World Jamboree Year: 1979 Report Switzerland

1979 – WORLD JAMBOREE YEAR – SWITZERLAND

22 – 31 July / Participants 1 200 / Countries 42 / South Africans 73

As a result of the 15th World Jamboree in Iran being cancelled, 1979 was declared a 'World Jamboree Year' and the South African Scouts were offered the alternative of attending a Jamboree in Switzerland, USA or Australia.

A Scoutmaster's impression

By Daryn McEwan

After a three-day pre-camp in Johannesburg, 81 Scouts left South Africa on a DC 10 Jet en route for Rome, on 3rd July. On our arrival in Rome we had an hour before our flight took off for Paris. Through the Police check and our first problem - the Police took all our pen-knives away, but we got them back again in Switzerland.

Paris saw us touring in two buses taking in places like Notre-Dame Cathedral, the Palace of Versailles and a full day on the Normandy fortifications and landing beaches. On Sunday, 8th July, we left Paris and flew to Britain and home hospitality. I was sent down to Gosport District with half of my Troop and the rest were sent to the Itchen North District of Southampton. Gosport welcomed us with open arms and the whole District turned up on three different nights to ensure that we had a ball. Even the Mayor laid on a party for us.

District Scouters kept me busy and the District looked after the Scouts. (There are nine Groups in Gosport with 700 Cubs, Scouts and Venturers.) After this great highlight of our tour we went into London, taking in places like London Tower and the Crown Jewels, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, the changing of the Guards, Greenwich and even shopping on Saturday afternoon at Harrods.

On to Holland for three days. The highlight of our stay in Holland was an all-day 30-mile cycling tour. What a sight it was to see 81 South African Scouts riding through Amsterdam, never mind seeing me on a bike! Yes - Scouters went as well! Frankfurt was the next stop with a wonderful tour of the Wiesbaden District and the Rhine. Then on to Switzerland and Kandersteg for KristalI '79.

Thirty-nine countries had come to Kandersteg for ten wonderful days. After the decision of the World Scout Committee to postpone the Jamboree in Neishaboor, the European Scout Region organised this event at the International Scout Centre in the village of Kandersteg. Under the leadership of Camp Director, Patrick McLaughlin, the Jamboree was opened on Sunday, 22nd July 1979. The next eight days saw a lot of action-packed activities, ranging from a wide Game in the Alps, a Kander bazaar, a 12hour expedition high into the Alps and snow, a choice of KristalI hills, workshops, Kander activities, hikes, Sub-Camp campfires and even a folk festival.

South Africa was well received and I think every one of the 33 countries said how smart we looked and that they would like to see us at their own National Jamborees. In fact, I have four invitations to attend Jamborees next year.

The Chief Scout of South Africa visited us for three days and during his stay we had a party to which we invited all the other leaders of the countries. I went to a number of parties, and if Pik Botha (SA Minister of Foreign Affairs) had seen who we chatted to, he would have been overjoyed. I received gifts from Scouters from several countries, including the Boy Scouts of Korea.

The closing ceremony saw a sad end to these happy days, and South African Troops took down camp the next day. We also helped the British Scouts and the USA Contingent cook meals on their day of departure. Rome was our last stop, and after looking at the Vatican and Trevi Fountain we had our banquet and officially the tour was over. The banquet over, we left for the airport only to find that our flight was delayed for seven hours. We went to the Airport Hotel to find that three thousand other people had also been sent there. After a night on the floor we went to the Airport, this time to find that the flight had been cancelled and a strike was on! After Lunch we went back to get into the hotel early and ensure we had rooms. Forty-eight hours later the call went out 'we go tonight!' A mad rush to the airport ensued with us commandeering two buses. The departure gate was even blocked with Scouts.

The reason for this un-Scout like behaviour was simple. Everyone trying to get to South Africa was rushing to the Airport, all four hundred, for only 269 seats - it was a case of now or the 15 August, 1979, when the strike was due to be called off! As we landed at Jan Smuts every one of the 269 passengers broke into singing 'For he's a jolly good fellow' and clapping, to think we were home at last.

A Scout's Impression

Pre Jamboree tour

by Garth Edwards writes
"Our tour started when the Scouts from all over South Africa camped at Modderfontein near Johannesburg for three days to get to know each other and to check our uniforms.

