Wooo I'm excited!!

I can't express how excited I am to be going to Africa on Monday, it's ridiculous!!! It's been a build up of two years anticipation and I can't believe it has come round so quickly. Basically, it is a school trip to help rebuild a local Botswana school and Rhino reserve, and experience African culture, where the pupils have been split into two groups of 20. Group will one will begin in Jobo and work down, where as group two (my group) will be working up, meeting group one for one night on the project. Below you can see an itinerary of what I am set to be doing over the 18 day trip:

Monday ,18-Jul-11,Transit to London airport:

Today you will embark on your trip. It is likely that you will fly overnight from London Heathrow Airport to Johannesburg where you will arrive tomorrow morning.

Tueday,19-Jul-11,Transit flight to Livingstone:

Arrive Zambia

Arriving in Johannesburg, you will say farwell to Group 1 and transit for your flight to Livingstone. Upon arrival in Livingstone, you will be met at the airport by your accommodation hosts who get you all settled in. You will have the rest of the day to relax, before receiving all the information on the various choices of wildlife activities you will embark upon while in Livingstone. It is likely that you will need to split yourselves into two smaller groups, so that the activities can be rotated, giving you all the chance to have the same experiences.

Accommodation: Hostel / Guest house

Wednesday, 20-Jul-11,Livingstone

Livingstone

AM: Canoe or 4x4 Safari

PM: Tour of Victoria Falls

This morning, Group A will spend their time enjoying a Canoe Safari on the Lower Zambezi River. This will be a magical experience and a wonderful way to observe some great African wildlife. Group B will have an early start to ensure they have the best opportunity for observing the early morning wildlife in Mosi Oa Tunya National Park on a half day Game Drive. Having returned back to Livingstone for lunch at your own leisure, the entire group will travel together to view the famous Victoria Falls, one of the most famous and spectacular waterfalls in the world. The evening will be yours to relax and you will have plenty of time to enjoy an evening meal in one of the local restaurants.

Accommodation: Hostel / Guest house

Thursday, 21-Jul-11,Livingstone

Livingstone

AM: Canoe or 4x4 Safari

PM: Zambezi Sunset cruise

Rotating the activities, this morning, Group B will spend their time enjoying a Canoe Safari on the Lower Zambezi River. This will be a magical experience and a wonderful way to observe some great African wildlife. Group A will have an early start to ensure they have the best opportunity for observing the early morning wildlife in Mosi Oa Tunya National Park on a half day Game Drive. Having returned back to Livingstone for lunch at your own leisure, the entire group will have the afternoon to relax, explore and spend time shopping in Livingstone before enjoying a sunset cruise along the Zambezi River. The evening will be at your leisure, to enjoy your final night in Livingstone.

Accommodation:Hostel / Guest house

Friday, 22-Jul-11, Livingstone - Chobe National Park

Arrive Chobe National Park

PM: Sunset Boat Cruise

Leaving Livingstone in the mid morning, you will take a leisurely drive to Kasane on the border with Zambia, where you will spend time at Chobe National Park. Recognised as one of the best game reserves in the world, the area is specifically famous for the largest elephant population anywhere in the world, now thought to be in excess of 100,000. There are huge herds of buffalo and Zebra, plenty of crocodile and Hippo and various different antelope species as well as Lions.

Having arrived and set your camp, you will enjoy an evening sunset cruise along the waterways of Chobe. This will provide a beautiful experiences for viewing some of the wildlife, but also for experiencing one of eth most beautiful National Parks in Africa.

Accommodation: Tented Campsite

Saturday, 23-Jul-11, Chobe National Park

Chobe National Park

AM: River Safari

PM: 4x4 Game Safari

Rising early this morning, you will take a morning river safari (starting at 8am), this will be an ideal way to get close to the animals in the areas of the National Park that are otherwise inaccessible by 4x4 vehicle. After lunch, you will embark on your second safari in Chobe, this time by 4x4 vehicles around the park (starting at 3pm).

Accommodation:Tented Campsite

Sunday, 24-Jul-11, Chobe National Park - Maun

Arrive Maun

Leaving Chobe National Park, you will head south west to the town of Maun: the gateway to the Okavango Delta.

The Okavango Delta is one of the world’s largest inland water systems. It's headwaters start in Angola’s western highlands, with numerous tributaries joining to form the Cubango river, which then flows through Namibia (called the Kavango) and finally enters Botswana, where it is then called the Okavango.

