53rd St Barnabas Scout Group
Explorer Program Summer Camp Platania 2008
Day 1
We got to the scout hut at seven o'clock. Then the Explorers stayed behind to load
the equipment on the cars. We arrived at the camp site at eleven o'clock and unload
and stored the equipment. After lunch we made pioneering projects such as gates
and towers. We had to take down and rebuilt the main gate. At four o'clock we had
a small break and carried on the pioneering. We needed more time than we
thought for pioneering. We helped the scouts to put up the notice board in the dark
and then went to sleep.
Anna ( Explorer )
We got to the scout hut at seven o'clock. Then the Explorers stayed behind to load
the equipment on the cars. We arrived at the camp site at eleven o'clock and unload
and stored the equipment. After lunch we made pioneering projects such as gates
and towers. We had to take down and rebuilt the main gate. At four o'clock we had
a small break and carried on the pioneering. We needed more time than we
thought for pioneering. We helped the scouts to put up the notice board in the dark
and then went to sleep.
Anna ( Explorer )
Day 2
Waking up after the first night was the hardest. Kypros had to shout us boys out of bed, but by the time we Explorers got up, the Scouts were up
and jogging around the campsite. After washing up and getting ready, we got on parade at our flagpole. We had to be up extra early on that
morning because all troops gathered for the church service we were having. This took place at the new open-air church at the far end of the
campsite. At 8 o'clock we went to the dinning area for breakfast, and then gathered at the main flagpole for Flag Break. After that, we spent the
morning finishing off our pioneering. We had lunch at 1.00, and then three of the explorers got ready for a hike to the Blue Rock. The other two
stayed with the scouts to do first aid training. The rest of the afternoon we spent showering and resting, until we had dinner. We then got ready for
the campfire, at which every troop went to, as well as Christos (an old '53rd' scout leader), who stayed the night with us at the campsite. Lights out
at 21:30.
Michael (Explorer)
Waking up after the first night was the hardest. Kypros had to shout us boys out of bed, but by the time we Explorers got up, the Scouts were up
and jogging around the campsite. After washing up and getting ready, we got on parade at our flagpole. We had to be up extra early on that
morning because all troops gathered for the church service we were having. This took place at the new open-air church at the far end of the
campsite. At 8 o'clock we went to the dinning area for breakfast, and then gathered at the main flagpole for Flag Break. After that, we spent the
morning finishing off our pioneering. We had lunch at 1.00, and then three of the explorers got ready for a hike to the Blue Rock. The other two
stayed with the scouts to do first aid training. The rest of the afternoon we spent showering and resting, until we had dinner. We then got ready for
the campfire, at which every troop went to, as well as Christos (an old '53rd' scout leader), who stayed the night with us at the campsite. Lights out
at 21:30.
Michael (Explorer)
Day 3 Parents Day!!!
It wasn't easy but once again the explorers were forced out of bed to greet another long day... We did all the usual, breakfast, inspection, flag
break... Then, we had to rid the campsite of all the food and litter to impress our parents, and.... I think it worked... The whole camp was under
pressure to clean and tidy up the campsite before 10 o'clock. The scouts showed their parents their unusual conditions of survival camp in which
by that time no one had yet become accustomed to. Most parents came to pick up their children and take to fancy restaurants as a break from
survival food. Everyone went their separate ways for 3 hours, by three o' clock, all the scouts were back at the campsite, ready for a game of bingo.
Then, the '53rd' had an UNO competition. The winner was Christiana (cub). After that, we had our dinner and were given one hour off to prepare
for a movie. We watched 'Chronicles of Spiderwick' where skip had a few surprises for us (scared a few of the cubs). Finally, bed time. Everyone
was Tired and soon the '53rd' were fast asleep.
