On day nine in Kenya, seasoned CWB campaigner Jeremy blogs on maths lessons, new level 1 and 2 coaches and leopards…

And just when we thought yesterday was a great day, we surpassed ourselves today. Ostriches, 34 coaches, energy, enthusiasm and a leopard – what a day!

Everyone was full of beans this morning, still buzzing from the night safari last night and tales by the fireside. The first highlight was our first sighting of ostriches as well as the usual zebras, gazelles, etc on our way to Il Polei.

And for once there were 10-15 coaches waiting for us! So after some discussion about groups and levels of expertise we got stuck into a dynamic warm-up which set the tone for the day. At our peak we had 40 coaches involved in our continuous assessment.

Meanwhile the local primary school spilled out and were desperate to get involved so two of us went to entertain the children. Over 150 were soon playing catch or joining in a rumbustious Hokey Cokey and 1-2-3-4-5 Once I Caught a Fish Alive.

Personally one of my highlights was taking the kids back to the classroom and running a short maths lesson until the teacher arrived.  Another moment was when I was greeted off the Land Cruiser by a grinning teacher holding up three tennis balls recovered from the children yesterday. In return I presented her with a bag of pens that I borrowed from work’s stationary cupboard and a CWB shirt from a previous trip.

Let’s backtrack – this morning we awoke to a beautiful sky with Mt Kenya clearly visible from the veranda as we took breakfast (porridge, toast, scrambled egg, OJ, coffee, tea).

In summary, a great day ended with three new Level 2 coaches, 10 new Level 1s and 10 people receiving the Introduction to Cricket award.

After dropping off some of the coaches en route, we set off for base – another safari commute. But this time there was a difference. After the usual sightings of zebra, jackal, buzzards, gazelle and oryx, Luke spotted a leopard which we spent around 10 minutes watching climb along a rock face. There was plenty of discussion as to whether it was a cheetah but the general conclusion was leopard.

What a great end to a great day. And just when we thought it couldn’t get any better our cooks treated us to a tremendous lamb stew with rice and vegs.

So I sign off now and say Asanti Sane.