Sahara trek for Wick Coop manager – Just watch out for the scorpions and snakes

Many of the staff from Wick's Coop gathered outside the supermarket on Tuesday to wish their manager good luck for his charity Sahara trek.

Modris Karklins set off on Wednesday for the start of the adventure by flying to London and on Thursday he will head over to Morocco to start the gruelling trek over parts of the Sahara desert to raise funds for the Barnardo's charity.

"It's a nine-hour drive from Morocco to the edge of the desert and that will be day one," said Modris in his office at the back of the Angle Park shop.

"We're going to walk 5km the first day and will have three days there in the desert. There are 26 people on the trip altogether and it's a Coop partnership with Barnardo's. There will be people from logistics, from funeral care and from Coop foods."

Modris said that the team will be sleeping "under the stars" with two to each tent which he says he is looking forward to. "It will be quite chilly at nights and the days will be 45 degrees average. The aim is to do 50km in total and we've all been training for a year to do this trip and fundraising too. The target for each person was £2200 and I'm really grateful for the support from my team in Wick as well as the people from Caithness to raise £2500 so far."

The link to the fundraising page is open until March 31 and if anyone wishes to donate to the charity event it can be found at: www.justgiving.com/page/roddymac-barnardos2024

All the Coop staff taking part have collectively raised over £50,000 to date with much more expected to roll in for the charity. Barnardo's says that the money raised will "help 750,000 young people get access to basic needs, improve their mental wellbeing and create opportunities for their future".

With regards to the dangers of trekking across the Sahara, Modris says he will be keeping an eye out for "all sorts of creepy crawlies" that may end up in his tent during the adventure. "The manager from Telford Street Coop [Inverness] will be in the same tent as me and he's looking forward to seeing scorpions and stuff like that. I'm looking forward to seeing stars and he's looking forward to seeing scorpions!"

Online resources say that there are four species of scorpions in the Sahara that can be lethal to humans and they limit their activities to the night. The more deadly animal to be watching out for is, however, the horned viper (Cerastes cerastes) which can grow up to 2ft and is considered one of the most venomous desert snakes. It conceals itself beneath the desert floor to spring suddenly on rodents and birds and only its horns betray its presence. The Coop team will have the support of local guides to steer them clear of these dangers though.

"We will have locals and camels carrying our kit which consists of an 8kg bag and duffle bag each with a water supply." The team is not taking over Coop food for practical reasons and will subsist on food supplied by the local people supporting the excursion.

Modris has worked at Wick's Coop for nine years and previously worked in other branches for several years prior. "I settled in Wick and am happy here. I'm really grateful for the local support of the shop. We're exploring plans to do more community support work in the area with things like litter picks in the summer."

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