Day Seven - Guinea Pig Hotel

We awoke to the sun shining on yet another glorious day in Peru with most of us still in awe from dinner the previous night at the newly discovered Irish bar, Paddy's Pub. Serving up delights such as steak sandwiches, shepherds pie and even chocolate brownies for decent prices, there is no doubt that this popular tavern will be visited multiple times in the coming days before we head off on the Inca Trail.



With the coach leaving at 9am we had an early start of hydration testing, breakfast eating and making our sandwiches for lunch. Breakfast saw the welcome return of scrambled eggs along with the jam rolls, basic yet still delicious and enough to last us until lunch time.

Upon arriving at the school, the group seemed motivated, refreshed from a good nights sleep and you sensed the enthusiasm within the team. Once there, the same steps followed before beginning the work; carrying tools and equipment from the coach, applying sun cream and organising ourselves into groups to focus on a particular job.

Once split into small groups, work could begin!

 The jobs included removing small rocks from a huge pile of various sizes; this was carried out by Ben P, Harry and Neil before wheelbarrowing them over to the coliseum for Luke H and Kane to start constructing the path.

A larger group helped clear the grass by the tyres in the playground and then advanced into painting them, giving the playground a pristine new look yet still keeping its original character. Painting the apparatus was carried out by Sophie P and Lottie, among others, using bright colours to revive the dull appearance of the play area. The strimmers were once again used to full effect by Luke N, Alan and Dom. Alan also assisted Mark in attaching doors to the greenhouse.

One area that needed particular attention was the guinea pig enclosure. Security was enforced through the addition of wire netting by Lee and Oli, with Ben D and James working from the inside. Hopefully the rodents will appreciate their new and improved home!

Approaching the final hour of the day a game invented by the group to use the remains of 3 or 4 tyres was created (allowing the children to bounce on them like a bouncy castle of some kind). This involved digging and then placing the tyres into the right positions so it was a safe and friendly game to the Peruvian children.

A few laughs were shared at the end of the day when a comedic duo of Kane and Ben P encountered some issues when attempting to paint the top of a slide. Alex and his photography work was used throughout the day to capture photos of the group working 'in the moment'. I'm sure all of you reading this will get to see them in the near future!

As the day ended Paddy's Pub was on the agenda again...

A terrific trip and experience so far to help others around us and have the satisfaction of making a difference to the children's and the school's future.

The time of our lives yet we've only reached the half way mark, with so much more to come!

Thanks for reading

Kane, Ben and Alex 😊