My alarm goes off about 6:15 – a good two hours earlier than I’m used to back home! Breakfast is usually a couple of slices of toast or some oatmeal washed down with ‘Ricoffy’ (coffee and chicory). Water needs to be boiled for 5 minutes here before its safe for drinking so we’ll normally try and boil a pan of water at this time as well which is then left to cool during the day. Just after 6:45 we bundle out of the house for the 30 minute walk to…read more
14 people, 5 nationalities and one birthday to celebrate (oh, and also the launch of some football competition or something). So of course we decided to have a party. Partying on a school night is a tricky business, as our normal bed time is about 9 pm. But we decided to throw caution to the wind, and go for it anyway. I introduced the Zambians to chilli and butterfly cakes, Karolyn brought jelly and ice cream and everyone discussed how birthdays are celebrated in their countries. We thought the birthday…read more
For our 7 weeks at Vinjeru school, we are helping out with everyday school jobs. Recently, we have been spending the mornings sorting out a storgae container filled with literally thousands of books. Most homes here don’t own any books, meaning that no-one practices reading at home. The selection here will give the school one of the best libraries around. In the afternoon though, the fun begins. School lessons here finishes at 13:30 (we start at 07:30), and after lessons end there is a compulsory 30 minutes of cleaning for…read more
Man of the Match: Miriam – surely a future star of Zambian Netball. A rock in defence. Lemon of the Match (a CSHC tradition): The Van. For reasons that will become apparent. Inevitably whilst travelling, you will have nights when, tucked up in bed with your mind still projecting the events of the day like a home video on the bedroom ceiling, you realise that today will forever be a ‘defining moment’ of the place you’re in. Friday was one of those days. This was to be Vinjeru school’s second…read more
Our internet access in Kapiri is very limited, so it might be difficult to blog. We arrived a few days ago, and went to meet Karolyn and Martin for dinner. They have set up and run the school here. It was great to catch up with them and get some ideas about the work we will probably be doing here. The next day we got a tour of the school. There are currently 3 classes, all in the equivalent of year 7. The children are between 12 and 20 years…read more
There is so much to do in Livingstone that I could have happily stayed for much longer, but our last day has arrived. We decided to head back towards Victoria Falls and do the zip line across the river to Livingstone Bridge. This was a really kind gift from the ladies at Cambridge South hockey club. We spent the first hour there watching people doing bungee jumps and the gorge swing off the bridge. I don’t think anything would persuade me to give that a go! In fact, my legs…read more
Today we headed to Botswana for the day, to safari in Chobe. We got picked up at 7am with a few others from the hostel and drove to the border, where we passed through the most efficient exit post so far. The driver took all of our passports, and we waited for a few nervous minutes (hoping he didn’t do a runner!) before he returned with our stamps. We then transferred onto a boat to do a two minute river crossing into Botswana – this even included about 20 seconds…read more
As we crossed the border from Namibia to Zambia, we immediately noticed that we had changed country. Namibia is an underpopulated country, with less than 3 people every square kilometer. We drove along mile after mile of road without seeing any sign of human life. Zambia has a much higher population, and as we crossed over the border we passed through lots of villages. Things also seem to be much less organised in Zambia. The main road we travelled on was in a terrible state, with huge pot holes everywhere….read more
When Cameron and I were little our Grandad, Ernie, used to reguarly tell us a bedtime story centred around a Raffie Swan bus trip. For you non-Berwickers, Raffie Swan had the worst coaches imaginable. Regularly our school trips would be spent in a lay-by, somewhere between Holy Island and Newcastle, while we waited on another coach coming to pick us up from our broken down vehicle. As the infamous song goes, ‘You’ll never get to heaven on a Raffie Swan bus.’ However, in Ernies bedtime stories, we would all be…read more
I have been lucky enough to grow up in two beautiful parts of England and to live in two beautiful cities, to ski in places with stunning scenery and hike through some incredible countryside. But I was still surprised by the breathtaking views in the Namib desert. A few miles from Swakopmund, all signs of civilisation disappear, and you are surrounded in every direction by bright red sand dunes and bright blue sky. It looks even better than in the photographs. There is a surprising amount of wildlife too –…read more
