World Challenge
World Challenge – Namibia
The trip leader Anna Horan gives a full report of this exciting venture.......
After a lot of hard work raising £3200 each, nine Year 12 girls departed for Namibia in July 2007. We stayed in the capital of Windhohekfor for one night and then departed in our truck for our acclimatisation phase. We first went to the Spitzkoppe, which is well known for its pinnacles, and had our first night of camping. We then travelled on to Brandberg Mountain, which is the highest mountain in Namibia. We started an early morning trek to see the famous Bushman cave paintings, which were still very clear due to their excellent preservation site. The last of our acclimatisation destinations was the best. We went to have a look at the natural rock formations at Twfelfontein (dwindling fountain) and stayed at a campsite where the locals sang and danced and taught us some of their songs. From here we travelled to Opuwo to see the famous Himba tribes - an unforgettable experience. We met the chief (who asked me to choose two of the girls to leave behind to be his fourth and fifth wives!) and the women of the tribe who showed us many of their day to day jobs and customs.
Acclimatisation phase complete, we travelled onto our project phase in the North of the country. Here we spent ten days transforming the three falling down rooms of the school into a brand new looking building, with new concrete floors and walls. We painted each of the rooms in a different theme and painted the school's name and mission statement, along with the Namibian emblem onto the front of the school. We also painted the world, Africa and Namibia on the back of the building, and some children on the side expressing their views on education and also Aids. Along with this we also helped to build new toilets, buy and erect football goals, and build a new fence. The project was a real eye opener and the community were fantastic. On the final day we gave the school the many gifts we had brought with us and they in turn gave us hand made bowls. We were sad to be leaving after our ten day stay.
Project over, we travelled to Waterberg Plateau for our main trek phase. This involved walking for around 6 hours a day and camping in outdoor huts. We also had a lot of time to ourselves to explore the area. The plateau had some stunning views as it is 150m above the rest of the surrounding area.
With all the hard work done, we had a rest and relaxation period before travelling to Swakopmund. Here we experienced sand dune boarding and then travelled onto Etosha National Park for a safari experience. This was my favourite part and we were lucky enough to see a variety of animals, including elephants, rhinos, lions, cheetahs, zebras and different types of antelope.
We spent our last two days back in the capital, where we explored the many craft markets and had a fabulous meal in the famous Joe's restaurant. An excellent way to end a most excellent trip!
The next World Challenge trip will be in 2010 to Malawi watch this space……….!
