News Archive

LWA’s first World Challenge expedition to Namibia this summer was a tremendous success!  Having raised £3195 each prior to the trip, the 6 students who went also raised an additional £700 with the support of the rest of the Academy to donate equipment and resources to our community project.

The first ten days were spent in the shadow of the Waterberg Plateau Wildlife Reserve working on a community project to build a Kindergarten School. The students worked hard with limited resources and tools to correct the faulty aspects of the previous group’s work, bringing the building up to damp course level by the time they left.  During this time the group was visited by the British High Commissioner, Marianne Young, who is currently researching work undertaken in Namibia by British Nationals. She spent time looking at the work they were doing and speaking with the students about their experiences and intentions.  They were also invited to a house party held by one of the reserve staff.

Work complete, the students embarked on the second part of the trip – the trekking. They spent two days trekking along the coast and then through the Namib dessert. Here they tried their hand at rock climbing and witnessed the world renowned white clay pan, Deadvlei. The highlight of this section was the climbing of Dune 45 to see the sun rise over the sand which required a wake-up call at 5am! The final trek was 70k along the beautiful Fish River Canyon. A qualifying Duke of Edinburgh Expedition, this challenge required the students and staff to be completely self-sufficient for 5 days of challenging trekking.

Throughout the trip the views were stunning (the star-studded night skies were incredible!)  In terms of wildlife we saw zebra running right past us, had a visit one night on the beach from howling Jackals, woke up to fresh Leopard tracks through the camp one morning and saw Rhino casually emerging from the bushes as we travelled on the overnight train into the city!

In the 3½ weeks spent in Namibia, the students spent 2 nights in a youth hostel, 2 nights on a plane, one night on a train and all the rest in a tent. Only 2 meals were taken in a restaurant with the rest being self-cooked on trangias, barbeques and open fires. They made nearly 500 chapattis from scratch for lunches, collected enough firewood for 21 camp fires, crossed the Fish River 8 times, and each student had at least one day when they were group leader. The average bedtime was 7pm and average get up was 6am! One restaurant meal saw the students ordering  gemsbok, zebra and kudu, not the kind of menu they would normally see in the UK!

Each student complied a huge list of personal achievements by the end - many students had to overcome homesickness, small disagreements in the field, fear of heights, budgeting, mild tummy upsets, sometimes being a little hungry on trek, not being a fussy eater, fear of creepy crawlies, physical fatigue, blisters and aches and pains due to carrying a heavy rucksack on many consecutive days.  Each member of the team learned to deal with the consequences of their own actions in such a small and contained environment exceptionally well.

By far, the unanimous highlight for the students was the R&R on the last 2 days in the coastal holiday resort of Swakopmund, and more specifically the sand dune boarding. The students spent a morning learning how to board both standing up and lying down, the latter turning into a competition of speed with some students reaching up to 70+km per hour!