Photos from the trek

Trekking, camping and other fun stuff associated with a Raleigh International trek!!

Visiting the trekkers

I have just spent the most amazing few days with Alpha 3. The group is trekking through stunning scenery and getting super fit in the process. Hanni and I arrived on Tuesday at the Ugab Wilderness Camp to find the campsite deserted. Upon further investigation we discovered most of the group sunbathing around the pool at The Lodge. It certainly appeared more holiday camp than Raleigh International hardcore trek phase! Much teasing ensued but we were assured that this was a one off and that this was the group’s only opportunity to wash (not in the swimming pool of course, there were showers as well!) during the entire phase. A direct quote from Helen was ‘when we showered the water ran off us black’. Nice!

We all returned to the campsite to find some very exciting visitors, a herd of elephants (do five qualify as a herd?!) had decided to call by and it was just incredible to see them so close. The whole group was on a complete high afterwards and the elephants were the main topic of conversation that evening. Poor Carlos, the resident meerkat was very disappointed not to be the centre of attention for once!

The next day we trekked to the Brandberg Massif (the biggest mountain in Namibia) and it was breathtaking when the sun came up as the mountain actually glowed red. After making camp everyone visited the White Lady, which is rock art dating back at least 2000 years. The following day most of the group climbed the Brandberg, which was seriously impressive. Some of us didn’t quite make it to the top, all of the boys managed and Megan did it for the girls.

The group is doing a brilliant job trekking through difficult terrain and making camp on a daily basis. They have had some great times (playing games with local children at Anixab, stargazing, finding a pool in the middle of the desert) and some funny times (Wendy taking her slippers on trek, Megan mistaking a toilet roll for a snake and Alex waking up with George’s arm around him) and they are only half way there!. They are all very determined to make it to the Skeleton Coast and won’t let anything get in their way!

Ten week expedition photo

All staff and participants together before setting off to the project sites.