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On July 9th 20 students and 5 teachers embarked

on an expedition to Tanzania. After a long

journey of nearly 24 hours we arrived at Colubus

campsite for a couple of days of acclimatisation

to the new surroundings. As soon as we arrived and took

our first (rather cramped!) coach journey in the country we

were all taken aback by the beauty of the country and the

great differences between the landscape there and at home.

Our first full day in Tanzania was spent in Arusha

exchanging currency and getting the feel of the place. We

had lunch with an elder from the village who told us a bit

about the heritage of the country and Tanzania in general.

The next day we embarked on the long journey to the

school. We were all filled with excitement but extremely

nervous at the same time. As we arrived the kids were all

over us, clapping and singing. It was an utterly surreal

experience but we all agreed it was the most memorable

moment of the trip. After they performed a sequence of

very well-rehearsed dances and songs for us, we sung

Pompeii to them and then a rather impromptu performance

of “Dont Stop Believing”. After the first day of singing and

playing with the children, lessons commenced the next day.

We were split into five groups - English, Maths, Sport, Music

and Art. Each group had planned a series of lessons but we

were still shocked by the immense number of kids in the

lessons and how hard it was to work in a classroom

environment. However, the energy after our first lesson was

skyhigh and no-one could believe how much we had

TANZANIA

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enjoyed it and how much they valued

our efforts. We were laden with gifts

after the first lesson which was an

amazing gesture considering how little

they have.

During the week of teaching at the

school we also visited the local village

and church and the Masai village. We

learnt an immense amount about the

the customs of the locals and were

extremely grateful for how welcoming

they were, allowing us to ask

questions and giving us tours of their

houses.

We also ran a Sports Day for the

kids and each child was rewarded with

a certificate and wrist band, which

everybody at Caterham School helped

to raise money for. Similarly on the last

day each student at Lerang’wa

received a watch which was a direct

result of the huge fundraising by the

Tanzania team and the generosity of

Caterham School students and

parents. The leaving ceremony at the

school was touching and extremely

sad - I don’t think anyone didn’t cry!

After leaving the school it was

straight onto the mountain. The first

and second day we passed through

jungle into a more sandy terrain. After

reaching the second camp we began

the climb to the summit at midnight.

We reached the top shortly after

sunrise with an immense feeling of

achievement, as we were the first year

for every Caterham student on the trip

to reach the summit of4565m!

After our extremely physically and

mentally tiring time at the school and

on the mountain, the final part of the

trip was a welcome break. We spent

two days on safari at Lake Manyara

and Ngorongoro crater. Highlights

were the herd of elephants and the

lion who came right up to two of our

jeeps. We saw some amazing things

and for many of us this was the first

time on safari. The guides were

fantastic about telling us all about the

animals.

Finally we left the safari campsite

and spent our last night in a hotel

before our long journey home.

It was honestly the experience of a

lifetime and we were all so grateful to

have been given the chance to

participate in such an incredible and

helpful expedition.