After winning the Regional WESSA quiz earlier this year, Joseph Grobler, Ilijah Matveyuk, Philip Meyer and Ndumiso Mkhize participated in the national competition held at the university library in Pietermaritzburg on1 August.
16 teams from all over the country competed. The two hour quiz was well-organised and consisted of ten rounds of identification questions. Each team was required to submit written answers for each round of questions and the papers were subsequently marked. The questions were not that difficult if you knew exactly which pair of horns, snail, snake or plant you were looking at! The quiz focussed on knowledge about wildlife this year and the competition was stiff. The quizmaster also directed questions to the audience who won chocolates for correct answers.
DSS came 5th which was remarkable considering that it was the first time we competed at this level. Delicious light snacks were served at the end of the evening. We slept overnight at the Umgeni Valley Nature Reserve (which hosts the WESSA headquarters). The boys could witness to their fellow competitors, sharing their faith and testimonies. The next morning after an early breakfast we hiked to a scientific water testing plant in a ravine, scrambled over an obstacle course and abseiled down the rocky crags on the reserve.
Exhausted and dusty we enjoyed a fantastic lunch at the mall on the way home. We already have our sights set on higher things next year!
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