Dreams & Teams July 2009 - Thomas Bennett Community College

Friday 17th July;
Fantastic start to the day with amazing breakfast, lots of pancakes covered in chocolate, fresh fruit and made to order omlettes to choose from. Hayley loved the pain aux chocolat, until she found out there was chocolate inside.

We made our fist visit to the state school, Port Louis and were welcomed by the friendly staff and students. Ms Harman had the honour of cutting the ribon to the wonderful art exhibition. Students from the school talked us through their incredible art displays. Later that morning, we took part in a quiz with mixed teams of Mauritian and Thomas Bennett students. It didn't start well for Chilel's team when she thought the sun was the largest planet in our solar system! It was a close contest resulting in a tie break question with Craig and Shannons team managing to snatch a victory.

After leaving the school, we went to the botanical gardens, where we saw giant tortoise, exotic plants and wierd shaped trees.

We finished the day on a high by swimming in the Indian ocean, before celebrating Karen's birthday with cake and live music.

What a great start! Can't wait for tomorrow. x

We have had an epic day and have visited all corners of mauritius. The day started with a bright sunny morning accompanied by another lovely breakfast and then off on our whistle stop tour of the island. Sites included a visit to the glass recyling factory where we got to see some famous hand prints such as; Jermaine Defoe and Alesha Dixon, and also how they made glass sculptures from scratch. Also we visited the sacred lake, a site where hindus go to worship. A visit to see the 7 colours of the earth which was incredible! A trip to Flic en Flac beach where we got to look at lots of lovely colourful fish and also lots of vistis to the islands most amazing viewpoints.
Following this we are all very tired and are ready for bed looking forward to our water sports tomorrow!!!!!

Waking up to yet another sunny morning, and lizards on the balcony we grabbed a quick breakfast and headed to the beach for the day; The most beautiful beach in Mauritius called Ils aux Ceuf. The catch is, after the 40 minute coach journey to the port, we were to get on a speed boat to the island on which the beach was situated. We were stunned. No matter how beautiful Mauritius is, or how many beaches you've seen, nothing will compare. It was a vision of paradise, but better.

We spent an hour or so on the beach before moving to the next, and it was even more beautiful than the first. With just a few people on the whole section of our personal paradise we sat and ate lunch - from the BBQ on the beach.

After lunch, we had just enough time to let the food settle before embarking on a water sport extravaganza. Needless to say, with all the sun and fun, we are all ready for a good night’s sleep. We're in school tomorrow, but we're not saying goodbye to the beach yet!

Sunny again for breakfast! On to Port Louis for more activities which included kite making, a music extravaganza and traditional Mauritian games. Needless to say when it came to the staff competition of La Maral (Hop Scotch) Mr Sheridan rinsed Mr Pearson and only Kieran gave him a run for his money.

Then on to Ile Aux Aigrettes where we saw many endangered species including the Pink Pigeon. Ms Harman finally got to stroke a giant tortoise; she had been overly excited about this prospect since we got on to the plane.

We finished the day snorkelling at Blue Bay Marine Park and whilst the weather had turned cold, wet and windy we still had a wonderful time swimming with Nemo and his friends!

It was a very early start today with breakfast at 7.30am. We went to Beau Bassin SSS where we were greeted by a congregation of students who put on a fantastic singing performance which included the Greatest Love of All and a song from the Phantom of the Opera. We were then taken to meet the Mayor of the town before coming back to socialise with the students, share our experiences and exchange contact details.

The staff at the school invited us to join them in their end of term lunch and put on a memorable spread which included traditional Mauritian dishes.

We said goodbye to our new friends and left for the beach where we caught the last of the sun for the day as well as a pretty frisky hermit crab! (we did let him go). Ms Harman judged Charlotte’s sand sculpture of a giant turtle to be the best of the designs created by the students. We then left for the hotel where we were entertained by traditional Sega dancing over dinner. Time for bed, everyone is very tired and looking forward to a good nights kip!

The staff at the school invited us to join them in their end of term lunch and put on a memorable spread which included traditional Mauritian dishes.

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