PROGRAM PHOTO ALBUM
TIME CAPSULE LETTER
Written by Andrea & the South Africa Team
Can you believe it’s already been six months since we were living the life in South Africa; watching rhinos graze in Bonamanzi camp, seeing endless impala and watching lions stroll along the road?! Hopefully, you look back on those two weeks we spent together with fond thoughts, cherishing the special moments we spent together. Looking back, the trip feels the way it does when you see a shooting star; A moment of time that shines so brightly, but ends so quickly. While we will never be able to recreate that moment, we can always remember those three wonderful weeks where for just a single moment, it almost felt like magic.
Remember our first night in Sunrock in Johannesburg, meeting everyone for the first time and sharing our first meal together. Remember how you felt, the excitement, the anticipation, wondering whether you’d make friends, whether you’d like the food or whether you’d made a horrible decision flying across the world to start a totally new experience. Already, strong bonds were starting to form. Think back to our last couple nights in Zingela, sitting around the fire and listening to the river – those worries long gone and replaced with a sense of belonging and new-found confidence. Many tears were shed over those last few days, a testament to the beautiful, strong relationships you nurtured.
Hopefully, you will be able to look back on those moments when you feel those same anxieties in the future and remember how quickly you overcame those tears and how much fun you had, and the memories you made once you let those worries go.
On our very last night, we sat around the fire and shared some goals we wanted to take forward with us. We hope you have been able to implement this One Meaningful Goal into your life. It’s so absolutely important to pursue those passions of yours and dare to step outside your comfort zone. You did it once, you can absolutely do it again.
Shortly after, we wrote lovely messages to everyone. Kindness is a beautiful legacy to leave behind. People will often forget what you said, but they’ll never forget how you made them feel.
Often we don’t feel at our true best, maybe you slept badly or maybe you just really didn’t like the way your milkshake tasted today.
Sometimes, giving 100% of your effort and dedication to something just isn’t possible.
Giving 10% is still better than nothing, it’s still a step in the right direction, and every step matters. Remember, you are the captain of your own journey.
Be the change,
Andrea, Graeme, Oliver, and Shelby
Thanks for the checking out the blog for this Global Leadership Adventures program!
Here are a few things to know and expect:
- Blog posts are written by onsite program staff and/or students and sent to our Headquarters team who will post the blog on this page.
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Thank you for your patience and understanding, and we hope you enjoy following along on these unforgettable adventures.
For frequently asked questions about the blogs, please visit our Program Blog FAQ page.
-The Global Leadership Adventures HQ Team
Click here to jump down to the most recent post!
BLOG POST FOR JULY 14
Howzit to our loyal readers! All our lovely leaders have arrived in South Africa and after enjoying a “lekker” dinner together, are resting ready for our day tomorrow.
We have an exciting and packed couple of weeks ahead of us and it seems like both students and staff are equally excited.
The first few days are super busy so our staff team will be writing the blog while we get into the swing of things. Soon, we will have leaders of the day and they will take responsibility for writing this blog!
Check in every day to keep up with our adventures across South Africa and don’t forget to drop a comment to cheer on our incredible leaders.
– Oliver, Mentor
BLOG POST FOR JULY 15
Howzit to our loyal readers! Yesterday was a busy day. After a yummy breakfast, we shuttled to the airport and hopped on our flight from Johannesburg down to Durban. We stayed at the airport for lunch and last minute adapter buying and then boarded our bus to our very first game reserve – Bonamanzi. Some of us already spotted some giraffe on the way in!
When we arrived at homebase, we had an orientation followed by curry for dinner and ended the evening by going over the plan for the weeks ahead of us. Students then had time to settle into their rooms before lights out.
We’re super excited to see these students grow into great leaders. Check back in tomorrow for another update!
– Oliver, Mentor
BLOG POST FOR JULY 16
Today we woke up to some scrambled eggs, toast, and some fruits. We went back to the cabins to get ready to visit the APU to learn about how the reserve deals with poachers. We played a game where we walked and hid from the poachers and they used the dogs to come and find us.
For lunch today we had chicken salad sandwiches with lettuce which was really refreshing before our afternoon activities. For our afternoon activities, the group split into three separate groups. The first group went on a snare sweep. That included walking through the bush and thorns, we even had to turn around because the guide saw a buffalo. It was a very exciting experience and a good thing we didn’t find any snares. Another group went on an anti poaching boat patrol and the third group learnt about anti poaching and made posters to educate the community. After the group rotations we had dinner, which was shepard‘s pie. After dinner we went into mentor groups to talk about our day and relax.
Good night, don’t let the lions bite.
– Jack and Danae
BLOG POST FOR JULY 17
We woke up at 7:30a.m to get ready for the day ahead and had breakfast at 8. At 9 we split into our 3 groups, the first group did an APU river patrol, the second had a discussion about the APU and poaching, and the third went off to do a snare patrol. after 3.5 hours we came back for lunch.
In the afternoon after we had lunch which was squash soup. after lunch we continued the rotation’s throughout the afternoon. Then we had an amazing dinner wich consisted of chicken and rice. After dinner we had a very engaging activity that taught us to be respectful of other communities and aware of other cultures. That was the end of the day.
– Levi and Mila
BLOG POST FOR JULY 18
Today we went to the sneak pharm and helped clean the cages, held snakes, fed crocodiles, and played with guinea pigs. After we went to the community where they cooked us lunch: a local dish from South Africa.
