Farewell UK - Wednesday 13 April 2011

The day has finally arrived for the group. Arrival at Heathrow Terminal 3 for a 6pm meet saw us all arrive throughout the afternoon, having taken different routes there. It really was a case of planes, trains, and automobiles, with lecturers Cliff Olsson and Clint Godfrey letting the plane take the strain from Manchester.

The check in process was straightforward enough, but equipment was a bit of a problem, with excess luggage successfully getting through without any charge.

The flight out of London was initally to have been at 9pm, but was delayed by an hour. Leaving the UK at 10pm, we managed to get to our first destination on time at 7am (local time) in Addis Ababa. The time difference was 2 hours, so it was a bit confusing for us to take in what time we were actually on, what with the onward flight to Lusaka.

The flight itself was comfortable, with our meal served at about midnight. A very nice beef curry, with some lemon cheesecake is just what you need at that time of night. Being a night flight, there wasn't much opportunity for taking in the scenery, but flying over the Egyptian coastline, the moon cast a long strip of light over the Mediterranean, just as we entered Africa. In the distance to our right, were the lights of a large city in the distance, and by following the GPS screen in the cabin, we worked out that it must have been Tobruk in Libya.

Flying over the Egypt/Somalia border, we had about half an hour of turbulence, so that was a bit discomforting for the nervous flyers among us. Sleep didn't come easy for most, so it was a weary bunch who arrived to spend a couple of hours at Addis Ababa airport.

UCLan sports students selected for Zambia trip

For twenty sports students at UCLan in Preston, April 2011 will see them go on the trip of a lifetime, when they jet off to Zambia to take part is a sports coaching initiative, in conjunction with Zambian charity Sport in Action.

The UCLan Sports students who will be visiting Zambia in April 2011

This blog has been set up to record the progress of their preparations, fundraising initiatives, and their thoughts on the visit they will be taking part in.

Led by Cliff Olsson, senior sports lecturer at the university, the group will be taking part in sports coaching activities with groups in the Kabwe province of Zambia, alongside local sports coaches from Kabwe University.

This will be the third year that a group from UCLan has gone to Zambia, but this year, we will be inviting three members of the Sport in Action team to Preston beforehand, so they can benefit from the sports delivery experience here in the UK.

The team will be carrying out fundraising activities to help this trip to Preston take place. The first major event will be on Sunday 30 January, with 17 of the group taking part in a firewalk, in the Foster Building car park, on the university campus. Details of this event are available on the university's own website.

Keep reading this blog page for regular updates from the team on their preparations for the trip, and hopefully (dependant on internet connection), updates during the trip itself.