Summer Camp 2023 – Big Safari

It’s not everyday that you wake up to the sound of lions roaring, but that was exactly what
happened for the Scouts from Bosworth when the Troop went on its Big Safari!
Having travelled to Rhydd Covert Scout Campsite just outside Kidderminster, the Troop pitched tents
right next door to the West Midlands Safari Park, from where they could hear not just the lions, but
wolves and wild dogs howling in the night too.
Camping in a forest clearing only metres from the fence surrounding the park, twelve Scouts, three
Young Leaders and three adult leaders from Bosworth then settled back, determined to have a great
week despite the forecast rain.
The Scouts had decided that the theme of this year’s Summer Camp was to be survival skills and
expeditions. To get the week off to a flying start, on Sunday the Scouts honed their skills at target
sports, including archery and tomahawk throwing, before showing Leaders their skills at fire lighting
and cooking. Then on Monday the Troop walked to the Safari Park, where they were treated to a
guided tour of the animals, being taken off the beaten track by the Park’s own expert guides, before
taking part in a different sort of adventure at the theme park.
The real challenge began on Tuesday. Summer Camp is traditionally the place where the Scouts
show off the skills they’ve been learning throughout the year, and this camp was no exception.
Gathering up their hiking gear, the Scouts, all of them aged between 10.5 and 13, set off from Rhydd
Covert on the 10-mile trip to nearby Kinver Scout Camp, navigating themselves through woods and
fields with only a little help from their leaders.
Once there, the Scouts built their own shelters, with most choosing to sleep in hammocks overnight,
before waking next morning for a rainy day of backwoods cooking, emergency aid exercises and
demonstrating their knife skills. Another night in hammocks and self-made shelters was followed by
a real test for the Scouts, as they made their own way back to Rhydd Covert, this time with the
leaders supervising remotely.
To round the week off on a high, quite literally, the Scouts took to the trees on Friday with an
exciting morning at GoApe. Despite some being very much out of their comfort zones, the Scouts
helped and encouraged each other around a network of rope bridges, suspended platforms and zip
wires, some over thirty feet above the ground.
All too soon it was time to pack away all the wet gear and head for home. The Scouts had once more
shown their Leaders how capable they are, and all agreed they’d had a roaring time.