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Ex Lesotho Tiger Venturer (July 2011)

On 9th July 2011 fifteen cadets and 4 Cadet Force adult volunteers embarked on a challenging and arduous expedition to the Kingdom of Lesotho in Southern Africa. The aim of the trip was to support Prince Harry's Charity, Sentebale. This Charity was founded by Prince Harry and Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, and I was extremely lucky to be one of the fifteen cadets from across the UK to be selected to be part of this once in a lifetime experience.

On Saturday 9th July we all met up at Surrey AFC HQ in Farncombe for pre-expedition preparation. This was only the second time the group had met up (the first time was for a training weekend) and was designed mainly to check our kit (and then running to the local shops to buy all the things we had forgotten!). We set off the next day for Heathrow Airport ready for the 11½ hour flight to Johannesburg and another 1½ hour internal flight to Durban.

The team eventually arrived at the Simangaliso Wetland Park in Durban on the Monday evening very tired from the 26 hours travelling. We then split into 2 groups, each spending a day on the beach and the next at Mkhuze Game Reserve. The 3 nights we stayed were in 3-bed log cabins right on the beach front. Every night we cooked traditional South African delicacies whilst at the same time trying to keep the monkeys away from our food!

We also visited the historical battle grounds of Rorke's Drift and Isandhlwana. At Rorkes Drift, some 150 British soldiers defended a supply point from over 4000 Zulus - a total of 11 Victoria Crosses were awarded after this battle. Both of the battles were against the Zulu warriors and staff from the Entabeni Education Centre, who were with us for the whole expedition, gave us a historical tour of the battle grounds. One of the tour guides was a Zulu, so it was very interesting to hear about how the Zulus fought the war and the battle traditions that they had employed.

The whole group then moved to Maseru, the capital of Lesotho, staying at a disabled children's school where one of the groups would be doing support work. Seeing the capital city, the people and the buildings was quite a shock to us all as most of us hadn't visited a less developed country before. Seeing how the people lived and worked was very interesting when comparing it to back home in the UK.

The second group moved on to Pulane, Southern Lesotho, where we would be working at a children's orphanage carrying out essential maintenance and repairs including repainting bedrooms and the many wooden framed beds. The orphanage was surrounded by mountains and was some 1700m above sea level. This altitude took our breath on many occasions and only by the last day were we becoming accustomed to it. The 35 children from the orphanage, all ages up to 15 years, seemed really happy to see us. We were the first British group to visit the centre which was very special for them and for the English lady who ran it. Lesotho’s official languages are Sesotho and English so we had the pleasure of helping them with their English lessons. Their smiles, I'm sure, will stay in everyone's hearts for a very long time to come.

We finally left the centre with feelings of gratitude, moving back into South Africa to Johannesburg for the final part of our stay. We visited a lion park where we had the chance to play with lion cubs, giraffes and to see many other wild animals. We also visited a cultural centre where we learnt about the different tribes in South Africa such as the Basotho people of Lesotho and the Zulu people of KwaZulu-Natal province.

I would wholeheartedly recommend this expedition or something similar to anyone. I learnt so much whilst there, not only about myself but also about the people and the environment around me. The experience will be one I am sure I will never ever forget.

I would like to give special thanks to Major T Hayter and Colonel AM Blowers for organising and conducting the expedition.

Conan McBroom, Trenchard 10E

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