Travel Grants Knox-Johnston Awards

Costa Rica

I travelled to Costa Rica on the 15th of July and arrived in San Jose on the 16th of July, where we stayed for one night. There were 12 of us in total, 3 boys and 9 girls, 3 from Canada, 2 from America, 6 living in England (2 of which were French) and 1 living in Dubai (but was French).

After leaving San Jose we had a 3-hour journey to Siquirres where we stayed in a hotel. We did the majority of our volunteering during the first week. We travelled to a primary school, in a remote town, about an hour from the hotel and, once we arrived, we promptly got started on our main job – helping to paint the school. The school had not been painted since it was first built, so we painted walls, windows, and a football stand. We also got time to play games with the local children and met some girls who had started their own business of selling soaps and candles to help pay for university fees.

We continued to help paint the school for the first week and then went back to the hotel and discussed how the day went and played games. Myself and another one of the guys wanted to play pool, but some other people were using it, and we didn’t speak Spanish, so we used google translate and asked if we could play next. They used Google Translate to respond, asking if we wanted to play against them – which we did. A few nights later we saw one of the guys again when in town and managed to get a photo.

We went into the town of Siquirres for dinner most nights. My favourite meal when I was in Siquirres was when we went to the guide’s friend’s house and we got a homemade meal which included, chicken, yucca, friend plantain, green beans, and Caribbean sauce. The most common food was definitely rice and beans, which was surprisngly tasty.

The second week was the activity week. We moved hotels and stayed in lodges next to a river in the town of Jimenez. We were a 10-minute drive from the town, which is where we started our days, meeting to discuss what the plans were. Unfortunately, it was during this week that one of the guys got a bacterial infection, so he missed out on a lot of the activities – which brought our group number down to 11.

We travelled to a waterfall and ziplining centre where we all took part, although some where terrified of heights. We also went on a waterfall hike and managed to go swimming as the weather was beautiful. We all took part in cooking, painting, and dancing classes and these were great fun as everyone got involved and managed to learn some things at the same time.

After 3 days staying in the lodges, the next stop was a campsite which we rafted to in teams of two boats. It took about 2 hours to get to the campsite and, once we arrived, we were assigned tent pairings and got to explore the area. We helped to cook dinner whilst there and built a fire at the beach next to the river. We camped for 2 days and on the second day we rafted further down the river back to Siquirres, where we stayed the first week. This time the rafting was a bit longer, taking us 3 hours in total. Once we arrived, we met up with the ill person and all ate lunch together.

We then travelled back to San Jose for our last night, where we stayed in a hostel, played games together, and all ate pizza. The Canadians were the first to leave the next morning and then it was the people flying back to London. I travelled to the airport with 2 others, although we were on separate flights, so we said out goodbyes and I boarded the plane.

Costa Rica was not my first choice of trips, as I had originally planned to go to Nepal but couldn’t due to a lack of numbers, but it all worked out for the best because I couldn’t have wished for a better place to go.

This trip has been an experience of a lifetime and I would do it again in a heartbeat if I could. I am extremely grateful to The Old Berkhamstedians for giving me this opportunity as, without the travel grant, I would not have had the chance to experience what I did. This trip has showed me that I want to travel and explore the world a lot more because there is so much to learn from just witnessing other cultures and how the world works. I hope to stay in contact with everyone from the trip and the plan is to do a reunion at some point next year if possible.

Pura Vida.

Connor Peters

Croatia

For the travel grant trip, a few of my friends and I decided to go to Omis, Croatia. After doing a bit of research on how we could help out with the environment, we found a volunteer group called IVHQ. After getting in contact with them, we quickly decided that this trip would be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and started to plan the trip. After a few organisational hiccups between the group, we sorted the trip and were ready for the interview. We had planned out our answers to possible questions and sat waiting anxiously outside the room. After the interview, there was a short waiting time until we heard the news that we were granted a very generous amount to fund our trip.

