In Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, in Tiszabecs on the Ukrainian border, more than 250 Hungarian-speaking scouts from around the world have conquered Vidám Delfin Camping – and begun building a giant raft.
“500 barrels, thousands of screws and nails, 27 tons of material – we brought it to the river, where we built 14 rafts with our own hands, partly from traditional materials, but also from 21st century items. Each boat will be home to 15 Scouts for 6 days during We paddled from Tiszabec to Benk, along the Ukrainian border.“It’s a huge undertaking, but we had two years to prepare for it,” said Istvan Vamos, a scouting officer and camp leader from Boston.
The raft fleet launches from here, Tiszabecs, on Sunday afternoons between noon and 1 o’clock. The camp is a traditional mobile Scout camp, only instead of forests and fields, campers will travel on water this time. Along the way, the scouts will also collect trash from the boats, thus cleaning up one of the most polluted rivers in Europe.
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Photo: KMCSSZ press department
An initiative of the Association of Hungarian Scouts Abroad (KMCSSZ), Raft Camp preserves the 110-year-old tradition of Hungarian Scouting – in an entirely Hungarian organisation. Together with the Hungarian Scout Associations of Hungary, Vojvodina, Upland and Transylvania, the 9-day raft camp will take place at the KMCSSZ on the initial 100 km section of Upper Tisha, Scouts will come from 4 continents (South, North America, Australia and Europe).
Photo: KMCSSZ press department
Raft camps have a long history in the Hungarian Scouts, from the raft trip at the end of 1913 to organized tours on the Paraná River in Argentina and the Connecticut River in North America. In Hungary, KMCSSZ last organized a Tisza boat tour in 2013.
Photo: KMCSSZ press department
Cover photo: KMCSSZ Press Department