George (Explorer)
It wasn't easy but once again the explorers were forced out of bed to greet another long day... We did all the usual, breakfast, inspection, flag
break... Then, we had to rid the campsite of all the food and litter to impress our parents, and.... I think it worked... The whole camp was under
pressure to clean and tidy up the campsite before 10 o'clock. The scouts showed their parents their unusual conditions of survival camp in which
by that time no one had yet become accustomed to. Most parents came to pick up their children and take to fancy restaurants as a break from
survival food. Everyone went their separate ways for 3 hours, by three o' clock, all the scouts were back at the campsite, ready for a game of bingo.
Then, the '53rd' had an UNO competition. The winner was Christiana (cub). After that, we had our dinner and were given one hour off to prepare
for a movie. We watched 'Chronicles of Spiderwick' where skip had a few surprises for us (scared a few of the cubs). Finally, bed time. Everyone
was Tired and soon the '53rd' were fast asleep.
George (Explorer)
Day 4
GET UP!!! It was 6:30 when we got up and got dressed for breakfast. After breakfast we cleaned are tents and
got ready for flag break. On flag break we did our call and tried to be the loudest. When flag break had
finished we got out of our uniforms and got ready for our hike to Loumata campsite. We got our water bottles
and sleeping bags and set off. The way up to Loumata was all up hill so we got a bit tired. At 01:00 Kypros
when back to Platania campsite to pick up our lunch. We stopped at a picnic site to eat lunch which was
chicken and potatoes. Lunch took about half an hour then we set off again. It took about half an hour to get to
Loumata. When we got there we had a break and got ready for paint ball. We all got shot and some times and
we had loads of fun shouting at each other! There were some really funny shots! After that we all went back to
our tents. We had a break and waited for Kypros to come back with our dinner. We cooked kebabs, pita, salad
and haloumi. When we finished we went to sleep with all our bruises from paint balling!
Katy (Explorer)
GET UP!!! It was 6:30 when we got up and got dressed for breakfast. After breakfast we cleaned are tents and
got ready for flag break. On flag break we did our call and tried to be the loudest. When flag break had
finished we got out of our uniforms and got ready for our hike to Loumata campsite. We got our water bottles
and sleeping bags and set off. The way up to Loumata was all up hill so we got a bit tired. At 01:00 Kypros
when back to Platania campsite to pick up our lunch. We stopped at a picnic site to eat lunch which was
chicken and potatoes. Lunch took about half an hour then we set off again. It took about half an hour to get to
Loumata. When we got there we had a break and got ready for paint ball. We all got shot and some times and
we had loads of fun shouting at each other! There were some really funny shots! After that we all went back to
our tents. We had a break and waited for Kypros to come back with our dinner. We cooked kebabs, pita, salad
and haloumi. When we finished we went to sleep with all our bruises from paint balling!
Katy (Explorer)
Day 5
We woke up at 6:30 in Loumata scout campsite after a great sleep since it was really dark during the night and we all
fell asleep early. We had to get prepared for a hike up a mountain which wasn't very hard. We finished it quite fast and
we had our breakfast on the top of the mountain were we also took a couple of pictures. We were surprised to find out
that the cross we found there a couple of years ago broke down and put to the side. After that we came down the
mountain running half way which was fun but our shoes were full of rocks by the end of it. It was worth it though. Once
we were at the campsite we packed our staff and started of to Platania scout campsite. We were expected to be there
around 12 o'clock but we managed to get there at 11:00. That gained us another free hour when we played football
and then had showers. After lunch we had a bit more free time when we worked on a survey and then went to
Kakopetria swimming pool with the leaders. We left the swimming pool around 4:30 and went to the town center were
some of us had sandwiches and mini doughnuts. Then we went back to our campsite ,had showers and went for
dinner(roast and rice) which most of us didn't eat cause they had the sandwiches. After that lights went out and we
went to bed.
