IN THE JUNGLE -- Duke of Edinburgh contingent leader Kenneth Bartram on the trail in St. Lucia. In the background is just a small part of the 68 miles of jungle camp participants hiked through.

BEFORE AND AFTER -- Duke of Edinburgh participants are shown on their way to St. Lucia -- and on their return. (Above left, from left: Kavin Tucker, leader Chris Swan, Victoria Leite, Fiona Herring, Lemar Trott, and leaders Nicole Burch and Kenneth Bartram. At right, Lemar, Fiona, Mr. Swan, Victoria and Kavin Tucker -- sporting a sling -- in Bermuda after their St. Lucia adventure.

CLEANED UP -- About 25 members of the College Volunteers Corps plunged into the waters around the Aquarium last Saturday to clean up the shoreline. From left to right are Raymond Walker, Belcario Thomas, Tom Steinhoff, Sarah Tufts, Meredith Andrews (middle right) and Jason Ritter (rear right).

As the summer draws to a close, seven Bermudians can look back on an extraordinary holiday that saw them hack through, and hike over, the jungles and mountains of Saint Lucia, forming life-time friendships with fellow adventurers from around the Caribbean, North America and Britain.

Duke of Edinburgh Award participants Fiona Herring, Victoria Leite, Kavin Tucker and Lemar Trott recently got home from a camp in St. Lucia where, along with leaders Chris Swan, Nicole Burch and Kenneth Bartram, they distinguished themselves, completing a 68-mile walk through largely uninhabited jungle and taking part in a community beautification project.

Flushed with the exhilaration of their experiences, the 16- and 17-year-old Saltus Grammar School students recounted their adventures.

"One of the requirements for the Gold Medal is a hike through open country of at least 50 miles,'' explained Duke of Edinburgh leader Chris Swan.

"We hiked about 68 miles each. Some more, depending on what route they decided to take.'' The Bermuda group flew down to St. Lucia and were immediately broken up into other teams, joining campers from St. Lucia, St. Vincent, Scotland, the Cayman Islands, Grenada, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, the Bahamas, the United States, Dominica, Canada and Jamaica.

"We just all got in there and started introducing ourselves to new people, which was something,'' said Fiona Herring. "We made instant friends. In each group there was a strong sense of family and togetherness.'' Kavin Tucker added: "We found we had a lot in common with people from the other islands. Of course there were differences, but I think we all were pleasantly surprised, sharing so much with people from different countries.'' The campers were on a three-week programme organised by the Caribbean Award Scheme Council.

"During the first week we prepared for the march, learning survival skills, going over navigation, planning the route deciding what to take and all that sort of thing,'' Kavin said.

"Actually, the Bermuda group was much better prepared for the hike than many of the other kids on the programme,'' added Mr. Swan, a teacher and Duke of Edinburgh Award leader at Berkeley Institute.

"In general, the group from Bermuda did extremely well. Some of the other leaders complained that conditions in St. Lucia were not up to the standards of other camps, they said there should have been better support and security, better preparation by organisers.

"We Bermudians just knuckled down and got on with things.'' After a week of preparation, the groups went on their hike; five days and four nights of marching 13 hours a day.

"We'd been told that people had been out before us cutting paths through the forest, but we couldn't find all of the trails so we just went through the brush,'' said Victoria. "It was scary. There are snakes out there.'' Campers also had to scale Gros Piton, a 2,500-foot high mountain.

"It was like scaling an almost vertical slope. It was slippery,'' said Fiona who had a very narrow escape during her climb. "The path was very narrow in places. On one side there was this vertical slope, on the other side a sheer drop.

"At one point I slipped off the path. One of my teammates caught my arm and I was hanging there, my feet just dangling above this drop. Someone else eventually got my other arm and they pulled me up,'' she said, looking none the worse for her close call.

Kavin Tucker was less lucky. After one day on the trail, with a backpack strap cutting into his shoulder, he found he had partial paralysis in his left arm.

"I was numb. I couldn't feel much and although I had movement in my upper arm, my shoulder and lower arm didn't seem to work very well.

"I just held my left hand in front of me and kept on going,'' said Kavin who had damaged the nerves in his shoulder, and is now wearing a sling.

"Its getting better, and I should be fully recovered soon.'' After their week in the wilderness it was back to camp for seven days of community work and report writing. The group's community project involved re-painting the bathrooms at a local school and doing other renovation work on school buildings.

The Duke of Edinburgh Awards are a three stage programme with Bronze, Silver and Gold Medals being earned by participants at the end of each stage.

There are Duke of Edinburgh Award Programmes run out of a number of the Island's schools.

Participants develop self-reliance through schemes usually involving outdoor activities and community work.

Said Mr. Swan: "I really enjoy my work with Duke of Edinburgh, it is inspiring to be involved with something that gives every young person involved the chance to enrich themselves and become leaders,'' he said.

More pictures: Page 26