From 1 – 7 March the Grade 9 students from Stanford Lake College embarked on their first expedition of the year – ‘In the Footsteps of Legends’. The Trek is so-called in honour of all the Stanfordians who have previously embarked on the expedition. The group spent three and a half days hiking over the mountains between Sekororo Village and Penge Village, retracing the steps that Louis Trichardt took in 1838. The group was taken to some of the most beautiful and interesting locations South Africa has to offer, including the Christmas Plateau, their campsite on the first evening. On the second day, the first 700m took the group over 2 hours to complete as they ascended almost 300m. At the top, they visited the site where, to this day, people are digging to find the mythical Kruger millions, where Paul Kruger is believed to have buried millions of Kruger Rands before his exile.

After another couple of days of walking, the Grade 9 group reached Penge Village where they were met with their rafts for the water section of the trip, readying themselves for an eventful rafting experience on the Olifants River. Here, all the preparations and safety training that they have learned during class time was put to the test. Thankfully for all the weary souls who were tired and needed a break the first day on the water was only 10km filled with only a few small rapids that gave a taste of the larger ones to come. The second day was a much longer day on the water with about 25km covered until camp. The rapids were increasing in intensity and kept the adrenaline up and eyes wide open. The days spent on the water were all building up to the final day, where the first rapids started only 100m from camp in the Olifants River Gorge. The first major one being “Rent-O-Kill”. This name has struck fear into the hearts of many nervous paddlers over the years and so it was no surprise that when given the option, some students walked around the rapid instead of running it. However, those who decided to run the rapid seemed to have a blast judging by the smiles on their faces. “Rent-O-Kill” lived up to its expectations and claimed a few tipped rafts and empty kayaks.
From here on down, the river didn’t ease up because rapids such as Double Trouble, Corner Post, Long Drop, Simple Simon and Roller Coaster were still to come. The pupils had an amazing time on the expedition and left the water in good spirts and with countless stories to tell back at school. These are the moments that will last with them for their entire high school career and even later on in life, around a braai.