We departed from Jan Smuts Airport on 3rd July and arrived in Paris on the morning of Wednesday 4th. In the afternoon we went on a sightseeing tour of historical Paris which showed us such famous landmarks as the Opera, the Louvre, and the Invalides Palace with Napoleon's tomb. The following day we went on a half-day tour to the Palace of Versailles. That night we were on our own at leisure in the Town. One thing which we found out was that the sun goes down at 11 p.m. at night. On Friday 6th July we went by coach down to the Normandy coast where we saw the fortifications and the D-day landing beaches. We spent the whole day on tour and returned at one o'clock the next morning. The following day we were on our own at leisure to do with what we wanted. Most of us went to the Eiffel Tower taking in the Louvre, but I was personally a bit disappointed in the painting of the Mona Lisa. We left Paris on Sunday 8th July for England where we stayed for the first three days with families living in Southampton and Gosport.

Our host families were very good to us, and took us to as many places as they possibly could in the two days that we stayed with them. On 11th July we went by coach to the Mount Pleasant Hotel in London where we stayed for four days. On the first day we were taken all over the City of London seeing a few monuments and churches on the way. The following day we had a tour of West End of London taking in Trafalgar Square, South Africa House, and Buckingham Palace where we saw the changing of the guard. In the afternoon we were given a three-day go-as-you-please ticket which allowed us to travel on the tubes and buses. In the afternoon of the 13th we went on a cruise down the river Thames to Greenwich where we saw the Cutty Sark and a few of us ran up the hill to the Observatory where we were able to stand with one foot in the west and the other foot in the East on the meridian line. The following day we had at leisure and most of us visited B-P House, the Science Museum and Madame Tussauds. We left the following day for Holland.

In the afternoon in Holland we went on a tour of the new and old city, and that night we had a duck's-eye view of Amsterdam when we went on our canal tour. On Monday 16th we had a full day's cycling tour through the countryside of Holland. The tour was about 32 km long, but the next day our legs told us that it was about 60 km long! The next day we went on a tour where they made clogs for us to take home.

Wednesday 18th we arrived in Frankfurt and that afternoon we went on a tour of the railway station and S-Bahn which is their underground railway system. Thursday we went on a Rhine cruise after we had seen the biggest cuckoo-clock in the world. After the cruise we had a tour of a wine-cellar and a wine-tasting party. Friday we had a day hike through the Taunus Mountains and on Saturday 21st July we left Frankfurt for Kandersteg in Switzerland.

Kristal'79 Jamboree Camp

by Roderick Boswell

He takes up the narrative at Kandersteg, the International Scout Activities Centre where the Kristal'79 camp was held.

South Africa showed a high standard of Scouting from the beginning as they marched smartly down to the opening ceremony, where amidst much shouting of war cries and singing of songs, all the countries were welcomed to Krlstall '79 by the Camp Chief. This event really set the spirit of the Jamboree, because there was much fun and friendly competition between the countries to see who could make the most noise.

In the days that followed there was not a minute spent without some activity. My day started at 6.30 am as I was the rations collector for the Troop. Our day was made up of swapping or trading badges, doing KristalI skills, which included silk-screening, sampling spaghetti cooked by the Italians, mask making, wood carving and many other activities. Much of our day was also taken up by meeting with other Scouts, especially those from England. During the evenings there were camp fires, folk festivals and other activities.

One evening which I enjoyed a lot (and it was not with a girl Scout) was the Kander Bazaar. This was when each country staged some traditional activity. I had more spaghetti, took part in mop throwing with the English, ate do-nuts from the Americans (we were meant to get some do-nuts for the English chaps, but they were so good that we ate them ourselves). In spite of eating their do-nuts the English chaps asked us around for some apple cider. Our Scouts put on a dancing display and a witch doctor routine which drew a lot of attention and laughter.

