luggage to the front. We decided to finish off the camp by giving the children an enormous, even more scrumptious breakfast: scrambled eggs, sausage, baked beans and toast.

All the participants brought their messages to be pasted into the camp diary and the last group photos were taken. The kids were handed a snack pack for the road and all gathered to say last goodbyes. They left at around 10h30, everyone smiling. A lot of hearts have been warmed by the last few days and another successful camp came to an end.