Stopfordian 2010–2011 - Stockport Grammar School

The Stopfordian 2010–2011
The first team then travelled on to the
project phase. We spent a week in a
Pre-primary School in Dordabis. We
were involved in playing with the 5-6
year old children. They came from the
township to the school and were
delightfully affectionate and keen for attention. We also
constructed a lintel around the base of the school fence to
stop animals from getting into the playground and we painted
cartoon characters on the outside of the buildings for the
children to enjoy. This was the best part
of the trip for me and I loved spending
time with the children.
Finally we visited Etosha National park.
This is famous for the variety of wildlife
and the waterholes that you can observe at night. We saw lions,
dik dik, giraffe, zebra, elephant, rhino,many birds and gazelles.
L. J. Service
TEAM ONE
We set off in matching fluorescent yellow t shirts on what
would become the adventure of a lifetime. After more hours
travelling than it is possible to count, we arrived in the capital
of Windhoek and had a lovely first few days exploring the city
(despite discovering that it is impossible to cook oven chips
without an oven). Next, we were off on our community
project and had a thoroughly enjoyable time painting a preschool
and teaching some English at a pre-school in Dordabis.
Getting to know the wonderful children was a highlight of the
trip for many. After reluctantly saying goodbye to the
children, and the owners of the wonderful farm on which we
were staying, it was time to go to Swakopmund. Everyone
jumped at the chance to spend a couple of days relaxing at
the beach, before a third day trying our hands at
sandboarding. Some were more successful than others.
to the final stage, the trek, with a mixture of fear and
excitement. We were to spend four days in the Naukluft
mountains, alone in the National Park. On the second day we
were met both by a highly poisonous snake and a set of chains
we had to abseil down. It is questionable which scared
people more. However the sense of achievement when we
reached the bottom was great, as was the sense of
achievement when we finally finished. Unfortunately this was
slightly marred by having to walk several kilometres after
finishing to reach our broken down bus. But of course we
made it in the end and were soon at Agama camp to spend a
day doing nothing but sitting by the (bone-chillingly cold)
swimming pool. The next day was
spent at Sossusvlei
trekking up some
We then moved on to Etosha National Park and saw an
amazing range of animals, the highlights being a
stand-off between an elephant and a rhino at
the watering hole and a pride of lions
standing metres away from our
coach. After restocking back in
Windhoek, we moved on
Trips 55