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Waking up to such an incredible view on day 2 and being briefed about the month ahead by our pretty cool hosts – Andrea and Red, definitely made the journey worthwhile and made us excited for the days to come. After a relaxing morning getting used to camp life, we headed off to set up some camera traps, to hopefully catch some leopard action with the help of none other than Chanel No.5. Finishing the day with sunset beers on ‘the saddle’ was the perfect ending to our introduction of the trip.

Day 3. What felt like a very early start we began our first game drive. The afternoon was a mystery with Red telling us we were receiving our ‘babies’, these were our very own trees which we will care for and attempt to grow during the next month. Imi G and Emily have called theirs Patrick and have treated him like one of the family.

On day 4 the manual labour kicked in. We made a new track by clearing rocks so the car can reach a new destination, which was oddly satisfying. George and Magnus got straight on it, heading up the demolition team.

Day 5 & 6. The two day canyon hike was upon us. After a few shade breaks, food stops and the birth of ‘Lucifer’ (George’s staff), we eventually came across our camp site for the night by the Orange River and without wasting any time we jumped straight into the river to cool down and cover ourselves in mud.

Today we began Permaculture across the camp and visited the local community in the afternoon. Football, Rugby, Netball and a lot of singing and dancing was involved and thoroughly enjoyed by everyone. The kids could run laps around all of us and most definitely dance better than our whole group put together.

With love,

Millie & the team

It’s hard to believe that we’ve already been in Peru for a week. It feels like only yesterday that we were jet-laggedly meeting at the hostel in Arequipa for the first time. We’ve done a lot of exploring of the area around the square, and eaten lots of yummy food. We visited Santa Catalina monastery, which was built during the Spanish colonization of Peru, and where nuns still live in cloisters (and, according to pictures, play volleyball in habits). Our guide Arlich took us to an alpaca farm, where they process wool and make products using the same traditional methods that Peruvians have been using for generations. We also went white water rafting, which was insanely fun, even though the water was freezing and we all got soaked. While staying at the hostel, we’ve had four days of Spanish lessons in Arequipa, which we all completed with varying degrees of success. I think that the experience of being in the communities will be the best teacher.

On Wednesday, we took a 6 hour bus ride through the mountains to Cabanaconde, where we played soccer in the street with some local kids and then stayed overnight at a hostel before setting off the next morning for the long trek into Colca Canyon.

3 hours, all downhill, while breathtakingly scenic, stops being fun after a while. Eventually though, we made it to the oasis, albeit in a sweaty, dusty heap. We spent the rest of Thursday and all of Friday hanging out, swimming in the pool, and playing like 1,000 rounds of Go Fish in the bottom of the canyon. We also celebrated one of our group member Yasmin’s 18th birthday. Saturday morning, we rose at the extremely ungodly hour of 4:30 am to start hiking back up in order to beat the scorching afternoon heat. Well, some of us trekked, and some of us, like myself, were too sore from going down and had to get horses to take us up. I’m excited to explore more of Peru and begin our homestay!

After spending a few days in Kuching we’ve been able to explore further. To start of our few days we visited the cultural village of Mentu in Sarawak. Luckily the sun was shining for us so we were able to walk around at our leisure. We were introduced to several tribes and sub tribes, the names of which I struggle to remember due to their complicated pronunciations! One that stuck however, was the Iban tribe as that was the tribe of the recently visited village. Seth, our team leader and tour guide is from the “head hunting” tribe so we had previously learnt of how the Ibans would seek the heads of those who crossed them; they would cut their heads off and display them.

During our down time we thought we’d kick back with a few beers, we were lucky enough to catch karaoke night which definitely gave us a laugh or two… it was a good opportunity to hear some obscure Malaysian music, however we were unable to compete with the locals despite our exceptional rendition of Celine Dion!

After an evening filled with laughter, we flew over to Mulu National Park where we would embark on a new little adventure. From rides in the long boats along the river, to seeking out bats from the deer cave, we were constantly on the move exploring different parts of the exotic national park. We were luckily able to take a dip in the clear water cave pool after touring around caves and the local area, where all browsed amongst the homemade jewellery and gifts.

Once we caught the third plane of the day, we were ready, set and go for the next community project, after a leisurely few days. We look forward to teaching and building within a different community and shift in culture.