Emilios(Explorer)
We woke up at 6:30 in Loumata scout campsite after a great sleep since it was really dark during the night and we all
fell asleep early. We had to get prepared for a hike up a mountain which wasn't very hard. We finished it quite fast and
we had our breakfast on the top of the mountain were we also took a couple of pictures. We were surprised to find out
that the cross we found there a couple of years ago broke down and put to the side. After that we came down the
mountain running half way which was fun but our shoes were full of rocks by the end of it. It was worth it though. Once
we were at the campsite we packed our staff and started of to Platania scout campsite. We were expected to be there
around 12 o'clock but we managed to get there at 11:00. That gained us another free hour when we played football
and then had showers. After lunch we had a bit more free time when we worked on a survey and then went to
Kakopetria swimming pool with the leaders. We left the swimming pool around 4:30 and went to the town center were
some of us had sandwiches and mini doughnuts. Then we went back to our campsite ,had showers and went for
dinner(roast and rice) which most of us didn't eat cause they had the sandwiches. After that lights went out and we
went to bed.
Emilios(Explorer)
Day 6
Hurry up ventures! Rise and shine! Today was the day that we explorers had been preparing for, for weeks. We were to hike to a small village, Kyperounta, and ask
many different people questions about 'women's rights', just to see how much they knew. After that we were to analyse all the data and make a presentation for Skip. We
explorers all thought this would be the most boring day...However, it was a lot different. Firstly, we drove there because of an injury. Then, Kypros helped us with meeting
and questioning the first few people just to get us started and then we carried on with more people by ourselves, we split up into 3 groups. The best thing was that,
whoever we asked always offered us treats before we left and we got to know a few people by sitting down and drinking coffee with them =] All together we asked a
grand total of 40 people in our survey. We arrived back at camp at 12:30 and prepared for lunch; beans, cucumber and fruit. Then we got ready for a series of
competitions, facing the 280th scout troop. Unfortunately we just lost by 1 game. There were 5 games including, badminton, football, malaysian chess, UNO and finally
paintball. After that everyone was tired so we ate a huge dinner which was kalamari and chips. Then came the best part of the day. We had a private 53rd campfire
which was more like a disco. We put on many different kinds of music and everyone danced, we also had a few treats like marshmallows, popcorn and pizza. We were
all tired and ready to fall asleep. On the way back to our tents, we noticed the sky was stunning so we decided to lie down and look at them for a while. It got a bit too
cold so we went to bed after about 20 minutes.
George (Explorer)
Hurry up ventures! Rise and shine! Today was the day that we explorers had been preparing for, for weeks. We were to hike to a small village, Kyperounta, and ask
many different people questions about 'women's rights', just to see how much they knew. After that we were to analyse all the data and make a presentation for Skip. We
explorers all thought this would be the most boring day...However, it was a lot different. Firstly, we drove there because of an injury. Then, Kypros helped us with meeting
and questioning the first few people just to get us started and then we carried on with more people by ourselves, we split up into 3 groups. The best thing was that,
whoever we asked always offered us treats before we left and we got to know a few people by sitting down and drinking coffee with them =] All together we asked a
grand total of 40 people in our survey. We arrived back at camp at 12:30 and prepared for lunch; beans, cucumber and fruit. Then we got ready for a series of
competitions, facing the 280th scout troop. Unfortunately we just lost by 1 game. There were 5 games including, badminton, football, malaysian chess, UNO and finally
paintball. After that everyone was tired so we ate a huge dinner which was kalamari and chips. Then came the best part of the day. We had a private 53rd campfire
which was more like a disco. We put on many different kinds of music and everyone danced, we also had a few treats like marshmallows, popcorn and pizza. We were
all tired and ready to fall asleep. On the way back to our tents, we noticed the sky was stunning so we decided to lie down and look at them for a while. It got a bit too
cold so we went to bed after about 20 minutes.
