Guajataka Scout Reservation or Camp Guajataka (Campamento Guajataka in Spanish), often simply referred to as Guajataka and nicknamed Santuario de Amistad ( en, Sanctuary of Friendship), is a Scout reservation of the Puerto Rico Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and the council's only camping grounds. The camp is located in

San Sebastián, Puerto Rico San Sebastián (, ) is a town and municipality of Puerto Rico located in the northwestern region of the island, south of Isabela, Quebradillas and Camuy; north of Las Marías; east of Moca and Añasco; and west of Lares. San Sebastián is sp ...

, in the northwest, and partially borders the southern portion of

Guajataca Lake Guajataca Lake, or Lago Guajataca, is a reservoir of the Guajataca River created by the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority in 1929. It is located between the municipalities of San Sebastián, Quebradillas, and Isabela in Puerto Rico, and re ...

, from which the camp takes part of its name. The camp was founded in 1938 with the transfer of land from the Government of Puerto Rico to the Puerto Rico BSA Council. The facility has a participant capacity of little more than 500 individuals. The location and climate allows for year round recreational activities such as camping, seminars, leadership trainings and other

Scouting Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement employing the Scout method, a program of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activities, including camping, woodcraft, aquatics, hiking, backpacking ...

-related activities.

Natural features and wildlife

The scout reservation is located 200 meters above sea level with a topology which includes level land and low hills. The camp is situated a short distance from a scenic, two-mile canyon of the tributary Guajataca River between steep cliffs which is accessible by canoe. Natural limestone caverns are a short drive away. The camp's tropical forest is home to more than 50 species of trees, some like Stahlia monosperma which are rare and endangered species. More than 60 species of birds which include

hummingbirds Hummingbirds are birds native to the Americas and comprise the biological family Trochilidae. With about 361 species and 113 genera, they occur from Alaska to Tierra del Fuego, but the vast majority of the species are found in the tropics arou ...

, quail-doves,

peregrine falcons The peregrine falcon (''Falco peregrinus''), also known as the peregrine, and historically as the duck hawk in North America, is a cosmopolitan bird of prey (raptor) in the family Falconidae. A large, crow-sized falcon, it has a blue-grey back, ...

, ospreys,

owls Owls are birds from the Order (biology), order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly Solitary animal, solitary and Nocturnal animal, nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vi ...

pelicans Pelicans (genus ''Pelecanus'') are a genus of large water birds that make up the family Pelecanidae. They are characterized by a long beak and a large throat pouch used for catching prey and draining water from the scooped-up contents before s ...

and

grebes Grebes () are aquatic diving birds in the order (biology), order Podicipediformes . Grebes are widely distributed freshwater birds, with some species also found in sea, marine habitats during Bird migration, migration and winter. Some flightless ...

. Numerous reptiles and amphibians such as tree frogs and coquis are also found in the forest. Various species of fish such

peacock bass Peacock bass or Brazilian tucunaré are large freshwater cichlids of the genus ''Cichla''. These are diurnal predatory fishes native to the Amazon and Orinoco basins, as well as rivers of the Guianas, in tropical South America. They are someti ...

largemouth bass The largemouth bass (''Micropterus salmoides'') is a carnivorous freshwater gamefish in the Centrarchidae ( sunfish) family, a species of black bass native to the eastern and central United States, southeastern Canada and northern Mexico, but ...

, sunfish,

perch Perch is a common name for fish of the genus ''Perca'', freshwater gamefish belonging to the family Percidae. The perch, of which three species occur in different geographical areas, lend their name to a large order of vertebrates: the Percif ...

catfish Catfish (or catfishes; order Siluriformes or Nematognathi) are a diverse group of ray-finned fish. Named for their prominent barbels, which resemble a cat's whiskers, catfish range in size and behavior from the three largest species alive, ...

tilapia Tilapia ( ) is the common name for nearly a hundred species of cichlid fish from the coelotilapine, coptodonine, heterotilapine, oreochromine, pelmatolapiine, and tilapiine tribes (formerly all were "Tilapiini"), with the economically most ...

and

threadfin shad The threadfin shad (''Dorosoma petenense'') is a small pelagic fish common in rivers, large streams, and reservoirs of the Southeastern United States. Like the American gizzard shad, the threadfin shad has an elongated dorsal ray, but unlike the ...

can be found in

. File:Campamento Guajataka, San Sebastián, Puerto Rico.jpg, Entryway to Guajataka Scout Reservation among the bamboo forest

Lodging facilities

Scouts and leaders who visit are lodged in one of the ten campsites, in-campsite cabins or stand-alone cabin-campsites of the reservation. The campsites feature a series of concrete-and-wood cabins which house the visiting campers. Some of the campsite areas are identified by letters (Campsites A, B, C, D, M, SP) while the Paquito Joglar, El Palomar, Casa Manolín and Cóbana Negra campsites are stand-alone cabin-campsites that are located inside the camp's vast tropical mameyuelo woods. Cóbana Negra is designed to better accommodate persons with disabilities. The Paquito Joglar and Manolín cabins are named in honor of distinguished Scouting figures of Puerto Rico, Francisco "Paquito" Joglar Herrero and Manuel González Jones ("Don Mano"), respectively. The SP or Swimming Pool Campsite, Palomar and Cóbana Negra cabins are named based on their location, flora or physical characteristics. File:Guajataka Campsite C.jpg, Campsite C cabins File:Angel Ramos Building at Guajataka.jpg, Ángel Ramos Building located in Camp Guajataka File:Robert Baden-Powell statueguajataka.jpg,

Robert Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the worl ...

statue

Programs and activities

The camp runs year-round with the most popular seasons being Holy Week, Summer and Christmas. The main program runs during the summer, in which ten weeks are divided for

Cub Scouts Cub Scouts, Cubs or Wolf Cubs are programs associated with Scouting for young children usually between 7 and 12, depending on the organization to which they belong. A participant in the program is called a Cub. A group of Cubs is called a 'P ...

Scouts BSA Scouts BSA (previously known as Boy Scouts, the official name until 2019) is the flagship membership level of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) for boys and girls between the ages of typically 11 and 17. It provides youth training in moral char ...

, and

Venturing Venturing is a core program of the Boy Scouts of America for young men and women ages 14 (or 13 and graduated the eighth grade) through 20. It is one of the Boy Scouts' three programs for older youth, which also include Sea Scouts and Exploring. ...

. The Christmas season runs for a single week and summarizes the summer's offerings open for both Cub Scouts and Scouts BSA. A short three-to-four-day camp has also been offered during spring break with a similar program to the one offered during the Christmas camp. The camp also operates off-season for special troop activities or external groups that wish to experience the outdoor spirit of the reservation as well as activities such as

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. Common meanings of the term are limited to when the canoeing is the central purpose of the activity. Broader meanings include when it is combined with other acti ...

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In m ...

and BB rifle shooting. COPE program activities, which include

rappelling Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling the person descending controls their own movement down the rope, in contrast to low ...

and climbing, as well as

Wood Badge Wood Badge is a Scouting leadership programme and the related award for adult leaders in the programmes of Scout associations throughout the world. Wood Badge courses aim to make Scouters better leaders by teaching advanced leadership skill ...

courses are offered at Camp Guajataka. File:Guajataka Scout Reservation campfire.jpg, Guajataka Scout Reservation campfire area File:Guajataka Pools.jpg, Pools File:Sunfish sailboat on Lake Guajataca.jpg, Sailing on Lake Guajataca

Yokahu Lodge

Guajataka is the official home of Yokahu Lodge, the council's

Order of the Arrow The Order of the Arrow (OA) is the honor society of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA), composed of Scouts and Scouters who best exemplify the Scout Oath and Law in their daily lives as elected by their peers. The society was created by E. Urner G ...

Lodge. Most of Yokahu Lodge's activities are celebrated in the camp and for years the Order has given service to the facilities. The OA has its own campsite, called "The Cabin", which occupancy has been discontinued due to structural damages, but remains standing. In the past, the Paquito Joglar campsite area was considered the official gathering place for the Lodge, later becoming a campers area due to the need of space for the many Scouts that attended camp in summer.

Camp staff

The staff of the camp are structured based on Scouting's patrol system. These patrols are based on different specialization areas in the camp's program. The current patrols are Program Aide (Scoutcraft/Scout skills), Nature Team (ecology and conservation), Aquatic Team (pool and lake activities), Sport Team (sports and recreation), and Staff Administrativo (camp administration). On June 24, 2021, the Voyagers (high adventure, treks and Project C.O.P.E.) joined the Order of the Arrow patrol as defunct patrols, no longer serving camp. Each patrol is led by a director, an adult leader who serves as an administrative official, and a Patrol Leader, a youth in charge of the patrol's specific program. In the past, each patrol had its own campsite nearby or next to their base of operations in the wooded areas of the camp, where they pitched their own tents and worked on pioneering gates that awed campers and visitors alike. All staff members were located in a single house cabin called Casa Staff (Staff House) from 2006 until 2018. Patrols campsites were later reinstated in 2019 in the wooded areas of Guaraguao (Nature Team), Bosquesito (Administrative Staff), Caja de Muerto (Sport Team), Pailas (Aquatic Team) and Tinieblas (Program Aide). Due to its long history, the patrol system has served to develop a series of traditions inside each patrol. A tradition shared by all patrols is a simple recognition, symbolized by a neckerchief, presented to a Staff member who has truly served the patrol and the camp, demonstrates and shares their knowledge, and, most of the times, has been a member of the patrol for two or more years. Their neckerchiefs as well as their shoelaces (a tradition of Guajataka Camp patrols) have different colors, each color representing a specific patrol: red (Program Aide), forest green (Nature Team), light blue (Aquatic Team), purple (Sport Team), and yellow (Administrative Staff).

Hurricane Maria

In 2017 Guajataka Scout Reservation suffered major damage during

Hurricane Maria Hurricane Maria was a deadly Saffir–Simpson scale#Category 5, Category 5 Tropical cyclone, hurricane that devastated the northeastern Caribbean in September 2017, particularly Dominica, Saint Croix, and Puerto Rico. It is regarded as the wo ...

. In the aftermath of the storm, the Guajataca Dam, which holds back the water in

, came close to failure. In the months which followed the storm, Scouts from around the world aided in rebuilding efforts through donations and volunteer activities.

References

{{Reflist Local council camps of the Boy Scouts of America Geography of Puerto Rico 1938 establishments in Puerto Rico