Friday 29th July 2022

 Written by Alex

Hello to all those reading, this morning we completed our last few coaching sessions of the trip.  Each group visited two different schools, however one group had an eventful encounter with tribal Zambians.  Then in the afternoon we all went on a sunset river cruise.  We saw multiple crocodiles and hippos.  We also saw the most beautiful sunset.  The sky was made up of multiple colours and there was not a cloud in sight.  Hundreds of photos were taken, for all of you at home to see.

And for my family, there are only 3 more nights until I am on my way back.

Written by Kara

Today we woke up for breakfast at 8am, but they kind of forgot about us so breakfast was a little later. We were in three groups for coaching and coached two schools each.  For most, it was as usual apart from Group 2 had goats and shepherds on the field and Group 1 were disrupted by a local celebration which caused a pitch invasion.

When we got back we had pancakes at 3pm and got ready for the River Cruise at 3.30pm.  On the cruise, we saw lizards, crocodiles and hippos.  We made a plan to throw the small people and Evie H in the croc infested water so the crocs don't expect us to be so tall so they are too scared to eat us.
They gave us a BBQ dinner, which was sausages, chicken and coleslaw.  It was yummy!  Lots of people found us more interesting than the hippos and me, Miss Young and Evie H managed to get a photo from someone on a completely different cruise boat.  We drank lots of soft drinks as they were unlimited.  

We got back at around 6.30pm ready to bed at 9.30pm.  
Ok bye bye now.

P.S.
Mum and Dad, I guess I miss you a teeny weeny bit.

Written by Iris

Our last day of coaching! I can't believe we only have three days (including today) until travelling - time really does fly.  The plan for today is each group is coaching 2 schools, and at about 3.30pm we are going on a sunset cruise.  I am really excited and so is everyone here.  There are going to be crocodiles and hippos in the water and I can't stop thinking about how the Egyptians used to collect reeds in little straw boats along the River Nile. If they were lucky the hippos would leave them alone.  If they were unlucky, however...don't worry though because we don't have little straw boats and we are definitely not collecting reeds. (I will stay away from the water Daddy, don't panic).  Furthermore, we are eating on the boat which will be brilliant.

For breakfast I had a cup of tea, oatmeal and toast.  The tea is possibly the only thing getting me up in the morning.  I will miss coaching even if it is exhausting it is extremely rewarding work.  The truth is, the children stay after school just to play a few games of Tag Rugby with us.  It melts my heart.  Now coaching is over, I don't want it to be, and neither does anyone else.

Today already feels slightly warmer than yesterday indicating perfect weather for the pool?  The last two schools we coached sort of knew what they were doing.  My group walked to the first school amongst all of the children were bulls and goats. I refereed some games and the children knew most of the rules.  We just needed to touch up on the rule that the ball needs to be placed onto the line and not before it to count as a try.  
The second school however, was a different story altogether.  It started off with a good omen - the school was called Linda West - the name of my Grandma!  I was very excited and in high spirits.  We sorted the children into teams and got straight onto tag.  We almost had to coach them from scratch starting off with more relaxed rules, we slowly added in fouls and increased our sensitivity on rules.  This worked in our favour and by the time we had to go, the children had improved greatly!  Hopefully they are ready for the tournament tomorrow.

The River Cruise was unbelievable.  We sat at the top of the boat, slack-jawed at the abundance of crocodiles, hippos, massive lizards, ducks and vultures.  The sheer beauty of the river, complemented the multi-coloured banks rolling by.  The cruise itself was about 2 hours, but like everything here, it sped by.  About half way we spotted a bulky shape lumbering through the bush.  Sadly we didn't get a good photo because the creature (we think it was a  hippo) decided to stay behind the copse of trees, away from our curious eyes.  I am still in awe at how big a hippo's head is and it was really funny when they popped their heads in and out of the water.  I was served a stuffed pepper, coleslaw and crisps (this was the veggie option) - delicious!  When the sunset came around it was majestic.  There was every colour; purple, orange, yellow, pink and red.  The openness of the river allowed us to get a full and undisrupted view of the beautiful sunset.  Once the actual ball of the sun had gone down, the sky was painted with the same brush but spread out and I have never seen anything like it.  The iridescent pinky blues were reflected onto the glistening river and the yellow made the river resemble a beach with golden sand.  Sadly our time on the book quickly ended and we stumbled off the boat in an ungainly fashion and made our way back tot the coaches.

This has definitely been mentioned, but I can't believe how this place is called Fawlty Towers!  The cafe is even called Basil!  The bar is complete with framed photos of the staff from the programme -  I love it.

Thank you for reading and I want to thank all the teachers for the time and effort put into this trip.  Myself and everyone here are having the best time and it's the teachers who made it happen.

Love Iris.

P.S.
For my family.  I hope Dorris has been getting daily reminders of me! I miss you all so so much and can't wait to see you all.  Also you should hav

e gone to the steak restaurant because no me or George.  I hope George is having a good time at scout camp.  I have not dipped even a finger in the water so don't worry.  I am staying safe and making the most of it.  Please can you make brownies for when I get home and bring Ted? Love you all lots, Love Iris (I can't wait to watch musicals with you again) 3 squeezes!