On arrival at the airport, the group met up and headed to Leon for an early breakfast. We then made our way to the gate, waiting patiently but eager to get started. We boarded the plane and flew into Spilt. After landing, we met a volunteer and they took us to the hostel within Spilt where we met one of the heads of the program. From there, we walked into the centre of Split and had an amazing tour around an old Roman palace, owned by Emperor Diocletian. After the tour, we quickly exchanged our money for the Croatian Kuna and then went to a small restaurant to have a drink in the harbour. We then got the bus over to Omis to start our experience. This Bus journey made us embrace the ‘Balkan way’ where what happens, happens and patience is important.

After arriving at Omis, we quickly put our bags in the hostel and made the short walk over to the restaurant area where we ate. We then met with the other 10 people on the same course as us. They all came from different parts of the world, and it was a great opportunity to meet people from other cultures and find out about their lives. The day after, we headed to the dive centre, where we were taught to dive, and then went to help pick up rubbish off the sea floor. From Tuesday to Friday, we were out at sea for roughly 3-5 hours. Our big group on the trip helped pick up roughly 8 kilograms of waste a day!!

Each night was a different experience, as we did different activities. One particularly memorable night was when we travelled to the end of the pier and climbed to the top. The sight of the coastline lit up with lights, and the feeling of vibrant energy bouncing from the inland areas, was spectacular. We then headed off to the crepe place with everyone. After a long night, going into the early morning, we packed up and began saying goodbye to head to the airport.

After a stressful ride back to Split airport, we checked in and headed through security. To our delight, there appeared to be no restaurant to eat in at the terminal as we had mistakenly gone through security too early and missed the restaurants, which were looming above us through a large glass window over our gates. Eventually, we piled onto our flight, disappointed to leave the friends we made behind.

It was truly an amazing trip which has given us memories for a lifetime, and which we have learnt a lot from. For example, we are now confident that we would be able to learn under difficult circumstances e.g. where instructors may not speak a similar language. We have also learnt how to trust one another… 10 metres underwater, whilst doing drills!

And finally, we have learnt how to build connections with those from different countries, by embracing their traditions to find common ground. These relationships and skills will hopefully be very useful in the future as we look to build our networks.

Archie Margrave, Charlie Parsons, James Boylan, Louis Mackenzie

France

My trip to Montpellier in France was one of the best experiences. Going to another country with a friend for 3 weeks and not knowing anyone was so daunting to me, but once I met my host family, a lady called Nicole, I felt so at home and comfortable. The city itself was so beautiful and the architecture was so traditional. It was the perfect place to have chosen as everything was in walking distance and the people were so friendly.

On the weekdays I went to a language school where I was put in a class with students who were also at the same level. I was the youngest in the class but managed to make lots of friends. In the afternoons I did work experience. I began with working at a hotel where I expected to learn a lot of French by communicating with guests however, I ended up not using much French at all. So, I requested to change job with the company I booked with and they found me a local café. It was so much better as I spoke with the people I worked with, and I took the orders of every customer to improve my French. As well as enjoying some of their homemade patisserie products.

The weekends were some of the most fun days for me. Along with some of the friends I made at school, I went to the local beach by taking the tram and bus which was quite confusing. We also went out in the evenings and had dinner together. It was a very social experience and I built up a lot of confidence when meeting new people.

I wanted to do this trip to not only improve my French but to give me a lot more independence, which I definitely got. It helped me realise I would love to study or even live in another country one day. I gained so much confidence in speaking French and hopefully this will be noticeable when I return to school. I am really grateful to the OBs since it was such a great opportunity, and I can’t wait to return someday soon.

Anais Tate

Iceland

Monday

On the 29th of August at 2:55 in the morning, the five of us jumped into a taxi and headed off to London Luton Airport. We got there early for our flight, so checking in our baggage and getting through security took no time. We then flew off to Keflavik.

Once we arrived in Keflavik, we found a taxi to take us to Grindavik. We quickly found out that the people of Iceland were impossible not to have a conversation with; our taxi driver was incredibly nice and we quickly started chatting about the formation of the Reykjanes Peninsula, which consists of land formed solely by volcanoes and some of the newest ground on earth at less than 1000 years old. We were dropped off at 10:00 outside our guesthouse which we would be staying at for the next 6 nights. It was cold and wet, and Omar (on 0 hours of sleep) immediately fell asleep on the pavement outside. We rang the guesthouse manager Einar who, even though we were 5 hours early to check-in, was kind enough to let us store our bags in one of the spare rooms.