Millions of years ago the Okavango river used to flow into a large inland lake called Lake Makgadikgadi (now Makgadikgadi Pans). Tectonic activity and faulting interrupted the flow of the river causing it to backup and form what is now the Okavango delta. This has created a unique system of water ways that now supports a vast array of animal and plant life that would have otherwise been a dry Kalahari Savanna.

Tented Campsite

Monday, 25-Jul-11, Maun

Maun

Okavango Delta Mokoro excursion

The Delta’s floods are fed from the Angolan rains, which start in October and finish sometime in April. The floods only cross the border between Botswana and Namibia in December and will only reach the bottom end of the Delta (near Maun) sometime in July,

Taking almost nine months from the source to the bottom. This slow meandering pace of the flood is due to the lack of drop in elevation, which is little more than 60 metres over a distance of 450 kilometres. During the peak of the flooding the Delta’s area can expand to over 16,000 square kilometres (but shrinks to less than 9,000 square kilometres in the low period).

Today you will explore the water ways by dug-out canoe (mokoro). First, taking a four-wheel drive transfer to the jetty where you will meet your guides and step inside your canoes. The mokoro stations are in an area of the Okavango set aside to be managed by community representatives. These communities traditionally use this part of the delta for fishing, reed cutting and the harvesting of water lily bulbs and the mokoro is an integral part of these activities.

Accommodation: Tented Campsite

Tueday, 26-Jul-11, Maun - Serowe

Arrive at project

Having spent the last week enjoying a complete safari experience in Zambia as well as Botswana, today you will travel to your project site at a school in the village of Serowe, arriving by lunch time to make your introductions. Group 1 of your school will also be here, on the last day of their project, so you will be able to have a full handover from them of what work needs to be done in order to continue the good work that they will have started.

Once you have unloaded your truck you will need to make preparations to start your project work tomorrow. Your project may involve a whole host of tasks, but primarily it is likely that you will be asked to upgrade the recreational facilities of the school by building a climbing frame and swings, whilst others will be building a outdoor class room at the rhino reserve.

Accommodation: Camping

Wednesday, 27-Jul-11, Serowe

Serowe

Manage project

Camping

Thursday, 28-Jul-11, Serowe

Serowe

Manage project

The educational environment of the school will need attention, so you should expect to re-plaster and re-paint walls, and certainly follow the schools desire to have education murals placed around the schools to be used for teaching.

Camping

Friday, 29-Jul-11, Serowe

Serowe

Manage project

It will be essential that you are able to look at the bigger picture during your stay at the school and identify other ways in which you can help.

Camping

Saturday, 30-Jul-11, Serowe

Serowe

Manage project

Other activities you may wish to design are football, netball or basketball matches after school hours. These competitions are a great way to interact and have fun with the local students. Alternatively you may wish to have a cultural exchange whereby you explain to the students about your life at home and at school. This can often be a very rewarding exchange.

Camping

Sunday, 31-Jul-11, Serowe

Serowe

Manage project

Finally, you may wish to get involved with the teaching at the school by assisting in one of the classrooms. It is unlikely that you will be able to lead a class completely on your own, but perhaps a simple geography lesson about the UK, your town or your home would be possible to arrange with the permission of the principal.

Camping

Monday, 1-Aug-11, Serowe

Ellisras

Enter South Africa

Leaving your project you will need to make sure all your tasks are complete, before saying your farewells and heading east and crossing the border into South Africa to stay at the small town of Ellisras (aka Lephalale), where you will stay on a local game reserve for the next two nights.

Gusthouse / Safari Lodge

Tuesday, 2-Aug-11, Ellisras

Ellisras

Local Safari

Today is a good day for reflecting on your achivements over the last fortnight and will provide you with one last opportunity to enjoy the wildlife of South Africa, taking a simple safari in the local area.

Gusthouse / Safari Lodge

Wednesday, 3-Aug-11, Ellisras transit to depart South Africa

This morning you will need to travel to Johannesburg airport, where once again you will be reunited with Group 1 fly back to the UK on an overnight flight.

Flight

Thursday,4-Aug-11, Transit flight to UK

Arrive UK

This morning you will arrive back into London.

I will definitely be posting photos when I get back, so check back for that!

(Source: schoolworldswide itinerary)