To start out, I must say there was an interesting event that happened just after my last post. I got back to camp for lights out, and after all our scouts were in bed, some Brazilians tried to join them. Scandalous I know but they mistook our site for there’s and tried to get in what would’ve been their tent, just 2 rows over. The boys were very understanding, and the girls felt really embarrassed. They had a hard time getting the tent zipped back up. To top it off though, the girls then went the wrong way and did the same thing in the South African camp… those poor ladies.
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Day three started with the promise of sun a little later into the day so there were lots of smiles despite the early morning rain. While waiting for breakfast, Karsten tried befriending a Grasshopper on Novus, but it was on its way to tax Flick and the gang. After we had a breakfast brought to us by the Loons we dispersed for the day. I took a trek up to the World Point area to meet up with my favorite Belgian (sorry to all the rest of you). Lily was unavailable at the moment, but I passed the time with other members of the Belgian CMT. They had a piano lined with little boys peeing into a tank on the top, and a plaque saying, “I like my boys with a small… ecological footprint.” Lily was in a meeting, but she came out and stole my hat as soon as she could. I eventually wrestled it back from her and we watched the Belgians throw staves over their tent to drape a large Belgian flag over the roof, it was not a projectile free zone… yikes.
While over there I also stopped by the Canadian tent for a look at what they were going on “aboot”. They had some air hockey and green screen Canada photo effects. I got my passport for Canada to earn a pin, which I’ve yet to complete. I also talked with a Canadian in a different tent “aboot” my Quebecian heritage. We chatted about where Lambton is and the Canadian Tulip Festival. It’s always fun to explore where you come from. After all of that I made a quick run through the Tea Bear Express (the British tent) and headed on down to Main Medical. Here I got to hang out with my friends on IT some more, charge my devices a bit, and drop off my HAM radio to be programmed with the Jambo frequencies. I also got to see a black hawk sitting on the Helipad before heading back towards my temporary dwelling. On the way though, I had to stop by the key 3 encampment to say hi to Erin, the assistant to the Chief Scout Executive and a friend of mine. This time I was able to see her, and we had a good time reconnecting. It’s nice to have friendships from scouting that last for years without seeing each other. I then stopped into the trading post to bother my father and grab a few things before heading back towards Alpha basecamp. I had found where Lily’s sister’s campsite was while visiting the Belgian contingent tent and I decided to try and find her in A3. I found the Belgian site in A4 and they were very distrusting of why I was looking for Eveline but they told me where to look next and allowed me a nice shortcut through their site back to the road since it was nearing dinner time and I needed to get back to my site. We had a nice meal put on by the wet socks patrol before heading out to the opening show.
At the opening show we got a decent spot in the middle of the field but unfortunately people kept congregating and standing in front of us. But before the show the youth had a great time greeting others as they arrived at the stadium. The show opened with the emcees from the three host countries and the Canadian emcee was escorted in by the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and the 48thHighlanders on the bagpipes. We were told about the history of the Jamboree, the theme, why it was picked and had the always amazing presentation of the flags of all the countries in attendance (152). We unlocked adventure at the Summit and discussed the UN’s sustainable development goals. After these we had the pleasure of recycled percussion entertaining us with oil drum guitars and ladders, plus angle grinders for nice sparking effects. It was definitely a neat show. When they ended their set Scoutmaster Jerry thought it was the end… then the drone show started. It was an awesome display of adventure, scouting and fellowship. We had a wonderful opening day and the scouts were hyped up before bed.
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Another day dawned on the Jamboree and we had another great day ahead of us. We had a breakfast provided by the Wet Socks and hit the ground running. It was Alpha Basecamp’s day to climb Mt. Jack so many of our scouts were pumped to do that. I left a little ahead of the group to go find Eveline finally, and I succeeded after going through her gate keepers. Though they apparently told her that her date was there to see her… After chatting with Eveline for a few minutes I said goodbye and hit the trail to meet up with Jerry and Katie for a climb to the summit of The Summit. We had a good hour climb up the mountain, passing may scouts along the way. It was fun to see all the different scouts climbing together, enjoying the scenery and the fellowship. We also got a glimpse of the medical quarantine camp that was up there.
After finally getting to the top, we stopped at a demonstration of the way scouts camped in 1910, but I was more interested in finding an IST member that I knew up there. I went down a little way and saw some awesome pioneering structures. There was a carousel and Ferris wheel made entirely of spars and rope, AWESOME! While up there I met some really cool adults, one from the UK and one from Canada. I had a really good conversation with the Canadian adult about how the scouting program worked up “der.” After that wonderful experience I decided to torture myself with the 2-mile scout edition of the Spartan® race. I got a cool medal and started my hike down the mountain… but apparently the wrong trail so I was sent further down the mountain for the correct trail. On the way I met up with Jerry and Katie and we headed down and ran into Kortney. It was a fun time, but I was also going to be late for my meet up with Eveline, Liselotte (Lily) and their parents, who had a day pass to the Jambo.
On the trail we also ran into a lot of scouts that were stopped because of a bear next to the trail. We helped them with scaring the bear away, making lots of noise and spreading out to make ourselves look bigger. At the bottom of the trail I said goodbye to Katie and Jerry, then started to receive all the texts and calls asking where I am and when I was going to be at my meeting with Lily’s family. She kept moving around but I finally found her at the tea bear express, the UK tent at World Point. It was good to see their parents and give hugs all around. After separating from them I took a hike with dad to Jamboree Medical for another round of my pill (yes, I know I’m a pill). Finally, I took the boardwalk back to the gorge and brought dad over the awesome suspension bridge. Even being afraid of heights he thought it was a great view. Then I picked up the mail and headed to camp for diner and a nice night.
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Until we meet again,
Martin “Mixy” McNichols
Martin McNichols 