In Darwin’s footsteps
Nearly 200 years after a young Charles Darwin left Plymouth on The Beagle and visited South America’s Galapagos Islands – a place key to making him become one of the most notable naturalists the world has ever seen – the #WeTwo Foundation are seeking 10 deserving young people to follow in his footsteps in their ongoing mission to change the face of adventure.
This comes after the unrivalled success of the ground-breaking City to Sea expedition to Antarctica in November 2022, which saw adventurers Dwayne Fields and Phoebe Smith take 10 underprivileged youngsters from across the British Isles including – London, Devon, Essex, Merseyside, Birmingham, Nottingham, Scotland, Wales, NI – to follow in Shackleton’s footsteps. They are now looking for the next cohort from across the UK.
The Trip
The team will be headed to London on October 19th 2024 to meet each other and add trees to the #WeTwo Forest in East London. After a team-building day on 20th October, we will depart from Heathrow Airport on a British Airways/Iberia flight to Madrid, Spain, from where we will fly on to Quito, Ecuador.
After 2 nights in Quito – during which we will meet with local community groups and tour the city, we will finally follow in Darwin’s footsteps and head to the Galapagos Islands.
We will be working with B-Corp certified Intrepid Travel, to curate a land based trip (across three islands) that will see our young people immersed in local conservation projects, learning about challenges that even these remote islands face in light of climate change. Intrepid off-set the CO2 emissions from the trip themselves via a handful of environmental projects around the world, but the #WeTwo Foundation and our young people will be planting trees in a managed forest in London to remove even more carbon over their lifetime. Their kit will be supplied by Craghoppers made from the new NosiBotanical range – which is 100% recycled fabric and treated to offer protection from biting insects using a plant-based formula from sustainable (no trees need to be felled to collect the oil) Eucalyptus citriodora trees. All insurance will be provided by True Traveller – specialists in insuring adventurous travellers.
What the young people will do when in the Galapagos:
On 31st of October we will fly back to Quito, and that evening take our onward flight home. We will arrive back in the UK around midday on November 1, 2024.
Medical Needs
The #WeTwo team leaders hold up-to-date enhanced DBS checks, and Level 3 Wilderness First Aid certificates. All guides will be first aid trained. There will be access to medical facilities on the main island, but do note some activities will take part (supervised) some distance away. Our Travel Insurance covers emergency evacuation. If the young person has any ongoing medical conditions they will need to be screened prior to their acceptance on the expedition.
Filming Consent
The entire experience – from being selected, to paying it back through community initiatives, journeying to the Galapagos, undertaking all activities and follow ups back in the UK post-expedition will be filmed and it is assumed that all participants and their parents/guardians consent to this and their image appearing on any promotional material, documentaries and broadcasts (worldwide) in perpetuity.
Nominations – Now Closed
The team launched a nomination form where teachers, social workers, parents, guardians and friends from across Britain can nominate a young person from a disadvantaged background to take part. Looking for people who are driven, passionate, and who want to make a difference, not just in their own lives but for the communities in which they live.
This trip would not be possible without the generosity of our sponsors:
