Back on English soil and missing it already...

So it's Wednesday and we're back on English soil. Back to reality and everything has gone from Pole-Pole to Haraka Haraka (quickly quickly!) Why is everyone in such a rush? Immigration, the baggage collection, the bloomin' taxi driver rushing us. How rude! Not sure Tanzanian time works over here.

Everyone is feeling exhausted but looking forward to getting home to see friends and family. It has been an amazing trip with highs and lows but it has to be said that the highs massively outweigh the lows.

I think the trip has had a huge impact on every single one of us in different ways and everyone is taking some great things away from this. I personally still can’t get my head around how different things are out there and how hard the Mamas work. Everybody is so so friendly and welcoming and I just found it a really happy place to be.

I think I speak on behalf of everyone in the Remit gang when I say a huge thank you to everyone at the Village Education Project Kilimanjaro. Katy, Dilly, John, David and all of the Mamas have all been fantastic and looked after us very well. We had some incredible experiences and would encourage everyone to make a trip like this if they get the opportunity. It's a real eye opener and the charity do some amazing work out there.

I have decided to return in September to do the Kilimanjaro Challenge and climb the 5,895 metres to the summit. I will be doing this to raise money for the VEPK charity, which as I mentioned before is a fantastic organisation, doing some great work in Tanzania. I have a target to raise £2,500 for them and so sponsorship will be welcomed.

Lastly I want to say a huge thank you to the four apprentices who were with us on the trip. Ryan, Tony, Daps and Eric, you have all been an absolutely pleasure to share this trip with. You embraced everything we did and put everything in to it, you really are a credit to yourselves, your employers, family and Remit. 

Also a huge thank you to the other Remit staff, Louise, Sam and Steve, who made the trip a huge success and very fun. I couldn’t have asked for better company.

And finally (this is turning into an Oscar winning speech) I have to thank Steve Yardley for giving us all the opportunity in the first place, and for trusting me to lead the trip. There's not many companies where you would have such a chance of a lifetime.

Miss you all already.

Anyway, signing off for now, I have a few emails to catch up on!

Asante sana VEPK and Remit

Sana Upendo

Kate x

Hefferlumps, Giraffes and a race to the finish...

Tuesday is our last day and there were mixed feelings from everyone this morning over breakfast. We have the excitement of our morning of safari at Lake Manyara, sadness for leaving this beautiful country, excitement to get back and see loved ones, and despair at the thought of a 17 hour flight!

Everyone was still on fantastic form though and we started with high hopes that we might get a glimpse of a Giraffe.

As we entered Lake Manyara, we started the search for animals. Twenty minutes later, and nothing. We all began to get a little disheartened, we were all still smiling on the outside but I knew that on the inside everyone was feeling like we might be out of luck today. 

It had rained heavily overnight and we wondered if the animals had decided to have a lazy day at home in front of the TV instead of heading out for food. But then, from the eerie silence came a little shreek of excitement from the 'pocket rocket' (Louise) “Giraffe Giraffe!” 

We all nearly jumped out of our skin but the shock was worth it because as we glanced to our left there he was, Mr Giraffe, munching on a tree for his breakfast. They are very curious animals and he spent a while staring at us trying to work out what us 'Mazungus' (foreigners) found so interesting. If only he knew!

Mr Giraffe was the first of a stream of animals. Next we met a family of baboons who were playing and grooming each other. Then a huge elephant wandered out on to the path in front of the cars, followed by her whole family including two babies. These were incredible to see so close up, we could almost touch them from the roof of the vehicles. 

Everyone was back to being excited now and things just got better. We came to an opening near the lake and it was like all of the giraffes and zebras had been hiding out here, because as we came out of the forest there were hundreds of zebras and a herd of giraffes with their babies. Amazing.

Now at this point, our guides stopped the cars and opened thee doors so we could get out. Correct me if I am wrong, but are we not in the middle of a safari? We have all made it to the last day, it would be a nightmare now if one of us was to be eaten by a lion or charged by one of the elephants wouldn’t it? But in true Remit Tanzanian style, we all hopped out of the vehicles to have our pictures taken! 

We survived! No limbs lost and not even any close shaves. Phew.

It is time to head out of the lake now. We have a four hour journey ahead of us back to Kilimanjaro airport and the guides weren’t sparing the horses! They were determined to get us there on time. We had a brief stop to eat our packed lunch, which consisted of carrot and orange sandwiches, rice inside what looked like a Cornish pasty (very misleading), chocolate spread, a chicken leg (cooked, luckily) coconut biscuits, an orange, a banana, a fairy cake of the driest variety and a fruit juice. We weren’t going hungry!

