It's finally come around. At 3:30 tomorrow morning, I will leave for Gatwick Airport with a group of Explorer Scouts from around Hampshire. We will fly out to Banjul in Gambia, before heading east to Kaira Konko Scout Lodge in Soma. We will then be helping the local communities and running scouting activities for two weeks. So EDCF, see you in a couple of weeks!
Nice work! What an experience for all and on top that making a difference!! Tip hat, head nod, fist bump.
I'm back safe and sound! Landed 23:00 at London Gatwick last night, got back to the scout hut, slept and gave a presentation to parents. I will write a full trip report when I can, but I've got lots to sort and A-level exams on monday!
Ok, trip report. It'll come in parts as I upload photos. Intro The expedition is run every other by Hampshire Explorer Scouts to the Kaira Konko Scout Lodge in Some, The Gambia. For those that don't know, Gambia is in North-West Africa. It's a long thin strip of land following the River Gambia surrounded on 3 sides by Senegal, and to the west the Atlantic. This year I had a chance to join the expedition, spending two weeks in Gambia from 28th dec. However, it took over a year of preparation and fundraising to reach that point. The expedition costs around £1200, plus vaccinations, Malarone etc. As well as fundraising, there were also several weekend training camps for us to get to know the other members, as there were 30 of us from across the county. Kaira Konko Kaira Konko, or KK, is a translation of 'Pax Hill', Lord Baden-Powells' house into Mandinka, the tribal language used in the village of Soma. It began as a single building by the first expedition, but has expanded to include a bantaba (eating/relaxing area), crew room, store room, external bedrooms, two gardens and room to sleep nearly 40 people. Travel We met at the scout hut at 3:45am, (I myself had no sleep that night), and left after saying goodby to our parents for London Gatwick. It was a 6 hour flight, and we arrived early afternoon in temperatures of 30-35C at Banjul International. We boarded a mixture of open jeeps and local ghellies (A kind of minibus) and drove an hour to Tunami Tenda Ecolodge. We stayed here for two nights, to acclimatise to Gambia and to buy supplies from Banjul before heading inland. There were also a few activities, a tour through the local village, as well as a forest run by the community. Back in the jeeps & ghellies, we began the trip to Soma. The first half of the trip was on tarmac and went fairly quickly, despite regular stops for police and military checkpoints. Both police and army run checkpoints to combat drug smuggling and are armed. Obviously, we don't have pictures of these.
Bit busy to keep uploading pictures. If you want to see more, do tell me. Otherwise, here's what we got up to: And a little bit of fun: