Tuesday 15th July

Isla:

Hi everyone, today was super fun. We woke up at 7.30am and I was very cold (as I always seem to be when it's hot). We set off at 9am to see the Discovery Centre and the Elephants. 

When we got there, we were kindly greeted and shown around. We saw a room full of bird facts and got told about the different species in Zambia. Then we went to a second room about hunting and poaching of endangered animals. After, Mr Horrod took me to meet the kids that got a sponsored day at the centre from the money I raised. We took some pictures and they were so cute. They showed me a chant they do to say thank you, that has lots of shouting and clapping, which was really cool. It was nice to see them so happy. 

When I was done seeing them, we all went up to see an Elephant feeding. They were babies and were fed milk by the keepers like little people. There were 3 Elephants; all of them are rescued from the wild as their mothers had been either poached or they had been abandoned due to conflict with humans. The centre rehabilitates them and helps them to go back into the wild when they grow up. We hope to adopt one called Kasungu and he's super cute. He has Dumbo ears and was the youngest one. 

When we left the centre, we had an afternoon of coaching. I was refereeing a game and it was really fun because the kids were all super passionate. They kept shouting at each other out of excitement in their native language and laughing together. They didn't care who won; they just wanted to play and were very excited to be there. 

Overall, it was very fun and I'm looking forward to a full day of coaching tomorrow. 

P.S. Mum, I have been in contact with Spiders and not cried... you better be so proud of me! 

Joselyn:

After having a bit more sleep than the previous night, we headed to Lusaka Wildlife Conservation Centre, the smallest of the national parks in Zambia at 55 square km compared to the largest one in Zambia, and second largest one in Africa, at 22 000 square km.

We first had a tour, where we went through a series of rooms and learnt about the importance of birds and wildlife, the challenges that they and the Elephants face being in exposed and unfenced national parks. 

We then got to see the Elephants being fed. We also met a local school which had been sponsored for the day by Isla, and we have hopefully chosen an Elephant called Kasungu to adopt. 

After lunch we went into coaching, and split into three groups across three schools. At my school we did mini drills with the children and one small game that I got to referee. 

For dinner, the chef made us t Squash soup and then an amazing Lasagne. 

I loved talking to everyone today and getting to know new people! I really like that the kids are so happy and we are having an impact. I'm also so excited to see more animals, but maybe not snakes!  

Also, miss you Mum, Dad, and Carissa x