We screeched up to the airport with time to spare. Now the really long journey begins. First flight is seven and a half hours, then a four hour stop at Doha, followed by another seven and a half hours to Heathrow. Oh, and not to mention another couple of hours back to Nottingham. Yay!

See you on the flip side xx

Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase...

Well what a way to start a Monday! 



For a few of us the 6.30am breakfast was a bit of a lie in compared to a Monday morning heading down to Mercedes! So after a coffee, we were desperate to get out and see some animals.

It was a bit of a drive to the Crater. Once we'd arrived we had to wait at the gates to get our permits for the day, which was really frustrating as we were all so keen to see what was down there.

We finally started the journey, ascending up and up on rocky roads (for a change) in a low hanging mist! Louise was extremely excited by this as it felt like Jurassic Park with the jungle surroundings, the mist and the wild noises (apparently she has always wanted to find herself in one of the films!).

After about 40 mins, we started to descend, and eventually arrived at the opening to the crater. Until now we had been on a narrow road, surrounded by trees and greenery, so this was our first glimpse over the vast Crater, which spans 19 kilometres!

As we came around the first corner, we stumbled upon a heard of Zebras. I never really got excited about seeing the zebras, but they are beautiful animals.

By now the roofs on the safari cars had been opened so we could pop our heads out and get some great pictures.

A bit further along the road, Davis shouted again to look left. About 10 foot from the car were five Lionesses (Simbas) basking and sleeping having just eaten. These were incredible, and we spent quite a while watching and waiting to see if they would get up, but they were quite happy just rolling around relaxing. We tried dangling Steve out of the car, but they weren't interested!

From then on it was just one animal after another. We saw lots and lots of Buffalo, Wildebeests and quite a few families of Water hogs, which just make me laugh as I imagine them singing Hakuna Matata from The Lion King! I was a little disappointed when they didn't but I guess you can't have everything.

Soon though, far in the distance we could see a herd of something really big. We asked Davis what they were......Elephants, he said! 

I was so excited as the Elephant was one of the big five that I was desperate to see, and as it turns out, we were about to see a whole herd of them. They were so close to the car and absolutely amazing to see in their natural habitat, doing what they do and not being cooped up in an enclosure.

By now everyone was getting peckish and so the guides pulled up at one of the picnic areas and we settled down for our picnic. The picnic area is surrounded by Black Kite birds swooping down to pinch food, so there are signs up to say not to feed the animals. 

However, we have five males with us and, as we know, they don't read instructions and so Steve (yes the responsible staff member) decided it would be fun to throw food up into the air for the birds to catch, which they did! They obviously then wanted the rest of his food and one hungry Black Kite took it upon himself to swoop down and help himself to the rest of Steve's sandwich, cutting his hand at the same time with his talons.

As if Steve wasn't wounded enough, one of the guards then came over and charged Steve a penalty for feeding the animals. Lesson learned!

After lunch we saw more animals, including a Lioness who had just killed. We are yet to see a giraffe though and this is one of the animals several of us are keen to see. We have been told there is more chance tomorrow when we go to Lake Manyara, so fingers crossed!

We were all pretty tired tonight and so had a nice relaxing 'last supper' and took ourselves off to bed early as we are going for an even earlier start tomorrow - 5.30am! We want to be sure to see some animals at the Lake before we have to head back to the airport. Fingers crossed for Giraffes!

Kwaheri for now, LaLa Salama (sleep well) 
Team Tanzania xx 

The car in front is a Dala Dala...

Sunday

Some baboons we spotted on our journey

Not a lot to say for today. We drove and drove and drove! 

Winlock and Davis picked us up from the palace at 11am and we said our goodbyes to Dilly, Anna and our new friend, Stephan the Watchman.

We are heading off on safari and so everyone is very excited but we have a five to six-hour drive ahead of us, four of us in a Safari Land Cruiser and the other four in a safari-style Dala Dala.

We are heading to Karatu, which is near the Ngorogoro Crater where we will be going tomorrow to hopefully see lots of animals!

We travel through Moshi and on to Ashura before we land at our destination, but it didn't feel as long a drive as it would have done in England as there are so many interesting sights, such as the Masai villages we passed and the differing landscapes.

We arrived at our camp for the night and were greeted with pineapple juice and popcorn. Random, yes, but then again we have got used to expecting the unexpected, and everyone was ready for it so the combination was enjoyed by all.

Dinner time arrived and we had a slight change from Chagga food tonight. We had soup to start, followed by fish, stew and rice.

We headed off for an early night as we have a 6.30am breakfast tomorrow so we can get a full day at the crater!

Team Tanzania Xxx

Bye bye Chem Chem, safari here we come...

Saturday

A view from the top of Kilema Hill

This morning we went to Kilema Hill. It represents Jesus being dragged up the hill and crucified at the top. Another epic climb with Margaret, her little boy Jordan and her nephew Daniel. It was well worth the climb and our legs are now as solid as steel from these hills!

At the top is a monument and the views are incredible. You can see for miles and miles and it was just a really peaceful place to sit and enjoy.


Again it is another hot day here and we needed to refuel, so we headed back to Marangu Mtoni for lunch. Everyone's favourite lunch seems to have become Chipsi Mayai which is basically a chip omelette! A taste sensation that you need to try!

After lunch it was time to head to the blacksmiths and the caves. The blacksmiths were interesting and they showed us how they make spears for the Masai Mara and explained the different spears and how they earn them. 

As young boys they have to go out as a group to catch and kill a Lion. They have to bring the lion's head back to their village and this earns them the right to marry and the right to a bigger spear. I think this process could catch on in the UK - can't see why it wouldn't work!

We took a short walk through the village, which is pretty much like a rainforest. We were bombarded by the local children wanting their picture taking, which was sweet. As we were walking, the guide told us the story behind the caves. 

These caves were almost like bunkers for the locals where they could hide out from the enemies. The watchman sits near the tiny entrance hole and shoots any passing enemies, while the families are deep down in the caves. We all got the opportunity to go down into the caves but the only one from Remit brave enough to go deep down into the full caves was Ryan! 

I went in to the first part and through the first corridor, but you are literally on your knees and, being pretty claustrophobic, there was no way I was going any further! It's amazing to think how many people would live down here to protect themselves from the enemies. Another fascinating day and look in to the lives of Tanzanians.

A few of us hopped out the Dalla Dalla at Mama Mlay's for a final visit before heading off on safari tomorrow. Woooohooooo! I think 

I speak for the whole team when I say we are extremely excited about this. With our cameras charged, Ngorogoro here we come!

We had our final supper at Chem Chem and had a toast to David, John and Dilly who have been fantastic hosts for the past 10 days, and to the Mamas who have looked after us incredibly, particularly Anna who has become our African Mother.

Kwerhari Chem Chem, Asante sana

Team Tanzania xxx

A Pole-Pole day...

Friday

Two local school children saying hello

Today we woke up to rain. This is our day off, so we are taking everything 'pole-pole' today.

We took a steady walk to Chem Chem for breakfast. The roads have turned in to a rocky river today, so it's like a slippery slide down for breakfast. 

After pancakes and toast, four of us decided to make the walk down to, you've guessed it, Mama Mlay's! It would be rude not to spend some time here on our day off and the weather was beginning to brighten up so it was nice to just sit and reflect on the past week. 

I am personally getting in to this 'pole-pole' way of living. The whole experience has been incredibly humbling and I think has made us all realise just how lucky and spoilt we all are back home. 

Out here every day is about survival and there is no moaning about the epic walks up and down the hills every day to fetch water or to cut grass for the cows, the locals are unbelievably friendly to Mzungas (foreigners) and have time for you. 

I can't imagine us back home welcoming Africans to our country and asking how they are and about their lives. It is a completely different world out here and I actually really like it!

'We take no responsibility for injury or death at Lake Challa...'

Thursday

Today we took a trip to Lake Challa. This was about 45 mins away and the weather today is glorious! Back in the Dalla Dalla we go. I think we are all getting used to the rocky roads now as everyone seems to just go with the flow!

As we were approaching Lake Challa we saw a family of baboons sat in the middle of the road ahead of us, this was really exciting as it is the first wild animals we have seen so far, apart from cows and goats, so this just got everyone even more excited for safari.

When we arrived at Lake Challa, we were greeted by one of the guides and a sign that stated that they take no responsibility for injury or DEATH while at Lake Challa! As you can imagine this was a little disconcerting for everyone but by now we are pretty hardened Chaggas, and so in true Tanzanian style we pretended not to be bothered by this!

It is hard to describe the view but the lake is in a crater and so we were starting out at the top and needed to work our way down! The Lake was the bluest water I have ever seen surrounded by the greenest scenery. It is hard to describe how stunning the view was.

Now our thoughts turned to how on earth we were to get down this near-vertical drop to the Lake. Of course, we walk! The guide pointed us in a rough direction of where to start and we had Margaret, one of the Mamas, with us to follow. Let's just say this walk was a bit like an extreme sport. There were vertical drops, slippy rocks and tree roots to contend with. The sign we saw at the entrance was all becoming more clear now. 

It took a good 25 minutes to make our way "pole pole" to the bottom, but when we got down there it was well worth the climb. At the bottom was a huge pile of rocks and a single wooden boat. Dilly and Dave had both made us promise not to swim in the lake as there have been sightings of crocodiles, and apparently there have been croc attacks in the past. They warned us that the locals will encourage us to swim (which they did) and it is extremely tempting when you are that hot and sweaty, but we kept reminding ourselves that we all value our limbs and quite want to make it to safari and so we refrained. 

We had a picnic that the Mamas had prepared for us which was interesting! Tomato sandwiches, a boiled egg, half a carrot and half a cucumber.

We spent some time here taking in the scenery before heading back up the vertical hill.
Back to Marangu for a sneaky stop off at Mama Mlay's for some fresh coffee.

Dinner at Chem Chem, and then a pitch-black walk back up to the Palace. Another dry bed ahead which is a novelty out here!

Tomorrow is a well-earned day off, so a later breakfast and then some free time!
Kwerhari (goodbye) for now!

Team Tanzania! Xx

Remember this next time you put the kettle on...

My mamma, Anna and her husband

Wednesday was our second day with the Mammas. 

This was again another extremely hard day, and it just makes you realise how lucky we are.

When we want a cuppa, we just pop water from the tap in the kettle and flick it on, within a couple of minutes you have your drink and pop in the milk fresh from the fridge.

Over here it's another story. If you want a coffee, you first walk to the river or the water taps to collect a bucket of water. You return with your water and head to the kitchen area to set a fire with twigs and sticks you collected earlier. You then boil the water and while that is boiling, you head out to milk the cow. After about 50 minutes, you have your cuppa! Wow!

This evening we had a traditional Chagga celebration with all the Mammas, which was incredible! They all made a huge entrance singing traditional Swahili songs and dancing for us. This was amazing to see and hear. Everyone loved it!

The palace, thanks to Katy Allen

I can't tell you how excited we were to get some good news today. We have been evicted from the Chem Chem campsite! 

The tents got so wet from all the rain that we have been moved to the palace, which is Katy Allen's house (Katy is the lady that set up the VEPK charity.) It is beautiful! Here's to a good night's sleep.

Raindrops keep falling on our heads..tents..clothes...

Ok, two things:

Anna's daughter, Happiness

1. Who's idea was it to camp in tents during rainy season in a rainforest setting on Kilimanjaro?

2. Who decided that cold outdoor showers were appropriate?

This is generally how everyone is feeling. Until now everyone has been staying positive, even when sleeping in puddles, but now we are finding it increasingly difficult to find that positivity when all of our clothes are wet (not just damp) and we are developing trench foot!

On a happier note, today we spent our first day with the Mamas. I was with a Mama called Anna and her daughter,Happiness. Everyone else was also allocated a Mama or a family to spend the day with.

I have to say it was the hardest day's work I have ever done. These women do this day-in-day-out, and the feeling you get is that everything they do is purely to survive, every job is for a purpose and it all revolves around getting food on the table.

I started the day by walking about two miles to Anna's home. At this point she has already been up since 6am, cleaned the house, walked to our campsite, cooked our breakfast and washed up after us. When we arrived back at Anna's, I met her daughter and they showed me around their land and all their animals. I get the feeling that Anna and her family are quite well-off around here, she has her own house on her uncle's land and her father also lives here too.

Next we cut the grass for the cows using a small machete. Anna makes this look incredibly easy, but let me tell you, this is not easy! It is back breaking and very strenuous!

I next learned how to tie up the grass into bundles using banana leaves and sugar cane strings and carry it on my head. This was another tricky task and my bundle of grass was three times smaller than Anna's!

We cooked dinner next and this took about two hours from start to finish. I have to say though, it was pretty yummy!

The rest of the gang had varying experiences and enjoyed it but were all exhausted by the end of the day. Tomorrow is our second day with them so let's see what we get up to!

Hard work, big bricks and one sore eye...

Our second day of project work today and I have woken up with a swollen eye. Not a good look! 

John Douglas insisted that I go to Giapatta, the village doctor, to get it checked out so me, John and Dilly headed off to the medical clinic on our way to site, and the rest of the group planned to pick us up en-route. 

In true Tanzania style the doctor wasn't at work yet (9.30am). She didn't turn up for the next 40 mins, when the group arrived to fetch me. I was quite content however as I had been introduced to a one month old baby who had been brought in by his mum as he wasn't well. She instantly handed him over and I had a lovely cuddle.

By now I was bored of waiting, so I asked John if we could just head off - and we abandoned our plans at the doctors.

On-site the girls were tasked with the hard labour of digging around the trees that were planted the other day to clear room around each one. This was absolutely exhausting as we were using pick axes in the midday sun. Lunchtime soon came around though and then the afternoon flew by. We have finished all the project work now and Dilly is very happy with our efforts.

We made friends with the builders on-site and some of the lads helped carry some bricks for them. In Tanzania, the bricks aren't like normal bricks. Think of a breeze block, times it by three, and this a a standard brick. The locals lug these around over their heads and climb up makeshift scaffolding, which wouldn't ever pass any safety regulations in the UK but they are happy and the job gets done if not a little bit "pole pole"!

Tomorrow is our first day with the Mamas which will be really interesting and also really hard work I imagine, so need to have a hearty breakfast tomorrow.

Signing off now, hope all is well back home at Remit and with everyone's families. You should all be really proud of these lads, they are working really hard and having a fantastic experience!

Don't go chasing waterfalls, just stick to the coffee shop that you're used to...

Not the most normal walk to church on a Sunday!

This morning we attended a typical church service in Arishi, which is the next village from Mirishi where Chem Chem campsite is based. 

The walk took about 20 mins through what can only be described as a jungle! We walked down some really steep, slippy slopes and a couple of members of the group went down but the scenery and the beautiful streams and scenery we saw on the way was well worth the falls.

We arrived at church just in time and we had to be seated with men on the left hand side and women on the right. As you can imagine we stuck out like a sore thumb (Murangas!) We attracted a lot of stares, but just through interest and not in a threatening way.

The service started with singing, which was obviously in Swahili so we just stood and watched on as the choir led the singing. The priest then started the service and welcomed us and came over to speak to us in English to express their delight with having us there for their service. 

The service went on pretty much in Swahili and when I say it went on, I mean it went on!! 

Nearly two hours later we realised something was happening where we could join in. The whole congregation were taking it in turns, row by row to go up and give some money to the church offertory. It was a bit like a conga line where you drop your money in the basket as you pass at the front, before returning to your seat. 

The strangest thing was yet to come. After the close of the service, everyone makes their way out to the steps of the church outside and anyone who was unable to give money during the offertory, auction off food goods. There was an auction of some fresh goat, milk and three sugar cane trees. All very strange but in a way quite practical I guess.

We spent a while saying hello to the locals as they all wanted to shake our hands, and then we headed back up to Chem Chem. 

We had lunch at the site, which consisted of lentils, banana stew and spinach. This is pretty much the diet we are living on and I have to say it is lovely, however is becoming a little 'samey'!

We then split off in the afternoon. The girls visited the coffee shop for a relaxing time and the lads went off to see some waterfalls, which by all accounts were pretty special. We might be able to go again later in the week but have lots of photos and videos to bring home.

We had another relaxing evening at the campsite and played a team game called 'Tell Me'. Things got pretty competitive but quite frankly there was no competition. My team, led by Ryan and Toni, were victorious!

Second day of project work tomorrow.

Over and out for now
"Pole Pole"

Digging deep for new Remit centre...

Today was the first day of the project work at Remit's 

vocational centre.

After a hearty breakfast we hopped in our

Dala Dala and headed down to the new Remit site. 

Dilly gave us a brief run down of the site and what he plans to do over the next few years. And then to work we went!

The lads planted 60 trees in about one hour, which was incredible, they were like machines! The girls made a start on painting the watchman's house and we made great progress too.

It was extremely hot at the site, so when we stopped for lunch I think it was a much-needed cool down and break.

After lunch we went to the old Remit site. This is where the charity had started building the training centre until the locals told them they would be building a road right through the site! This was a terrible time for Dilly as the building was already quite a long way along in the building process.

