Local Mum Catherine Edsell leads expeditions for women in the Namibian desert. We find out more about the amazing, life-changing experiences she offers local mums.
"A huge success; well done for recognising the need and thank you. It was honestly one of the best experiences of my life!” This is how Local Mum Carolyn described her experience of The Matriarch Adventure, designed by fellow Local Mum of two Catherine Edsell. Catherine leads expeditions and adventures exclusively for women and primarily for mothers.
Catherine launched The Matriarch Adventure in 2017 and successfully brought together women of different ages from all walks of life with different motivations but with one thing in common – the desire to have a real adventure…
The original adventure involved 10 days, and 10 women, in the Namibian wilderness. The women tracked elusive desert elephants ("the most iconic matriarchs there are"), did dawn yoga under huge flame-red skies, found inspiration round the camp fire, slept out under a myriad of stars and met with Namibian women to hear their stories....and everything else that expedition life has to offer.
Catherine describes The Matriarch Adventure as “something for ordinary women who sometimes feel trapped by their circumstances, too tired to even contemplate climbing anything steeper than the stairs at night - it's a huge world out there!”
Limitations
"As a woman, and a mother, I notice the limitations we create around what we allow ourselves to do,” explains Catherine. "We are always compromising, multi-tasking, taking the slack, holding the fort. This is all great, except when we do this all the time. We don't give ourselves even a few days to go off on our own, to re-connect with ourselves, to challenge ourselves physically, to marvel at the wonders of nature; to learn, to grow and also to strip away, to get back to basics; to clear our thinking and to change, where necessary, our mindset.”
"When we even think about doing this we meet amazing resistance - particularly from ourselves,” adds Catherine. “Even if it's what we actually really need.”
Freedom
One day, talking Catherine's observations through with her friend, the sparks started flying and the idea of "The Matriarch Adventure" began to take shape...
"As an expedition leader I have led expeditions all over the world - I love it,” says Catherine. "I love the adventure, the challenge, the fact that in my small way I am hands-on contributing to wildlife conservation and biodiversity research. I love the freedom of it, the immersion in nature, the relationship with something bigger than myself and the contrast to my daily life in the UK. When I started, it was almost completely male dominated; now, not so much. It is still a very male domain, but why?”
Mother and Daughter Adventure
Following the success of The Matriarch Adventure (a 10 day adventure tracking desert elephants, sleeping under the stars, dawn yoga, just for mums) Catherine ran another adventure and is now onto her third. In tandem she is also now running a Mother and Daughter Adventure, a wild classroom and bonding experience happening this Easter holiday.
"This expedition is now a reality. If you would like to reserve a place, or just ask a question, drop me a line!” adds Catherine. "Please have a look at my website www.cathadventure.com and watch my TEDx talk - it will give you a better idea of who I am and my motivations."
Special offer for Local Mums
Catherine is offering Local Mums members £100 off any booking with The Matriarch Adventure.
Find out more and read Local Mums’ reviews of The Matriarch Adventure
Contact:
Catherine Edsell FRGS
Expedition Leader
The Matriarch Adventure
Tel: 07816 134 364
Email: simplycatherine@yahoo.com
The Matriach Adventure on Facebook
Catherine Edsell - TEDxLondon
www.cathadventure.com”
