Alice’s African Adventures in Wonderland!

Posted on April 27th, 2007 by Administrator.
Categories: Africa.

Hello!
Well, here I am in Johannesburg at the end of a hectic week in Southern Africa visiting Leap teams. I cant quite believe that tomorrow I’ll be back in the UK office, no doubt doused in April showers. The weather here has been absolutely stunning and I’m incredibly jealous of the Leapers who waved me off in their bikinis, having spent the day lounging by the infinity pool topping up their already impressive tans…but I’m putting a brave face on it!

In nine days I managed to visit Malawi, Mozambique, Swasiland and South Africa, losing my luggage a record three times (the airline’s fault not mine I might add!), I learned to mend punctures in the bush, ride barefoot on an elephant and fly a microlight over herds of bemused Hippo! I also spent an amazing night under the stars aboard a ferry on Lake Malawi- definatly the most memorable and relaxing mode of transport I have ever taken in Africa- where, amazingly, I had better mobile phone reception than I do at home in Wiltshire!

All the teams are doing great work- Sarah and Alex in Mozambique proudly showed off their new ‘brickettes’ (donut shaped eco-fuel made from recycled paper and cardboard and used by local villages as an alternative to burning wood), the two of them seemed to have gone into mass production and have already made enough to cook the dinners of Camp staff and their families for weeks to come- well done! Alex has decided to compile a collection of traditional legends from  Mozambique and is planning to head off into the bush with a translator in tow to interview local people- good luck and we look forward to seeing the results.
Meanwhile over in South Africa, our team of ten are settling in well and have made quite an impression on the locals with their unconventional dance moves and affection for the buffalo head mounted above the local bar! They’ve already had a brush with the two lion at Kwa Madwala and are now so accustomed to the warthog and antelope who drink at their waterhole that hardly an eyelid is batted when they swarm around the lodge. Fantastic progress has been made on the stage at the Aids orphanage and  have it on good authority that the team will be putting on an opening gala performance to christen their masterpiece- the like of which has never before been seen…so watch this space!

Thanks to everyone who made my stay such a success, it was fantastic to see how you’re all getting on and I can’t wait to hear how the rest of your placement goes. All that’s left to do now is to start planning my next gap year- three is a magic number after all!
Love Alice x

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