Anyway, back at the site everyone worked really hard on painting the guard's house until it was time to return on our Dala Dala. We stopped off at Mama Umloi's coffee shop to get some cakes to feed everyone's sugar cravings.

Once back at Chem Chem, we all had a relaxing evening as everyone was pretty exhausted from the project work. Tonight was our first night without rain so hopefully people will get a better sleep and our tents might get chance to dry out!

Church in the morning which should be an experience, African style!
Pole pole,
kwaheri (Goodbye)

The wheels on the bus..

Today has been an incredible experience, once again! 

We went to the local town (Moshi) which is approximately one hour away by Dala Dala. 

The Dala Dala is a type of bus, but is about the size of a taxi minibus. We caught it from the local town (Marungu) and these vehicles are designed to hold about ten people......ours had 31 people, plus one young boy in the boot!

It is absolute maddness! I can't even explain what it is like. They just keep cramming people on and won't leave until they are at full capacity.

The plan when we got to Moshi was to go to the coffee shop to recover from the trip. This coffee shop was lovely and we sat in the garden and had coffee, milkshake and Samosas. Delicious!

We then went to do some souvenir shopping. This became quite stressful as a group of Musangus (foreigners) attracts an awful lot of attention for the locals, particularly when three of you are blonde!

We ended up with a crowd of about 20 locals following us desperately trying to sell us things or get money from us. It did become a bit much for everyone and so we stopped for lunch to get a break.

We next went on to the YMCA for a much-needed cool down in the Olympic size swimming pool. This was lovely and a good cool down after the heat of the midday Tanzanian sun.

After our swim we headed back to Chem Chem, collecting some freshly ground coffee en-route from the local coffee shop ready for breakfast.

Once we had returned, we were joined by Dilly who brought us some whisky that he and John Douglas from VEPK wanted to share with us. We had a toast to the Village Education Project Kilimanjaro and then went for another outstanding dinner of beef stew, rice, mash potatoes and spinach. Pole pole!

Tomorrow is our first day of project work and everyone is really looking forward to it, the learners have said they can't wait to get started.

It has been an absolute privilege spending time with these award-winning apprentices. They really do deserve to be here and are being fantastic representatives for Remit. 

The rain has now started again after a glorious sunny day. Let's see if we get any more sleep tonight!

Have a great weekend all,missing you but realising how much we take for granted back home. Here there are seven-year-old children walking five miles a morning to get fresh water. Unbelievable, what a different world.

Pole-Pole...

So what have we done since last time we spoke? Well lots! 

Checking out the local wildlife

On Wednesday we arrived at Chem Chem campsite ready for lunch, that had been prepared for us by the Mamas. We have eaten some great Chagga food and this was a fantastic greeting as everyone was pretty exhausted from the 36 hours of being awake and needed refuelling! We are all loving the local food which is great! I think Daps has surprised himself as he has tried lots of foods that he never thought he would like and has really enjoyed it all so far!

After we'd all eaten Dilly, who owns the campsite, came to welcome us and show us to our rooms (tents) for the next 12 nights!
Wednesday afternoon and evening were then spent relaxing and exploring the campsite to settle in. We spent some time on the rooftop chatting about our experiences so far and thinking about what the next few days hold for us!

Then for our first night in our new homes! This was interesting as it is rainy season here and when it rains, it rains!
We have our own watch guard during the night to look after us and he wanders around the site throughout the night which takes a bit of getting used to!

Thursday morning arrived and Sam woke up in a pool of water! Turns out her room wasn't quite water tight! Me and Lou decided to share a tent and have the other one as our dressing room, this also leaked! You will be pleased to hear the lads' tents were all fine! However they had a friend by the name of Mr Grasshopper who was singing to them all night!

Next for our first Tanzanian breakfast and I have to say it was delicious! Everyone loved it once again. There was toast that we cooked ourselves on an open fire and we had pancakes with fresh bananas from the trees on camp site! Yum!

It has now stopped raining and has warmed up but luckily not
too much as we have quite a walk ahead of us! We set off

up the hill from Chem Chem to meet David and John, who incidentally had a lovely night sleep in their warm cosy beds further up the hill in their houses!

We met them at the computer centre where David gave us a talk about VEPK and ran through our itinerary for the next couple of weeks! It sounds amazing! The computer centre is used by the locals  to access the Internet and do courses on computers and programmes.

