Out of Africa....

....and into Manchester!

Before I regale you with Will's adventures, a profuse apology for going AWOL.  Life just got in the way, as it so often does.  I'll try harder, if only for the benefit of my Mum who said somewhat plaintively last week that she keeps checking my blog for new posts but there aren't any.

So - bearing in mind that the information we receive has been somewhat thin on the ground, here's a brief resume of Will's summer.

Once his A levels were over, he headed off to Kenya for a month, with a team of 24 other students from his school plus some teachers.  While there they helped to build classrooms and the furniture to put in them, and did a lot of digging - something to do with environmental work if I remember correctly.  Which is perhaps an unfair summary of the hard work they did there, but I think it is a reasonably summary.  No doubt Will will comment and correct me if not!  

And they climbed Mount Kenya - poor Will was suffering from a decidedly dodgy stomach on the way up, and altitude-based breathing problems and chest pains on the way down, but he still made it to the top.  He clearly really enjoyed the trip - he has an altruistic outlook on life (except towards his immediate family!) and found the work to be physically demanding but very rewarding.

They also saw loads of African wildlife - elephants, giraffes, all the usual suspects - and enjoyed a couple of days off by the sea.

Here's Will slapping some varnish on some school desks (look at the drips and splashes and you'll see my choice of words is pretty accurate! )

On his travels:

At the top of Mount Kenya:

And, I think, once they got back down from the mountain:

Make the most of these photos, because the ones of the rest of his summer, while plastered all over Facebook, are not the sort of photos I want to share with my friends and family!

Suffice to say that once back in the UK, and with us back in Malaysia, he enjoyed his freedom.  He went to Reading Rock Festival, spent time with various friends including hitchiking from Cheltenham to Scotland and back (as you do!), and then on to Manchester University, where he is now studying medicine.  Freshers' Week there seems to have been one huge party, but he is now knuckling down to some serious studying.  (By the way, he did really well in his A levels - A* in physics, A in chemistry, biology and maths - very proud Mum :)  )

Coming up - why it's not really worth going to Ipoh in Malaysia unless you're particularly fond of derelict Chinese shop houses....