Bush Camp

We started right out of the blocks with training from day 1 in South Africa. That first day, they sent us in groups out into the bush with machetes, a plastic tarp and rope for building our shelters, and just enough food for three days. The goal: survive! 

We were in more of a rainforest area (think more Hakuna Matata, less Pride Rock), and man did it rain!  My team built pretty much the sweetest shelter in history, and we were so sure that it would keep us dry. I'll never forget waking up at 1:00AM that first night and hearing the rain begin to tap on the plastic tarp that served as the roof of our shelter. That soft tapping soon turned into knocking, and by 3:00AM we were all running around like chickens with our heads cut off, trying to repair holes in our leaky roof and dumping water out of our shelter by the bucket-load. I'll never forget laying there in my drenched sleeping bag that night and wondering, "What in the world have I gotten myself into?" It was such a surreal experience, sleeping out in the forest with a group of guys I didn't know, on a continent that was brand new to me. Looking back, though, it was a really neat time of bonding with and getting to know some of the other guys on the team right from the start.

Here are a few pics of our bush camping experience...

Working on our shelter.

Justin showing off his machete skills!

Best shelter ever! (Disclaimer: not water proof!!!)

My team at bush camp.