One of the days I enjoyed a lot was when .we took a trip up in the cable car. It was a bit scary but really nice. At the top of the cable route, we took a ski lift for some 2 km before jumping off. The ski lift closed at 5.30 pm and we still had two hours before then, so a few of us set off for the snow and arrived there some time later. Here we used our jackets which made excellent sledges to slide down the snow. We were having such good fun that we only realised at 5 pm that it was time to go. We all made a wild dash back to the ski lift and in his hurry, Abrahams a boy from the Cape tripped and cut himself, but time was short so we helped him stagger on and made it in about 28 minutes past 5. It all came to an end too soon and only seemed a couple of days before it was closing ceremony. Here the Camp Chief bid us farewell. Amidst a beautiful fireworks display, 2000 people sang the KristalI song and sadly led off.

High Adventure Award

By James Hunneyball

He had this to say about the High Adventure award:

"At the Jamboree many different activities were organised by the camp staff, one of which was mountaineering and hiking. A challenge was set, whereby any interested climbers and hikers would, if successful, earn the High Adventure award badge.

This badge involved activities in the mountains which were unusual for us South Africans. We were set 7 tasks of which we had to fulfil 6. These were climbing a mountain to a height above 2 500m, sleeping overnight above the tree line in a hut, cave or tent, a first aid test on treatment for exposure and the prevention of accidents in the mountains, and we had to list and describe the basic equipment for high adventure in the AIps. The fifth task was to complete an Alpine Nature Trail or to visit an Alpine cheese factory. Following this was a swim in an Alpine Lake or visit to a glacier, and last of all spending 5 hours on an approved conservation project for the Centre.

I personally enjoyed the hiking in the mountains so much that I managed to do all the tests except for task number 2 which was sleeping out, and I was not allowed to do this because of lack of equipment. I'd say one of the most interesting places the tasks led us to was the cheesery. To get to the cheesery one woke up at 4 am and walked up the curvy mountain track which overlooked Kandersteg. There were only six in the party, so it was very peaceful and we passed a number of chalets with huge bells on them, and climbed way above the tree line before we reached the cheesery at 2 100 metres.

There we were ushered into the house by a very kind Swiss lady and we sat on benches. In front of it was a huge copper cauldron-like pot which was capable of holding 1 200 litres of milk. A huge man came into the room and his presence made the room seem so small - he was so vast. He showed us how to make cheese. (I won't tell you how, but I can give you his address so that you can go and see for yourself.)

After a very interesting cooking lesson we were shown the cheese room which had some 74 huge round cheeses in it. The wife gave us some coffee with pure fresh cream and home-made bread with fresh cheese.

Swimming in the Alpine Lake proved more than interesting, because after hiking up a steep hill and building up a good sweat, we stripped and slunk into the lake, which at first didn't seem cold, but after swimming a few metres we realised that it was not a South African dam, for around the corner was a glacier which flowed right into the lake. After suffering silently, we made a bee-line for the shore where we told the others how nice it was, and persuaded them to take the plunge too.

All the tasks were interesting and loads of fun, in fact I did some of them twice, not only because it was a new experience hiking through 10 feet of snow, having snow fights and learning Alpine customs, but also because I met many other Scouts from other countries, and learned about Scouting in their home lands and I told them about Scouting in South Africa. Dugmore Kumalo and Protus Mabaso, became two very good friends of mine, and we hiked on the trails together and all of us achieved the High Adventure Award. As a matter of fact there is an American somewhere in America who can speak a little bit of Zulu because of these two Scouts.

The return journey

Back to Garth Edwards

"On Wednesday 1st August we went by coach from the camp to Zurich, stopping at Berne to see the bears playing in their bear pits. We left Zurich for Rome where we stayed at the Marco Polo Hotel. On 2nd August we had a sightseeing tour of Rome taking in the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, and St. Peter's which is within the city of the Vatican. That afternoon a few of us went to the Coliseum. In the evening we had a banquet in a nearby restaurant. When we came back feeling very happy we were loaded into the buses and were ready to depart. We were then told that our plane had been delayed for 7 hours. We were taken to the Airport Hotel and given rooms to sleep in. We arrived at 1 o'clock in the morning. The next day at the airport we found that our fight had now been cancelled.

We then got our luggage back and true to good South Africans made a laager out of them and just slept wherever we found space inside the airport building. We were stuck in Rome for another 2 days before Alitalia put on a special DC10 flight to bring us back to South Africa.

We arrived in South Africa on 5th August after having a wonderful trip and meeting wonderful people, but the best place is always home sweet home.