After lunch, the women from the village who had just fed us a delicious meal, set up the arts and craft activities. After a few minutes of confusion and laughter, all the students began to get the rhythm of bracelet making. We finished up making a beautiful handmade bracelet each, we headed over to the market. After a fair share of shopping, we thanked the people of the village and departed back to bonamazi. We had a minute of down time before splitting into our mentor groups, each having a riveting conversation with our mentor and group. We had a delicious south african barbecue dinner, followed up by a game new to many, called stalk the lantern. We were all tuckered out from an awesome day and were looking forward to a hot shower and a cozy bed.
– Max and Parker
BLOG POST FOR JULY 19
We woke up and ate breakfast before departing for the Snake Pharm. Next, we got to work moving the guinea pigs to a different cage and cleaning each snake cage. Once those jobs were completed, we moved the pythons to bigger and more spacious cage. After the work was completed, we enjoyed swimming and a delicious African BBQ.
After lunch we went into a traditional zulu village, and they demonstrated how they made shields, and other traditional items. We then went on a game drive and saw some elephants. Afterwards we had dinner before we drove to a local camp, to watch the lion king.
– Emily and Grant
BLOG POST FOR JULY 20
We woke up and ate a delicious breakfast made by Xolani. We ate eggs and avocado toast. After breakfast we split into our mentor groups and went on a scavenger hunt for objects and had to answer questions along the way. We had to search for food supplies for dinner. Then we had lunch.
In the afternoon, we set up our mist nets courtesy of Kevin. These are used to track, monitor, and identify birds. We then set up our potjie competition, building a fire and cutting up the vegetables. After an hour and a half of really fun cooking with our teams we had a taste test. At the end of the day we all pretty much tied (but team whale shark actually won)!!!!
– Reagan and Elayna
BLOG POST FOR JULY 21
First we got up at the crack of dawn and headed out to see the birds we set up nets to ring from the day prior. After we arrived we watched as the ringers started taking the birds out of the bags and processing them by taking their height weight species and other notable features after that the birds were ringed a ring is basically a durable weightless tracking device that goes around the birds talon and then released back into the wild. After that we headed back to camp and had lunch.
In the afternoon, we had our group rotations. One group monitored the reserves Elephant population, another did a game drive and counted the animals they saw (an important task for any game ranger!), and the last one worked on removing alien plant species from the reserve.
We all had a great time and made sure to go to bed early for our morning game drive.
– Eden and Charlie
BLOG POST FOR JULY 22
We started the day off early around 5:30. We got in the trucks and headed to Hluhluwe–iMfolozi Park. We had three different trucks everyone went their own ways. This reserve was beautiful ,we saw elephants, hippos, buffalo, and many other animals. We enjoyed lunch at the reserve with a scenic view.
On the way back from the reserve we drove by a local village where they had a little supermarket we stopped at. Everyone got a bunch of snacks and different kinds of things. We then went to the local butchery and we got some bill tong. I got the warthog meat stick it’s got a nice sweet flavor it is way better than the beef one. After that we headed back to camp were it was chill and we went to bed early.
– Liv and Isaiah
BLOG POST FOR JULY 23
Today we departed camp at 5:30 am to go to the hip. after 5 minutes in, every group was able to see lions. We continued our drive throughout the reserve, seeing more lions, elephants, rhinos, and so much more.
After stopping for lunch and having some of our snacks stolen by monkeys we headed back to camp and were able to rest and recharge before dinner.
– Bode and Kai
BLOG POST FOR JULY 24
On the peaceful morning of July 24th 2024, we woke up to a late 9am breakfast. After some scrumptious french toast from our chef Xolani, we started our daily rotations. Everyone had the opportunity to track elephants, count impala, and pull crembolina. At 12pm, we had lunch and showed our appreciation to the staff at Bonamanzi by each chipping in money to each of them. After a needed break where some played soccer, others rested, in our groups we began our second activity where we did the last rotation of either counting, tracking, or pulling invasive species. At around 4 pm all groups returned to home base and there was a rigorous soccer match with the staff included. We had the amazing opportunity of seeing 4 rhinos on our base. We then all got ready to go to a dinner in a different location specially for our last night at Bonamanzi. We had a delicious braai of hamburgers under some twinkling fairy lights. Then we went to bed closing our journey at Bonamanzi.
– Scott and Samira
BLOG POST FOR JULY 25
In the afternoon we continued our lengthy bus journey and finally arrived to a scenic view of Zingela! After making sure all our stuff had arrived safely, we embarked on a two hour hike down to camp by the river. Though there were some steep hills and slippery slopes, we all made it to camp and quickly settled in to our tents. We came together for an incredible chicken and boerewors braai with grilled vegetables. We then settled around the fire for a final, emotional GLA activity.
– Amy and Justin
BLOG POST FOR JULY 26
In the morning we ate breakfast and then hiked for half an hour to go to the Tugela river where we would go kayaking. It was lots of fun, especially the rapids where a few people flipped. After kayaking, we walked back to camp where we ate lunch.
After lunch, we walked to the gift shop at the kayaking place and bought snacks and souvenirs. Soon after we listened to a presentation on giraffes and their overpopulation problems. After, we went on a walk and spotted many giraffes and collected their dung so it could be fertilized for plants. Then we ate dinner and after we learned about scorpions. After that we did our last GLA activity. We each had a piece of paper that we wrote our names on and we passed it around, writing nice things about each other on it. After that we finished packing and went to bed.
– Sofia and Ben
