We arrived on Bovu island ready to start our final phase. The island was stunning and the perfect place to spend our final few days. Mumma Alice provided us with popcorn each day and even cooked us two amazing dinners. Evenings were spent relaxing in the hammocks or in the bar listening to Arran play the guitar or listening to music. The stars were incredible and there were lovely views over the zambezi.

The project itself was hard work. We found out the group before had made 407 bricks and so the challenge had been set. Each day we had to mix 50kg bags of cement by hand and then mould blocks. We ran low on sand and one of the three block moulds broke so everything was against us. However the team worked so hard and we made 434 blocks. Brett the project coordinator and Davy and Anton were so impressed.

Each group enjoyed a lunch cooked by a villager and a sunset cruise on the river. The team even attended the Sunday church service and had to sing to the village. This was an incredible way to end the trip and everyone was sad to say goodbye to our little bit of paradise.

We arrived in Mwandi on the 21st. We stayed at a campsite and had a meal for our first night. The next day we started our project. Everyone enjoyed meeting children as we walked to the house that we were working on. We had to attach logs to the foundations of the house using string. We did this all day, everyone worked well as a team. The next day we paused our project work and started our trek. Everyone loved spending most of our afternoon and evening playing with the children. Everyone got involved and played games. In the evening we were cooked a meal and then enjoyed singing to the locals around a fire and they sang back. On the Wednesday we walked to a new camp site owned by a couple called Geoffrey and Bridget, they were really welcoming. We all enjoyed a ‘bush experience’. In the evening they made us beef stew and we all asked questions around the fire. The next day we walked back to Paula’s camp which is where we stayed on the first night of the project, in the afternoon most of the group worked on the project more. Nibs, Belle and Mia went to work at the local school which they loved. On Friday we worked our last day on the project, this involved mudding; putting mud balls on the foundations. Everyone really enjoyed the project and trek, we all found it rewarding to feel like we were making a small difference to a family’s life.Written by Mia 🙂

Today we spent much of the day at Victoria Falls. Even though it’s the dry season it was still impressive and the walk down to the boiling pot provided us with brilliant views of the river and the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe. When walking across the bridge we witnessed those crazy enough to bunji jump off.Tonight we’ve done a food shop for the next 10 days. This involved much preparation and frantic dashing up and down the aisles. Tomorrow we head for Mawandi where there is no wifi so there may be no updates until we are back a week on Thursday. We are very much looking forward to working with the community and meeting the local people.

Kubu Island was a granite island on the salt plains in Botswana. It involved a 16k trek to Little Kubu. There was plenty of spare time where we played sardines and hide and seek (suggested by Mia). We also played Frisby and experimented with fun photos. In the evenings we were accompanied by the incredible milky way whilst eating smores around the fire and singing songs.

We visited the sacred cave and a Baobab tree that was over 1000 years old. The journey was one not to be forgotten as it involved 4 and a half hours on a safari truck over bumpy roads. We then had a 12 hour journey back to Livingstone ready for a visit to Victoria Falls.

We started our safari morning at 5:30 AM. It was very cold but we had our thermals and blankets to help us power on through until sunrise. We saw some amazing animals which will enable us to tick them off some of our bucket lists!

These included lions mating. Selfies with elephants, many giraffes and zebras along with baboons. In the peaceful afternoons we took a 3 hour boat trip which involved watching and unforgettable sunset, where we created our own perspective photos. This involved people eating the sun! We saw many hippos and elephants which were swimming across the river.

On Thursday morning, we set off to the mokoros. We saw many hippos and crocodiles. For some students, these were very close as the mokoros were made out of fibre glass and we were not near land. But after a short while everyone felt calmer as the mokoros were very relaxing. As well as animals there were also beautiful landscapes.

We soon arrived at the campsite, the Okavango delta guides had set up tents for us all. Once we were settled the chef had made us lunch; it was corn beef hash and a lot of people enjoyed it. At 3:30 we set off in two separate groups to do a safari guided walk. Both groups saw a couple of animals and watched the sun set. It was amazing. To get back to camp, we went back on the mokoros whilst the sun was setting.

In the evening, we gathered as a group around the fire and played a game of uno. Some people got very competitive! As the night went on, a handful of people spoke to the tour guides and found out interesting information about their lives. We had a lovely vegetable curry made from the chef.

We set off at 6:30 in the morning to watch the African sunrise whilst on the second safari guided walk. Once we arrived back to camp we had our breakfast and headed back onto the mokoros and returned to the riverside hotel campsite.

Written by Mia and Belle 🙂

Last night we enjoyed a Zambian buffet including caterpillars and traditional singing and dancing around the campfire.

Today was all about organisation. The team headed into Livingstone to change money, buy food, phones and fuel. After a delicious lunch which included a doughnut treat the team spent the afternoon by the pool and finalising the transport for tomorrow. Tomorrow we leave for Botswana at 7am so an early start awaits. Updates on the Delta will follow when wifi next becomes available. It’s safe to say everyone is settling in to African life.

After nearly a 11 hour flight to South Africa and a further 2 hours to Zambia we have finally arrived in Livingstone. The team has set up camp and are busy planning what needs to be done for the next few days ahead. We are currently enjoying some down time before a traditional Zambian buffet awaits us this evening. Hopefully some of the team will learn how to prepare some of the dishes as this may come in useful later on in the trip.

The team arrived at school early and we are busy packing all the kit ready for our flight later. When we can we will update you with our adventures in Africa.