And they all did so well!

Alpha 1 completed the school in fantastic style and due to previously undiscovered creative genius within the group. Country Director Jim was blown away by the art work, as were Denise, Susie and Tim who had the privilege of going up to the opening ceremony. One classroom has an underwater theme and includes an enormous chalkboard in the shape of a whale and the other depicts outer space with a chalkboard in the shape of a rocket. Caz’s Mr. Men books came in handy for inspiration when decorating the outside of the school and the group also painted a roll of honour which includes the names of everyone who has worked on the school during the expedition.

The opening ceremony was wonderful and included traditional dancing by the local community, singing by the school children and an impressive rendition of ’Lean on Me’ by Alpha 1. Pastor Ndemwimba said ’The new building is like a gift falling from Heaven’ so we cannot underestimate what the school means to the community and are very proud of everyone who has made it possible.

Alpha 2 had a wonderful phase down at the Sperrgebiet. They had several braai, day trips to the beach and went shopping in town. The group also came up with several excuses for a party, most notably birthday celebrations for Laura and Helen. It’s not clear how the Tarts and Vicars party was relevant but the black tie do for Laura’s 18th was a glamorous affair, as was the birthday breakfast of cereal and fresh milk, fried eggs and French toast.

The group has worked really hard this phase, carrying out a significant amount of leaf clearing and doing a fantastic job of painting the Ministry of Environment and Tourism’s buildings. Trygve Cooper, Raleigh’s Project Partner has been incredibly impressed by the quality of work on this expedition and would like to congratulate everyone who has been to the Sperrgebiet during the past ten weeks as they have all done a brilliant job.

Alpha 3 seem to have found this whole trekking business way too easy, possibly helped by the daily yoga sessions which have kept everyone in shape. Charlie was clearly justified in deciding that her ‘Teach yourself yoga’ book was an essential as opposed to luxury item and Dave has persevered in spite of a few difficulties with certain positions!

The group had a lovely couple of days sunbathing by the pool and giving each other massages at Ugab Wilderness Camp and when they spent an evening at The Lodge Sze managed to guarantee herself the best dessert by chatting up the barman. She had been on trek rations after all so we think it was really quite enterprising!

This was the fourth group to trek over 200km through the desert and make it successfully to the Skeleton Coast for a celebratory braai. It is the most amazing achievement so every single participant should be so proud of themselves for having made it!

All of Alpha 4 managed to have a trip to visit the animals at Harnas (except on the day that Marianne and Susie went to visit but they plan to get over it in time...) and Charlotte survived seeing the lions unscathed but suffered an unprovoked attack from Stumpy the Mongoose (who is about the same size as Elvis the Fieldbase cat) and now has an almost discernable bruise on her leg. Ali was Longtail (the other mongoose’s) victim of choice.

The group has been working so hard that James and Rainbow have been very much in demand for massages. The wielding of pickaxes and the like and the 7km walk to the worksite has certainly kept this group super fit, as has Sunday football matches. The boys promised to streak if they scored a goal during the last game, but clearly lost their bottle as they went on to be beaten 4-0 by the opposition.

The group has made a huge contribution to the development of this new site and because of their hard work, the lions are now ready to move into their new enclosure. Well done everyone!