I made it to Jeffreys Bay just in time to head out to the bush the next day, thankfully I was able to get in a little sleep before the long weekend. Friday evening we loaded up 5 kombies and “Little Red” (a car that won’t give up) and headed to the bush (a camp headed by UCSA, a ministry we work with in Jeffreys Bay). After a few turns, some bumpy roads and switching vehicles we finally arrived to the beauty of the bush.
Welcome to the Bush in Afrikaans
The first night we dove into the activities. All of our meals were cooked over an open fire with cast iron kettles and many sticks (to burn and use as cooking utensils) and after the first few meals of the sand crunching between our teeth, we grew used to the rules of the bush. Our students participated in more team building activities as well as some more relaxed times. They played paintball, had some fun with archery as well as experiencing abseiling (repelling) for the first time. It was a weekend bringing us all out of our comfort zones from sleeping in cabins made out of plywood to running away from the campfire smoke that always seemed to follow me to learning how to ask for help even when we don’t at all want to.
Cooking dough over a fire on a stick…not so sure the stick was sanitized!
One of the girls abseiling
The last morning I was anticipating the blowing of the shofar to signal our morning wake up call because my feet had turned to ice and all I could think about in the frigid darkness was of burning embers waiting for me to warm my feet next to them. I’m pretty sure after that weekend I have had my taste of coldness to last a while. The last day there was beautiful. The sky cleared up, the sun was shining and I was finally thawing out from the previous day’s crazy weather. To end the weekend, as we were pulling away from the bush and the other leaders beside me in the back seat had already passes out I saw a field of baboons! How amazing our God is to provide laughter in moments we least expect it!
And a weekend at the bush can make anyone go a little crazy…
