Laughter around a campfire, star-lit nights, sandstorms, aching muscles and kilometers of sand between us and the Coca-Cola Café…these were some of the highlights of the Year 11 Desert Challenge this January.  Ann James, Trudy Jenkinson, Iain Short, Desert Queen Robyn Fox and our wonderful KICS guard Getnet Awoke accompanied Year 11 on this trip.  The first day of the 33-kilometer trek welcomed us with well-over 30 degree weather.  That in itself was a challenge for the students, but they were determined to make it to the first campsite.  A surprising rain shower developed at 2am the first night, and we all had a laugh and grumble, but the shower ended and all fell back into an exhausted slumber.

 
The second day-the longest trek of 16 kilometers- started slowly with the Year 11 trying to find leadership within the group.  One of the main goals of the trip was for these students to lead themselves through the desert by making their own decisions on everything from when to wake up, to making sure that groups stayed together to actually navigating between base camps and campsites for the night. They managed to do this well with encouragement!

A great night was had by all around the campfire the final night.  (Alison Seadon has pics of the campfire) The students were amazed at their ability to walk in flying sand, wind and heat through the desert.  The landscape was filled of things to treat the eye, and during rest stops, the students replenished their water and at one break even sampled a delicious watermelon Mr. Iain and Ms. Robyn bought on the outskirts of Khartoum.

All in all, the trip was difficult, but rewarding.  I believe the students as well as  Ms. Trudy and I learned much about the wonderful desert landscape of Sudan, and about how the physical and mental challenges of the trip could be an inspiration to doing very well on the final IGCSE examinations later this year.  Year 11 has set the stage for success by making Desert Challenge 2010 an experience to be remembered for a very long time.

Ms. Ann James
Year 11 Tutor