Kubb -- the Swedish Viking game that found a place in Africa

Our guest contributor, David Kamras, delighted everyone on the truck when, in Yaounde, Cameroun, he slipped away one afternoon and came back a few hours later with a very heavy bag. Inside the bag was a collection of perfectly sawed and sanded rectangular wooden cuboids. One of them was slightly larger than the others and according to David, called the 'King'. (Orm immediately took the initiative and painted Johnny Walker on the sides - to resemble the walking man as seen on the box... See the side bar)

Kubb (pronounced [kʉb] in Swedish or [kub] in Gutnish) is a lawn game where the object is to knock over wooden blocks by throwing wooden sticks at them. Kubb can be simply described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes. Today's version originated on the island of Gotland, Sweden.

Rules vary from country to country and from region to region, but the ultimate object of the game is to knock the "king" over, before the opponent does. (see what the Tokoloshe says about the way the game is played). This, combined with the fact that there is a certain level of strategy that can be used by players, has led some players and kubb fans to nickname the game "Viking chess." Looking at our boys play Kubb, I can confirm that it is an extremely competitive sport. When Sweden and Britain, team up against Canada and Australia, the tempers can flare up, the vocabulary can become colourful, the emotions can run high -- and a lot of fun will always be had!

Some games have been known to last for hours. The game can be played on a variety of surfaces such as sand, concrete, grass, or even ice. On our trip the surfaces ranged from dried out mud to a very lively top of a termite mound to the sands of the Sahara. Wherever, and whenever, when the truck came to a stop and the Kubb players were not responsible for cooking the meal of the night, the game was enjoyed by all -- participants and spectators alike!

Thank you David -- for an excellent gift to the trip!