Life at the Bay

Camp is a great place for children to get some much-needed time out from mom and dad and form relationships with other authoritative, yet not as threatening, figures: camp counselors. The role of a counselor is not only being of a guardian and caretaker, but a friend as well. Camper- counselor relationships provide long-lasting values for both parties; camp allows children the freedom to grow into independent individuals and teaches counselors teamwork, communication and responsibility. Let's take a look at the benefits of camper-counselor relationships. Counselors show campers that being an adult can be fun.  Children have many adults in their life: mom and dad, the family doctor, their teachers; they're constantly surrounded by someone who either always has something to do, stressed out from work or giving them instructions. A counselor is an adult that is also a peer to the camper. When they see an authoritative figure playing in the mud, ...

Being our in-house emergency response CPR trainer for our camp staff and counselors, a self-defence class instructor and a superhero to our planet; we caught up with League on being a mountain guide and how the rhino is his spirit animal.  From rock-climbing in Maine, leading a hike in Vietnam to being a mountain guide in upstate New York, League is definitely living up to his name by being in a league of his own.  We first set our eyes on the great adventurer in 2017 when he was a C.I.T (counselor in training). This is where we watched him transform into the great counselor he is today.  "I was extremely shy, I couldn't look people in the eye when I was speaking to them, it was really bad! Let's not even talk about public speaking!"   He exclaimed. League runs a specialized self-defence class at the Bay where he teaches campers basic moves to protect themselves. "I have been doing karate since I was 3 ye...

"Tea- making is a form of meditation for me, nothing is on my mind except the smell of the herbs, the different textures and the outcome of the different herb combinations." His love for tea began with a birthday tradition his mom started, where he found himself receiving a cup of tea on the night before and the morning of his birthday. "My mom always wanted to make me the last cup of tea of the age I was, and the first cup of the age I was turning. I can safely say my mom is my inspiration when it comes to tea-making." He shared. When introducing his tea-making at Sugar Bay as a specialized class, he was inflicted with doubts of whether campers would want to take part.  "When I first advertised my class, no-one came and I was so bummed about it. About twenty minutes later, three kids came up to me and asked if we could make some tea. That's when I knew my tea-making class was not just about teaching kids how to make tea; but it was ...

Ever wondered why our counselors have super cool nicknames? Well besides it being exciting having a name that suits your personality, campers also love it; even parents think it's quite neat! After all, it's easier to distinguish between Moonwalk and Spook than Josh and Josh. We have 5 popular types of counselor personalities we get to see around camp, what category do you fall under? Fireball:  If the name isn't already a hint that this type of counselor is the life of the party, you will definitely feel it on your first encounter with them. Besides illuminating a room with just their presence, they're also Mr. Funny Guy, throwing in banter and playing on words. Campers love these counselors; from the random fun facts on Marvel movies to the grand speeches on ocean life. Harmony:  This counselor is the designated fairy godmother at camp. Usually creative, they inspire and cultivate talents around camp with their nurturing personality. Bri...

We sat down with the Sugar Bay surfing PC (Pro Counselor), Smiles, on his surfing journey and who he thinks would win in a fight between Steven Seagal and Jean Claude van Damme. Real name Grant Anderson, was born in Johannesburg, Gauteng and went to North Cliff primary school before the Anderson tribe moved to sunny Durban in 2009. The surfing bug bit him at just 10 years old and he has never looked back. As a past camper at the Bay, he loved the positive influence the counselors had on him. "I felt like I could be myself, I was exposed to the one thing I love most in the world and I was surrounded by the most amazing people." Wanting to shine that light on someone else, in 2016, he joined our C.I.T (Counselors in Training) course where he had goals to become the surfing PC and the counselor he had always wanted to be.   What's your favourite part about teaching children how to surf?  "Just being able to share my passion with som...