With our bags all safely squared away, we ventured off to explore Grindavik. We found a local park with a giant inbuilt trampoline which kept us occupied for hours. We were lucky enough to be allowed into our room at the Reykjanes Guesthouse 3 hours before check-in and we quickly clambered onto our beds for a quick (4 hour) nap due to being worn out because of the early morning flight.

Later, we found a local Geothermal pool, which we would find out was not unique to Grindavik; in fact, every town in Iceland has one. It had 2 different sections, with the heat of the water going all the way up to 42 degrees Celsius. The heat was drawn from around 2 kilometres below the Earth’s surface.

Tuesday

The next morning we were up bright and early to the sound of intense wind and rain. Not wanting to brave the elements, Ollie, Omar, and Tom made the wise decision to stay indoors. The same cannot be said for Freddie and I. Off we ventured into what we thought would be a scenic walk into the Icelandic countryside with a light spot of rain… how very wrong we were. With winds topping 20 metres per second and rain falling like cats and dogs we had to call it a day after less than 2 hours.

Luckily, the wind and rain eventually calmed down and off we headed to the blue lagoon. It was a magical experience, with the water we were in having been drawn up from rocks 2.5 kilometres below us and being around 38 degrees Celsius. We took full use of all the amenities that it had to offer, with each of us getting a silica mud mask on the house. The water was unlike any of us had ever seen and was completely opaque to anything 10cm under the surface.

Sadly, the trip had to be cut slightly short due to an acute illness brought on by some dodgy food earlier on that day. Despite this, everyone had an experience that they will never forget.

Wednesday

Wednesday started for Omar and me at midnight on the empty roads of Grindavik. After Tom had taught us all to play a card game called Nomination Whist, we all played a few intense rounds which Tom of course won easily. Omar and I decided to go out on the electric scooters “Hopp” and explore the silent streets at night. It was very wet and cloudy, however at around 2:30 in the morning, we turned round to see the northern lights momentarily breaking through the clouds, which caused both of our jaws to hit the floor.

When we had all awoken that morning, we continued exploring the town. It was much easier now that it was no longer wet. A few of us decided to climb a nearby “mountain”, however it was more like a mountainous hill, standing only at 560 metres above sea level. We then, as the sun was setting over the peninsula, drove Hopp scooters around the footpaths wallowing in the beauty of our surroundings.

Thursday

Thursday started off as any other day in Iceland but ended up being the most surreal day any of us had experienced.

We all set off to see the nearby volcano, Fagradalsfjall, and it was a long walk all the way from Grindavik to the volcano. However, it was not a walk we would experience as our hitchhiking expertise was appreciated by an American man named Lucas, who was also heading to the volcano and offered us a lift. Lucas was an adventurer from California who worked remotely whilst exploring the world.

Once we got to the volcano, our group and Lucas went our separate ways before joining up together again further along the trail. The recently black cones of the volcanos and the lava trail were so incredibly beautiful to see. The temperature of the site was so hot that the cooled magma was still steaming and smoking a year later.

Lucas, using his drone fitted with a camera, was able to give us an amazing view of inside the crater. We continued to the most recent eruption site (erupting only 10 days before we arrived) and looked inside the crater using the drone, observing the amount of magma that a small crack in the ground could cause. On the walk we were able to explore a section of the cooled magma that was safe for us to stand on and we each took home a piece as a memento.

Lucas gave us a lift back to Grindavik, so we thanked him and parted ways for good.

That night was also the first night of the week that it would be clear enough to use the telescope to take photographs. We headed out to a spot that Freddie and I had scouted out on the Tuesday. The sky was so dark and clear that we were able to see the milky way with the naked eye. We also were able to see Jupiter and its moons with a pair of binoculars.

It was around midnight when the northern lights began to become visible in certain parts of the night sky. As we were preparing the telescope, the northern lights, which were mostly behind a cloud, would occasionally break through and become visible for short periods of time.

Although we were experiencing some technical difficulties with the telescope that night, it was still one of the most exciting days of our lives.