George (Explorer)
Day 7
After waking up and thinking hard whether we should get out of bed we got up and ready for the hard day that we knew lay
ahead of us! After breakfast some leaders from the 280 scout group built a commando course on our camping area and
our scouts were going to challenge them. Us the explorers were working on our presentation about the research we did
the day before. Later on we had lunch and then went for a nap since we were tired from last night. We woke up at 3:30
and started taking down all our projects and packing up our equipment. Well the truth is that after me and skip threw
down the tower and gates the scouts did all the work...we were just giving them points for everything they brought. That
took a couple of hours and after that we had a two minute water balloon fight between boys and girls and then we wend
for a shower just before dinner. Dinner was over and we got ready for the campfire but before that we had cake and broke
two piniatas cause it was Alex's birthday. Campfire was okay and we were the best! Our sketches were the only ones
everybody truly laughed with and everyone liked our songs! Then it was bed time.....for the scouts. We got to stay up a bit
with the leaders and have some snacks. Around 1:30 we went up to our campsite and collected all the scouts shoes, put
them in a plastic bag, then in a bin and hanged them of a branch. Then we decided to put tooth-paste on everybody but
they started waking up so we stopped. And thats when the fun started! Skip and Akela started shooting us with the
paintball guns when they figured out what we were doing ! We retreated to our tent setting up our defence for about an
hour. We went to bed around 4:00 I reckon and an other scout group took our shoes and hang them on the football goals
something I never realized cause I was apparently sleeping.
Emilios(Explorer)
After waking up and thinking hard whether we should get out of bed we got up and ready for the hard day that we knew lay
ahead of us! After breakfast some leaders from the 280 scout group built a commando course on our camping area and
our scouts were going to challenge them. Us the explorers were working on our presentation about the research we did
the day before. Later on we had lunch and then went for a nap since we were tired from last night. We woke up at 3:30
and started taking down all our projects and packing up our equipment. Well the truth is that after me and skip threw
down the tower and gates the scouts did all the work...we were just giving them points for everything they brought. That
took a couple of hours and after that we had a two minute water balloon fight between boys and girls and then we wend
for a shower just before dinner. Dinner was over and we got ready for the campfire but before that we had cake and broke
two piniatas cause it was Alex's birthday. Campfire was okay and we were the best! Our sketches were the only ones
everybody truly laughed with and everyone liked our songs! Then it was bed time.....for the scouts. We got to stay up a bit
with the leaders and have some snacks. Around 1:30 we went up to our campsite and collected all the scouts shoes, put
them in a plastic bag, then in a bin and hanged them of a branch. Then we decided to put tooth-paste on everybody but
they started waking up so we stopped. And thats when the fun started! Skip and Akela started shooting us with the
paintball guns when they figured out what we were doing ! We retreated to our tent setting up our defence for about an
hour. We went to bed around 4:00 I reckon and an other scout group took our shoes and hang them on the football goals
something I never realized cause I was apparently sleeping.
Emilios(Explorer)
Last day on Camp
The Explorers had two main targets on this Summer Camp. One was the survey
about women's rights in Cyprus to be done in Kyperouda Village and the other a
hike to Loumata Scout Campsite with paintball. Both activities were enjoyed by the
Explorers and a break visiting the swimming pool in Kakopetria was a good change.
Kypros worked hard with the Explorers keeping them continually motivated.
Overall 5 Value Badges, 1 Religious and Country Badge, 1 Public Relations and 1
Explorers Badge where gained. Anna managed to gain the Award of Completion
which means that the Republic Badge is next. Well done to all.
Skip
The Explorers had two main targets on this Summer Camp. One was the survey
about women's rights in Cyprus to be done in Kyperouda Village and the other a
hike to Loumata Scout Campsite with paintball. Both activities were enjoyed by the
Explorers and a break visiting the swimming pool in Kakopetria was a good change.
Kypros worked hard with the Explorers keeping them continually motivated.
Overall 5 Value Badges, 1 Religious and Country Badge, 1 Public Relations and 1
Explorers Badge where gained. Anna managed to gain the Award of Completion
which means that the Republic Badge is next. Well done to all.
Skip
