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R+R, Shipwreck, Pizza and Journey home.
Hello :)
So I have just woken up in my own bed, it's clean, comfy, off the floor, dark and quiet :)
After completing our PADI Scuba Diving Open Water course all we had left on our expedition was to enjoy ourselves. At the Panori Hotel, the one I went to at the end of my last blog, I enjoyed burger and chips for lunch! It was beautiful! We then went back to camp and started to pack for our journey home.
The next day was our R+R day. This was our last day in Tanzania and we had been looking forward to it the whole trip, especially after our only other R+R day was cancelled in Kidia due to the weather. Most of us went on a boat trip and it was really really good! Once we were on the boats we set off into the Indian Ocean, about 30 mins later we pulled up and got our snorkel gear on. When I jumped off the boat I couldn't really see anything but seaweed, it was pretty disappointing to be honest! Then I swam around the other side of the boat and to my amazement saw a shipwreck! It was incredible, it was covered in coral and had loads of fish around it! Being a fish enthusiast I suppose I loved it! A few of us then swam a little further a field to see what we could find. About 100m from the boat we found a small coral reef, again lots and lots of fish! :)
When we returned to the boat we headed off to a sand bank we had seen earlier. This was pretty cool as we were in the middle of the ocean and this sand was just there! We got off and explored for a while but our time was cut short as one of the girls had cut her foot on the ship wreck coral and needed to go to hospital! Yet another load of paper work!
We got back to land after a great trip and I sent the girl and a teacher off to hospital. I then got all my packing done and got ready for the evening!
On our final night we went to a local Pizzeria! It was brilliant and so good to taste some real food! When we got back to camp I had arranged a disco for the group. I ended up taking over being DJ and spent the night going through my iPod to find some songs! It was pretty tough to
be honest!
Anyway, in the end we had had a great last day on expedition and were all looking forward to going home. Ahead of us was a 2 day journey home, which I have now completed :)
We set of at 7:00am on Thursday morning on a coach back to the convent in Dar Es Salam. It was a long 5/6 hour journey but when we got their I was just relieved to have made it around Tanzania overtaking on hills and blind corners in one piece!
I then spent most of the night on WiFi and talking to the other group before getting a good nights sleep in a bed again :)
On Friday we set off at 12:30pm from the convent to start our monster journey home! After a rather stressful check in at the airport we boarded our first plane to Dubai. On the plane a group of us played the inflight trivia quiz! This was good fun as I won :)
When we reached Dubai it was like getting back into the real world! I had a McDonalds and spent some more time catching up with things on Wifi. I again felt very comfortable in Dubai... I know it was only the airport but I didn't feel miles away from home as FaceTime was great!
We then boarded our plane back to the London Heathrow on which I watched The Railway Man and The Class of 92. When we touched down I said my final goodbyes to the group, got them on the bus and signed off as group leader! Job done :)
I made my way to Terminal 5 and checked myself into my last flight. I managed to sweet talk one of the BA staff so I got to skip the massive check in queue and was through to the departure lounge in about 15 mins :)
I hunted down a Full English Breakfast and enjoyed that while I waited for the final leg of my journey. When I was checking the gate number I turned to my left and bumped into Gary Lineker! He was on his way to the MOTD studio in Manchester just like I was on my way to the first Bolton home game of the season! I asked him for a selfie, boarded my plane and 40 mins later touched down in Manchester :)
Dad picked me up and we went straight to the football! It was a good game but in the end the result was Bolton 2-2 Nottingham Forest .
After the match Dad and I had a BBQ and had a look at some pictures with Grandma. I also gave her the key ring I made out of flip flops :) I then enjoyed a nice shower and went to bed!
Anyway, I have to end my blog now as I am playing golf this morning! Tee off time 8:45!
To sum it all up I have had a great time! It was a tough start in a freezing cold camp where everyone was ill, things then got better and better in the next few camps as the weather and camps improved! We completed a wide range of activities and hopefully made a difference to the lives of the local people! The majority of the group were great and the phrase 'they got out of it what they put in' is really all that needs to be said! I had a really good staff group in Dominic, Amanda, Emma and Fiona and hopefully will team up with them again in the future. Working with secondary kids was a great experience and a huge learning curve! The Camps International experience was once again brilliant and I look forward to my next expedition!
For now though its back to work. Year 6 is waiting for me and I'm ready to give it my all :)
Until next time...
Tom x
Total Word Count - 10,491
- comments
Zoe What a fab experience Tom! Loving the Total Word Count!!! HAHA
Sharon Great stuff Tom and thanks for all your hard work!