Day 8 - Saturday 19 December
The final adventure...
After a long drive to Johannesburg and a good nights sleep, we were ready to tackle our next adventure. We were going on a game drive to explore all the native animals of Africa. This was our last day in Africa and we were all reflecting on everything we had learned over the past 8 days. It had been a massive journey both physically and mentally and we had all learnt about us as people and our own country. We have learnt all about the way co-operatives are run in Africa and the differences of their dependence on the success of their business in comparison to our own life and country.
On the way to the game drive, we were all buzzing with excitement about what animals we were going to see, we were fortunate enough to see a huge range of different animals. These included elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes and zebras. We all took lots of pictures of them. Some of the animals were really close to us and we discovered how beautiful they were.
At the end of the game drive, we were all satisfied with the animals we had seen. We returned to the posh hotel we were staying at, which was one of the hotels that were going to be the accommodation for the world cup. We had to pack and get ready for the long flight ahead of us in the evening. We were all going to miss spending time in this wonderful environment with these brilliant people but we were all confident that we would never forget this amazing experience and take away the lessons and skills to make us better people in the future.
I know I have learnt not to take advantage of all the things that I have got because some of the people I had met would give anything for my sort of upbringing. I have met a lot of nice people who were determined to change the lives of them and the people in their community and I know that with their positive attitude, they will succeed. I know I will surely miss waking up in the morning with a welcoming smile from the locals and being able to sit in the sun in the afternoon time.
So as we prepare for a busy journey ahead, we are all considering who we are and our goals for the future which is something that we have been taught to do during the trip. I will never forget the advice from an inspiring man from the first day of the trip who said, “Be positive whatever happens, because if you aren’t positive then who else will be for you.”
We would like to thank everyone involved in arrangement and development of the trip which was a once in a lifetime opportunity which will forever affect us as people and how we treat others.
