Friday, October 23, 2009 - 10:17 AM

I am really excited to tell you about this month’s entry, since Mafeking is definitely the best thing Troop 594 does during the whole year! First off, the adults plan where we are going, and the scouts don’t have a clue. This year’s Mafeking trip took place in Scoutland in Gainesville, Georgia.

Mafeking is an adventure with Boy Scout skills like other outings except it is overnight using a compass, the navigator of each patrol (there were three) used a compass bearing to reach the next station. Some of the skills include sending and receiving Morse code, tying knots, and searching for hidden objects noiselessly. We even made a stretcher and carried an older scout on it. We got back to camp around 4:00 A.M. and headed straight for the sleeping bag.

In the late hours of the morning, everyone in the same patrol participated in cooking brunch. After everything had been cleaned, many of the scouts headed to the fort-like playground to have an unstructured pinecone war. It was during this battle that it started to drizzle. We also played games like capture the flag and man-hunt. While we were playing, the adults were preparing a huge water balloon battle with another troop by filling balloons and creating slingshots.

The next morning, many scouts experienced what it means not to be prepared. Many of them woke up to soaking wet tents and sleep bags.

Although this trip is usually the best of the year, there are things that could have been improved. The first thing that would have been much better is if we could have started doing Mafeking at last light rather than after midnight. It also would have been better if the afternoon was more structured and planned. Although all the rain did not make the Mafeking to more pleasurable, it taught that scouts that not being prepared did not pay off.

- Matthew C