Camp counselors have the most important role and are undoubtedly one of the most valuable assets to any summer camp. Their crazy, caring, fun and loving personalities are what campers keep coming back to camp for. However, their overly exciting and jam-packed schedules often leaving them smelling a little funky every now and then. Here are 5 things camp counselors smell like: 1. Sunscreen Due to campers being out and about in the exposure of the sun all day long, sun protection is a priority at summer camps. This means that counselors are responsible for applying and ensuring that all their campers are covered in sunblock. Sunblock isn’t particularly the best smelling type of lotion. It’s also rather sticky and is spread easily from one person to the next through body contact, which is why, through all the hugging and fun games, counselors end up smelling like a bottle of sunscreen. 2. Bug Spray You can’t expect to be in harmony with the bugs when you are invading their natural habitat...

We caught up with one of Sugar Bay’s very first counselors, “Hoova”, formally known as Baden Dowie. Hoover was with us for seven years and helped turn the Sugar Bay dream, into a reality. This fun and fantastic counselor is now happily married for seven years to Catherine Dowie, and they are parents to three children; Jack (4), Mackenzie (2) and Ewan (6 months).    Q & A with Hoova – Baden Dowie 1. How did your journey at camp begin? “ I arrived at Nic and Zoe’s home one rainy Sunday morning in March 2001. I turned up with a backpack, guitar and in an insecure, playful, bold and nervous twenty-year-old body. However, so excited to be part of building South Africa's first American styled children's holiday camp. Sugar Bay was just a construction site when I arrived; there was only an empty hall, steal frame structures, no pool, no grass on the sports field and no cabins either. I was privileged to have seen camp in its early stage. I worked at camp full time fr...

The best summer camp isn’t necessarily a summer camp with the most facilities or the best equipment. The best summer camp has the best counselors. Everyone wants to be a good camp counselor, and in order to do so, you would need to possess characteristics that contribute positively to the needs of the camping environment and the campers. Here are the top 5 characteristics of a good camp counselor; 1. Initiative   Taking the initiative of doing something before someone asks you to, is one of the most significant characteristics that a good counselor will need to possess. For example, if you see something on your path that someone could possibly trip on and therefore get injured by, you should take the initiative to remove this object, even if you didn’t trip on it. That’s what initiative is about. This characteristic is always needed at camp. 2. Selflessness   At camp, the campers always come first. What would you do if you’re really tired, and a camper canno...

  Named after the city of love and beauty… is our lover-of-pink and pretty camp Programmer, Paris!      Paris has been at Sugar Bay for 5 years.    Yes! That's half a decade!      She started of as a counselor in August 2011, worked her way up to become the first ever Arts & Crafts Instructor and then got promoted to Camp Programmer a year later.    Paris's favourite Sugar Bay activity is sea swim. She enjoys sea swim because it doesn't require any specialized equipment. “All you need is your costume and to head down to the beach. It's so much fun splashing around in the waves!” she said.    Our “pretty in pink” programmer's favourite camp food is fish and chips.    We asked Paris “What's the one thing people don't know about you?”   She replied: “I may look like a Princess, but I love getting down and dirty playing soccer and riding...

This week in our Sugar Bay Get to Know series, we get to know Sesame!   Named after the healthy seed and not after the Sesame Street Muppets, Sesame has been a counselor at Sugar Bay for 6 months.   Sesame, or Ses as many would call her, really enjoys stand-up-paddle-boarding (sup), space jump and king swing at Sugar Bay. She told us these were her absolute favourite activities at camp.    The other thing Sesame really loves at camp are the Chicken Schwarmas.    Ses described herself in 3 words as “Happy, Giving and always Willing!”    Sweet Ses, very sweet.  Sesame is quite a funny girl. She told us about one of her most embarrassing moments at camp which had us in stitches: “My most embarrassing moment at camp was when I walked head first into a member of ground staff who was carrying planks down the board walk. I was distracted, talking to the campers from my cabin and went head first into t...