What some call disaster....we call banter!

What some call disaster...we call banter!

Early this morning at 1:30 am the whole group were rudely awakened by the sound of Erica's frantic banging on Aidan's door. 'There's a bat in our room!!!!!!!!!' she screeched. Later we all awoke to hear the story of how 'Wilma' the bat, had decided to perch herself on Emma's mosquito net directly above her head. She was not amused (neither was Emma). Erica, reasoning the fact that she hadn't had her rabies jag, nominated Emma for the heroic role of bat catcher.  Thankfully she lived up to the task and nobody was harmed (including Wilma).

The day's adventures had only just begun. 

We woke to the sound of torrential rain and lighting and thunder that shook our rather basic accomodation. However we made light of a bad situation and decided to have showers in the rain as this was more reliable than our showers.  Because of the rain our journey was delayed and our trip to the primary school cancelled due to saftey reasons. Nevertheless we soldiered on to the secondary school. Our bus driver Silas once again proved himself to be not only a complete legend but a very skilled driver as he safley and effortlessly navigated us through very wet roads.  HOWEVER just as we were about to arrive disaster struck!  Due to a flooded road we were forced to go an alternate route when the bus went down a muddy trail and we heard the ominous sound of tyres spinning. Yes we were well and truly stuck.


Suddenly everybody became an expert on how to get the bus out but as opinions were shouted and ideas conveyed, the bus remained stationary.  The locals took pity on us and after a good laugh amongst themselves came to our aid with tools and manpower.  Still the bus remained stuck.  In the meantime some of us had decided to entertain ourselves with tribal mud markings on our arms and faces. Eventually after a lot of standing around pretending to be helpful a decision was made to let the school kids guide us the route to the school.  After some minor mishaps including fire ants and Victoria's flip-flop disaster we pulled through and managed to enjoy the beauty of the African countryside.  We saw many stunning bird species and striking flowers and plants.  Not to mention the looks on local chilrens faces as a group of filthy 'muzungo' passed through their village.  Words cannot describe the feeling of joy when the beacon of the bus came into sight.  Silas has now been promoted from legend to complete hero.

Once at the secondary we were yet again greeted by a sea of blue uniforms and the sound of frantic shouts.  That feeling of being a celebrity never goes away here.  We had decided that Zak would teach the physics lesson on Newton's 3rd law while the rest of us demonstrated how to make a rocket from paper, tape and 2 coins (with some interesting results).  We then launched the rockets outside to the children's utter astonishment.  The looks on their faces were priceless!

On the whole, despite the rain, the mud, the cold and confusion a good day was had by all. Tomorrow we head out to the national park to go on a safari.  We are to be there at 7am, meaning we have to get up at 5:30.  Yes 5:30 AM......HA!

 The men tried to push the bus free while the rest of us 'directed'.

 Building rockets with the classes at the secondary school.

 Billy says 'they've just ruined it for themselves'...they say 'we've found a new hat!'

It was humbling to see children recieve new clothes that were kindly donated from people back home.

Thanks once again for tuning in to our 'daily whinge', it means a lot to us.  Off to bed now for a hopefully bat-free sleep.

Joanne xxx