Journey to Hands - Saturday and Sunday

Saturday afternoon we arrived at Heathrow Terminal 5 thanks to Noah, Garry and Dan. We had a drink altogether before Lucy and John had to head to Terminal 3 as they had a separate flight (as they weren’t part of the original 2026 team).

Flights went smoothly, some people managed to get a good amount of sleep while some where staying up playing Battleships.

Landing in South Africa, we were rewarded with our first beautiful sunrise, luckily they were allowed to open the blinds on the plane for us to see

After going through passport control and collecting all our bags (thankfully) we grabbed a coffee, collected our van for the 2 weeks and waited for Lucy and John to head onwards. Unfortunately, we were given a smaller bus than expected so little bit tight with all the luggage and 10 people. 

YES, there is meant to be 10 people in that picture. 

Our next stop, Alzu petrol station. If you’ve seen the blogs before or have been you will know it’s not a normal petrol station. At what other services can you grab lunch and get a picture with a Rhino in the background?

Carolyn took charge of driving for the afternoon drive to the Hands Hub and did a brilliant job. Smooth enough ride for some people to catch up on some sleep.

Arriving at the Hub, we were given a warm welcome by familiar faces which was lovely after a tiring 24 hours. We had a quick tour round the Hub and noticed a few changes. 

Unpacked our bags before cooking and eating our pizza that had been set up for us by the Hub.

This was followed by a chat going through what our week will look like and what we are looking forward to in the coming week.

All ready for a good night sleep to wake up for the Monday 8am morning meeting, followed by our first day at Mafambisa. So excited to go back!!

By Ben and Lucy