We next went further up the hill (this is an amazing workout for the legs by the way!) to the vocational training centre and had a talk and a tour from Peter the principal, this was really interesting and also intriguing! Health and safety doesn't really exist out here let's just say!

We next had a long walk down to the town of Murangu for lunch and to see the market! Lunch was an omelette filled with chips! This is amazing and worth trying!!

The walk around the market was an experience and we obviously stand out from the crowd whether we want to or not! Everyone stares at you, not in a bad way but just in a interested way! The children are great! When they see us they shout "muzumba muzumba" which means foreigner! We have learnt some Swahili during our introduction and so are able to say hello ( jambo or shikamoo for people older than you).

Another thing we noticed about Tanzania is how laid back the living is out here, they have a saying, pole pole [ polla polla] which simply means slowly slowly! The whole atmosphere and way of life is so far removed from back home that it is hard to explain.

After the market experience we had a long walk back down and David took us on a detour to see a waterfall which was worth the extra walk, it was really pretty, we had a bridge we had to walk over that was the type of thing you see on Indiana jones with gaps all the way across - yet again another health and safety disaster but a beautiful one!

We made it back to Mama Mlay's coffee shop where she grows her coffee beans in her back garden! It would have been rude not to sample the coffee so we hung around there for a while! "Pole pole!"

We were out for the whole day and didn't return until 6pm and so we just relaxed until dinner at 7.30pm where John and David joined us for spaghetti bolognaise! Again very delicious!

Well I will leave it there for now, today we are off in to Moshi which is the nearest town - one hour away! Will report in later! Have a great day and remember "pole pole".

The eagles have landed...

Here we are in a very cold Nottingham with Steve Yardley before leaving

So we have landed at Kilimanjaro and are currently on a Dalla Dalla (a small bus with negative air con) for two hours to Chem Chem campsite! 

It's red hot here so I am comfortable! I'm suited to hotter climes!
Flights were good although we had a couple of hiccoughs first off! John (the man from the VEPK charity) had recently had his credit card stolen and we needed it to verify the bookings! It was touch and go for a minute there, but after he gave the airline some feedback, we were through! 

Good job we were 'Pilling early' though on this occasion as it took a while to sort!

Once on the plane, there was another incident, now I wouldn't say incidents follow me around but it was beginning to look that way! Prior to take off (thank goodness we were still on the ground) a lady started screaming and collapsed right near us in the aisle! 

Now,I know exactly what was going through mine,Steve, Sam's and Lou's head.....check for breathing, recovery position, heart massage, Vinny Jones-Saturday Night Fever style! Luckily there was a doctor on board who sorted her so she could get to a hospital before taking off. Phew! 

Little bit annoying as it delayed us very slightly, but all is forgiven, I'm sure she was having a worse time than us - so get well soon screaming lady on plane!

Anyway, since then there have been no major accidents, or indeed any incidents, and everyone is in good spirits and excited about arriving at Chem Chem!

Over and out for now!

Let's get Ready to Rumble....

I want one of these!!

It's T-minus five sleeps till I lead a team 
of Remit apprentices and staff members 
more than 7,000 miles
south of here to the African country of Tanzania.

Our four apprentices, David 'Daps' Price, Eric Riley, Ryan Olone and Anthony Panayi, have all excelled over the past couple of years as Remit apprentices and were given the chance to join me and three other members of staff - Louise Ward, Sam Bold and Steve Knapp - on a charity trek to Tanzania.

Remit has been working with the charity VEPK (Village Education Project Kilimanjaro) for the past couple of years, and has been supplying them with tools and resources to enable them to start vocational training for young people in car mechanics. The charity works to provide schooling and training to children and young people from the deprived rural villages on the North Eastern slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro.

We will be heading out to Killi for 12 days and have a packed itinerary which means our four young men will get the chance to see the work the charity is doing, help out to plant some trees in the local area, learn what life is like for the Mamas in the region and camp out under the stars. We will have a treat at the end of the trip as we head out on Safari, so I can't wait to see all the animals - in fact I might try and fit a baby elephant into my hand luggage!

It's been a busy few weeks organising everything from passports and visas, to jabs, malaria tablets, tickets and flights, but I think I can safely say nearly every list is ticked off. 

So ladies and gents, get your bags packed, your sensible footwear polished and ready for inspection, and we're ready to hit the road!

We leave Remit's G7 offices at 8.30am on Tuesday morning. Next stop Heathrow!