Friday

During our final full day in Grindavik we went out walking and did some schoolwork in preparation for the upcoming academic year.

At around 8:30 Freddie and I journeyed off to the spot that we had set our telescope up the night before. Whilst we were setting up, we spotted the northern lights dancing in the sky over Grindavik. A couple of hours later we were all surrounded by them; they were perfectly vivid and there wasn’t a cloud in sight. They were so bright and defined it was hard for us to tear our eyes off the sky to work on the telescope.

With the telescope set up and taking photos of the Andromeda galaxy, we all stood staring upwards, mesmerised by Northern lights which engulfed the night sky above us like a blanket. Some of the locals described the Northern Lights that night as being the best they had ever seen on their life.

We were incredibly lucky and privileged to see them so early on in September considering September is the first month of the year that they are actually visible.

After many a photo had been taken of the lights, we all decided to lie back down on the ground and just stare up at the sky, which remained completely unfiltered as a result of miniscule light pollution.

Although the photos of the Andromeda galaxy couldn’t be layered on top of each other due to the Aurora being too bright (a nice problem to have) it was a phenomenal night which none of us will forget.

Saturday and Sunday

On Saturday, due to it being cloudy in the evening, we chose not to go out and instead took it as a workday so that we could go into the school year secure in our knowledge.

On Sunday we were out of the room by 11:00 and headed straight to the geothermal pool which was open until 16:00 for only £1.90. After the pool our trip came full circle as we headed to the petrol station that we had arrived at on the day we got to Grindavik. We then waited for the bus which took us half the way to Keflavik.

There was a one hour wait for the next bus to take us to the airport so Tom, Omar and I explored and found a memorial for a US bomb squadron crew, which had crashed into the volcano due to heavy mist and cloud during WW2.

The bus dropped us off at the airport at 20:40 and our flight was due to take off at 8:40 the next morning, so we were going to be in for a long night.

Omar and Fred quickly found a place to sleep and got some much-needed rest. Ollie headed off to sleep before a strange young man woke him up to say goodnight, for a reason we still aren’t quite sure of. Tom and I, on the other hand, took these 12 hours to do some work (and play some games).

By 6:15 when our check-in started, everyone but Freddie was spectacularly tired. I nearly missed the flight by falling asleep 20 metres from the gate and only waking up 5 minutes before the gate closed.

Neither Tom nor I remember take-off, although I have been assured that it was a smooth one.

By 13:30 we were all saying goodbye to each other and heading in our respective directions.

All of us would like to say a huge thank you to all of you that believed and enabled us to take this trip as we have made memories that will last a lifetime. We are all incredibly grateful for the opportunity.

Ben Garman, Freddie Levy, Ollie Holford, Omar Gul, Tom Gorton

Tall Ships Portsmouth to A Coruna 17th-28th July 2022

I boarded Challenger 3, a 72 ft sailing yacht, in Portsmouth Gunwharf keys harbour, half-way through July of this year. This is where I met the 11 other young crew and the 4 fully trained crew members with whom I would be spending the next 12 days. That first evening we focused on unpacking our personal belongings, getting familiar with the boat, and preparing it to set off that night. Our watch system for the trip consisted of three shifts of 3 hours on, and six hours off. We set off about 8pm leaving Portsmouth harbour and heading straight across the Channel to Brest (France).

We hit northern France midday on our second day of sailing. We where then in the Bay of Biscay, notorious for its challenging weather systems, sea sickness, and inability to see dry land for several days. It took us 2 days to cross Biscay during which we experinced a wide range of sea conditions, ranging from electric thunderstorms, to calm flat seas. During this crossing we saw an amazing array of wildlife, including a pod of dolphins who seemed to follow us for most of our crossing along with some small whales.

Although the majority of the crew had gone down at some point with seasickness, spirts were lifted when Spanish land was in sight.

We arrived at A Coruna on the fourth evening to a stunningly beautiful sunset. Many of us were grateful for dry and unmoving land, along with clean showers, and a normal toilet. We then spent two days in Spain exploring the local city, cuisine, and beaches. We left A Coruna on the seventh day of our trip despite some of the crew being very reluctant to leave and head back out to sea. Thankfully our sail back was calm and peaceful, and we had gained enough ground to be able to spend a day in Alderney (Channel Islands).

