Kon-Tiki (Scouting)

Rafts on Sandvlei during the Kon-Tiki Adventure for Scouts and Guides at Lakeside, Cape Town in 2006

Kon-Tiki refers to one of two annual Scout raft-building competitions, held in Cape Town and Gauteng in South Africa.

Named after Thor Heyrdahl's Kon-tiki expedition of 1947, teams compete to build and live on a raft for a weekend. Support crew or "Fringe" teams compete in other, ground-based competitions.

The Cape Town competition is held at the Sea Scout Base on the banks of Sandvlei. The weekend starts on the Friday afternoon with teams arriving and starting construction of the raft. The building criteria are very strict and judging takes place continuously until the raft launch on the Saturday at 2 pm. Much of the judging is related to the aspect of safety to ensure that the Scouts and Guides (ages 11 to 17) have a safe adventure. The theme of the Cape Town competition in 2007 celebrates the centennial of Scouting as well as the 60th anniversary of the Kon-Tiki expedition.

The Gauteng competition is held at Murray Park in Springs, Johannesburg. The competition is run in a very similar fashion to the Cape Town one, with the exception that the rafts launch at noon on the Saturday. There are also numerous other activities and competitions for the support crew to partake in, such as the Beaver Challenge, Spare Time Activities, Dress-up competition and others.

See also

• South African Scout Association
• Girl Guides Association of South Africa

External links

• Cape Western Area Kon-Tiki site
• Gauteng Area Kon-Tiki site