The participants have arrived!!

All of the participants for the ten week expedition arrived safely on Saturday morning and after a quick cup of tea and a biscuit (we thought we’d be nice seeing as it was their first morning!) they got straight into training and setting up camp in their groups. Everyone has been learning how to use HF radios, build a fire, use tools safely, mix concrete and cook for fifteen people on a camp fire. The cooking has actually been very impressive, we definitely have some budding Jamie Olivers and Nigella Lawsons on the expedition, for which the rest of us are extremely grateful!

Everyone has done a practice trek, which involved packing a full rucksack and walking in groups up the hill beyond Fieldbase, past the Gingerbread House and to the rather spectacular viewpoint over Windhoek. There have also been lots of team building games and energizers; you really know that you are on a Raleigh expedition when ‘Giants, Wizards and Dwarves’, ‘Amebas and Monkeys’ and penguin races are the order of the day.

Everyone is in really high spirits and making new friends very quickly. The Fieldbase shop is open everyday selling drinks, chocolate and crisps, which is probably helping people with the early mornings and cold nights!