Conservation & environment

Hot showers and dipped toes

30 January 2020

Another kid take over in Sand Rivers, with the latest round of Watoto go Wild students in camp and on safari around the Selous.

12 students, and two of their teachers from the local school, had a wonderful time, beginning with a morning game drive with their Nomad car and guide, then coming into camp to be treated to a full lunch spread of all the children’s favourite dishes; chicken & chips, and pilau, and an afternoon of activities.

They met with all our camp teams, learning about all the different departments and what it takes to run a camp like this, and then got busy with some wildlife based art activities. The camp crew even put on a bit of a show for them. One of the team, Benji, was lying in bed, pretending to be a scared guest and called on the walkie talkie, “ help help there’s a snake in my room” (all in Swahili). Richard answered and said “I’m coming now”, rushed over, and spotted the ‘snake’ in question, and politely pointed out to the guest that it was the extension cable on the ground. The students and staff were all in hysterics. They had a tour of some of the features around camp, with the hot shower proving especially intriguing. The camp manager jokingly slashed them, sending them into bursts of squealing giggles. Next, was a quick ride on the boats. Great fun and came back singing songs about Sand Rivers and Selous. All kids totally buzzing and enthusiastic by now. After that, camp presented the special ‘welcome cake’ they had baked in their honour, and sodas all round, while the sat by the pool, with their feet dangling in. Some of the more confident students took a quick dip in too.

After a bit more relaxing, and some prize giving, everyone put back on their shoes and socks on, filled up their Nomad water bottles, and climbed back on board their Nomad cars for another game drive back home.

They were asked what was their favourite part of the day and the teacher said, “The hot shower!”

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