Alderney was absolutely beautiful. It had lovely white sandy beaches, small independent shops, and a shop that did amazing fish and chips, which we all thoroughly enjoyed.

As a crew we set off the next morning to do a day hop across to Portsmouth and back home. We spent our last night in Portsmouth Harbour, enjoying ourselves with our newfound friends and peers.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this experience despite the seasickness and some of the foul weather. I gained so many skills, along with a newfound confidence in myself, during this trip. Including, perseverance, resilience, and most off all growth in not only my mentality but by mental strength to carry on and deal with the situation in hand. This trip challenged me in so many ways that were helpful to myself and my social confidence. I’ve gained friendships and memories that should last for a long time. This experience has made me realise the newfound confidence in myself will take me as far as I want in life and will give me the determination and strength to carry out my future ambitions.

I would like to genuinely thank The Old Berkhamstedians and their generosity for funding this experience as it has given me the confidence to preserver and be resilient when times are tough, and I will remember this trip for a lifetime.

Charlotte Aston

Tall Ships

I boarded the yacht in Portsmouth, and I met the twelve other crew members, skipper, mate and deck hands. I unloaded my luggage into my room, which I was sharing with four other girls. My berth was at the top of the room, above two other berths. We quickly set sail for Cowes on the Isle of Wight, doing a practise boy retrieval on the way. Already, I had learnt several knots such as a Bowline and Clove Hitch.

Everyone on the boat was in good spirits. On cooking duty that evening I was told that we would be doing a night sail the following morning. That meant waking up, and setting sail, around 2 o’clock in the morning (after about two hours sleep) Navigating the boat as it was moving in the dark was tricky, and me and the crew tied ourselves to the boat in fear of falling off. We hauled the main sheet up together and started sailing with the sun rising behind us. On the way, we anchored near Durdle Door and swam through the cove.

That evening we stopped off at Weymouth, and the crew and I got fish and chips to eat on the boat. By this time the exhaustion set in, so we all went to bed early that evening. The next day we slept until midmorning, but unfortunately the wind was low, and a storm was setting in. We travelled to Poole, with a mixture of rain and sun on the journey. The skipper tried to catch the wind in the limited moments it came, so and crew and I spent the day ‘sweating’ the main sheet up and down – very tiring work! That evening we played a round of cards, with games such as ‘Old Maid’ and ‘Slap Jack’ becoming popular.

The next morning, we woke up realising that we had docked next to the recent winners of the round Great Britain sailing competition. They had won the race the day before and let us look around their racing boat that morning. Compared to our boat, it was about a third of the weight. Our final day of sailing came around quickly. That day was the best out of the whole week – finally, the wind picked up and the sailing became very exciting. We hauled a spinnaker sail onto the boat to try and catch the maximum amount of wind.

Halfway through the day, we anchored near the coast, and we all jumped off the front of the boat. I got a little too confident and thought I could dive off the Bow which turned out to be a big mistake. The drop was higher than I realised, and I somehow did a somersault, hitting the water back first. We docked very late that evening back at Portsmouth, losing a boy along the way.

I learnt a lot from this experience, such as perseverance, intuition and confidence. A lot of the yachting was strenuous, with the sails being heavier than they looked. A huge part of the experience is a mixture of waiting for wind, and then becoming very active when the wind is around. I learnt about the terminology and workings of the boat, different knots, and how to make a great cup of coffee.

My skipper, Adam, was very approachable, and kept the crews spirits high throughout the week with his jokes and laughter. But the most rewarding things I got out of the trip was the people who I met.

The group I was with were between the ages of 17 and 18, from all across the UK. As a group we were very different, yet we got on very well, and couldn’t stop laughing the whole trip. It was great meeting people outside my area, who have different backgrounds and experiences. I have kept in touch with the people on the boat and have even planned to go dingy sailing and yachting with one of the girls next year. Without the grant I would have never discovered my passion for yachting and I am extremely grateful to have received this opportunity.

I would love to go on a charter if I went travelling when I’m older, finish my yachting qualifications, and go on a similar adventure on a boat in the future.

Dominique Smith