The day couldn’t have started any better. I woke up to the sunrise and view of Mount Kenya, had the best breakfast of the trip, a dry run of road, and being stopped at a zebra crossing on the way. Around 10 metres in front, a pack of about 20 zebra crossed the tack and I just sat and watched in admiration.

We turned up to the biggest open space yet for our coach education and after a slight delay we had 30 coaches turn up. This was a surprisingly large number considering the area we are in is so remote.

We were based at a school and after about 20 minutes it was break-time and the playground filled with kids. Sarah, Jeremy, Lee and I took it upon ourselves to keep them occupied and away from the coaches. This was not an easy job but I got them chanting, dancing, relay racing and high-fiving. I also got them to teach me their song of the alphabet, a new clapping sequence and song me a rendition of happy birthday. It was a seriously tiring morning but one of the most rewarding sessions I have done.
Sarah and I were even dragged into their classroom when break was over. And after permission was granted, we obliged and saw what they learnt in science and English. It was amazing children of seven were learning science in English and the words were pretty complicated.

Lunch was delicious, a mix of kidney beans, cabbage and more with gravy and chapatti – something which I would love to learn to cook when I get back.  After lunch I was able to help with the coach education, which proved much harder than in Nakuru due to the language barrier.  On the ride home we offered to give a lift to some of those who had walked a fair distance in the morning which meant we all had to squish into the Land Cruisers. This time we were standing on the chairs and sticking out of the roof.

A highlight of the day came from the journey back where we saw a bunch of school girls were playing an impromptu game of cricket. They had organised this all by themselves and looked like they were having so much fun. I wanted to jump out the cruiser and join them.

We grabbed a few beers on the way home, where Ed cleverly pointed the direction of the other cruiser where the biscuits were, to a blind man. He really thought that one through. Our safari route home was perfectly timed with dusk and our cruiser even managed to see a leopard. However, this was not to be the end of our safari. 

Less than 15 minutes after arriving home we were gathered back up to go on night safari, as the ranger had spotted a kill. A lion had taken down a giraffe about 10 minutes from our cabin. Around 20 minutes later we found the half-eaten giraffe carcass, but the lion was nowhere to be seen.

A very eventful day all round but on a serious note, I’m looking forward to mucking around with 200 children again tomorrow. One of the main reasons I signed up for the trip. To make children laugh and smile.