International Jamborees: 2012 Report Mauritius
2012 - Mauritius National Jamboree, Belle Mare, Mauritius
24 November - 3 December / Participants 1800 / Countries 6 / South Africans 11
Theme: Our Colours Brighten Scouting
Report by the Contingent Leader - Roderick Zass
As part of their Centenary celebrations, the Mauritius Scout Association sent out invitations to the world scouting community to attend their 11th National Jamboree.
The invitation was for groups of 9 Scouts between the ages of 11 and 16 and an adult leader. Each country could bring several groups and it was a great opportunity to meet the Mauritian Scouts and to discover their culture. Other than the Scouts from Mauritius and South Africa, there were Scouts from Singapore, Portugal, Seychelles and Serbia.
The Jamboree site was next to the beach at Belle-Mare which is one of the finest and most beautiful beaches on the island. Situated on the East coast of Mauritius, the beach is protected by an offshore coral reef making it ideal for swimming, water activities and snorkelling. For the South Africans there was much excitement in the air as the contingent assembled at Cape Town airport and for many it was flying for the first time. Once all the goodbyes were said it was 'all aboard' for the flight via Johannesburg to Mauritius.
On arrival at the Mauritius airport the contingent were met by the Mauritian Scout Services Team and were transported by taxi to the campsite at Belle Mare. Initially there was a little confusion with allocating the site and equipment and it was difficult the understand the English as spoken by the locals.
There were four main campsites all named after distinguished Mauritian people and their campsite was called Vaco, named after a well known Mauritian artist.
On day two, Sunday 25 November the Jamboree was opened by the Jamboree Director. All their National Scout Leaders were present as well as the President of Mauritius. Their National Anthem and the Jamboree song was sung.
Our Scouts performed a South African item as well as a Cape Town item with the South African flags.
As the Jamboree progressed and with French as the 'lingua franca', our contingent eventually got used to waiting for the instructions to be translated into English before setting off on the various activities.
The many and varied activities were fun and exciting and the Scouts found the snorkelling and scuba diving thrilling and most adventurous. On the Monday there was a hike which they found to be a bit too long as they had to hike through villages for approximately 30 km back and forth.
On the Wednesday there was a tour to the capital city, Port Louis, which was very educational, exciting and fun. They went sight seeing, visiting a mall and doing some shopping. The mall they visited had plenty of different shops and lunch was enjoyed there. They found lots of shops that they were familiar with in SA (Pick 'n Pay, KFC, Wimpy, Mr Price, Woolworths).
There was also a visit to a type of fortress, called Fort Adelaide, which the French used to fight off the British. It is now used to cut diamonds which they import from SA.
More popular was the Thursday visit to a Waterpark and lots of fun was had by all on the different events and activities on offer.
On Saturday 1 December they went on another trip, this time to the east side of the country where they visited the Mauritian National Museum. It was very interesting and educational, especially the history of the Mauritian people and how they came about. From the museum they went to Blue Bay beach where lunch was enjoyed and the afternoon spent.
It was then an early return to camp as they had to prepare for that evening's campfire.
The campfire was held the Saturday evening on the beach and the South African contingent took part with a song and dance routine. Their performance at the campfire was much to the fun and delight of the other Scouts.
The closing ceremony was held the Sunday afternoon in the arena. The ceremony itself was great and the South African gift was handed over to the Jamboree Director, Enrico Ramsammy.
They exchanged badges, scarves, addresses, phone numbers and made lots of friends. It was sad to say goodbye to new found friends and to see them leave after such a wonderful and great time spent together.
The flight home for the youngsters was once again exciting and anticipating, as they just wanted to see their family and friends back home and most especially Cape Town. It was great arriving back in South Africa and to board the interconnecting flight to Cape Town. We were welcomed at Cape Town International airport by the Chief Scout's Commissioner Brian February, family and friends. It was great to see all the familiar faces and all the big smiles from everybody.
A sincere thanks and appreciation to SAHQ, Brian February, scouters, parents and friends for making the Jamboree dream a reality.