The rest of the team

Only 2 days until the next team leave,  we wish you all a safe journey and look forward to seeing you on Friday.

Photos

Preparing the evening meal

Big Bunnies

Tidying site

OBK

Scout's Own

Working 'til sun down

The Ever Expanding Botswana Bonanza

19^th July 2012                            

Just finished a 3 day shift on the building site, it has progressed a lot since our last stint. It is finally beginning to look like an ablution block, it is phenomenal to see the beginnings of the foundations for the main hall against the ablution block it shows how far you can get in a short period of time when there is a lot of people working together – imagine how quick we could progress if the container had arrived with all the tools! 

The ablution block when we arrived

The ablution block now

Since getting back from R&R we have started building up the internal walls to make the separate cubicles for both the showers and toilets, however we are having great difficulty getting the handmade blocks straight, and cutting with blunt saws requires a lot of effort, good thing we like a challenge.

We are back on basecamp today and debating what our next speciality will be, we are not quite sure how we are going to better pancakes and freshly made bread, so really hoping that the Botswanans will teach us a few tricks!

Just been shopping for tonight’s meal, we plan to serve chicken with white sauce and rice, really hoping it works wells. As a team we decided to save money for the first two days so we could serve up something amazing on the third. Maybe we will bake a cake –who knows!

Polly & Beth

Rest and Recreation

Team Honey badgers were the first group to go on R&R.  We were picked up from the site on Sunday morning and driven up north to the Khwrai Sanctuary Trust Reserve – further up into the Okovango Delta.

Scott, our guide, picked us up in an open safari vehicle, the tarmac road soon turned into gravel and we were on that for about 3 hours, only Charlotte managed too sleep on the way!

When we arrive at our campsite, we thought we had just turned off the track to look at elephants knocking seed pods out of a tree, we were about 5 metres from it when Scott told us this was our home for the next three days.  In total we went on four safaris – 2 in the evening and 2 really early in the morning. 

We were really fortunate to see a huge range of animals, from lions to zebras, wild dogs (very rare), hippos, crocodiles …. The list goes on!  Scott told us a lot about the animals and how they migrate, hunt and live.  We were especially pleased to see a fellow honey badger, which went on to terrorise the next camp along the road.

We were pampered with good local food and matresses, showers and not having to do any work!

It was good to return to Boro well rested and fed, rwady to get back to work on site and see the rest of the group.

Jessie and Joe R

Live goes on!

We have now settled into a routine with the groups rotating between base camp and site work.  Base Camp starts at 6.00 am with 1 person going to flag break with the Botswanas and the rest of the group getting breakfast ready for 7.00.  7.45: we have our own flag break with the Botswana Scouts that are staying on our site, living and working with us.  

8.00 work begins on site, we have lunch break about 12/12.30 ‘til 2.30 and then work again in the afternoon until about 5.00, except when something has to be finished and then work can continue until sunset – 6.00 ish!

We are all being well fed and watered and great progress is being made on the building site.  The groups have now begun their R & R visits.

Once again we have been told the container is on its way, we believe it has now got as far as Jo’burg but is stuck there waiting until the other wagons are full!!

Sunday Singing

Sunday, our group led Scout's Own.  The moral of the sketch that we performed was - you should put 100% effort into everything you do because if you don't you'll never know how much you could actually achieve.

Afterwards we did some brick laying for the foundations on the ablution block, then we had to compact some of the gravel we has used to lay paths for the wheelbarrows.  We did this by stamping our feet and singing some African songs to make the job more enjoyable.

Jamie

Photos

Base Camp

Block Moving

Brian working hard!

Pouring Cement

Digging the foundations

UK v Botswana Rugby match