“Bonjourno! Issa me, a Lorne! Ok, so because this week were in god father central, Malindi, an italian run town, ive decided im going to write the blog in Italian, or say it in an Italian accent whilst I write…

After a long 12 hour bus ride in our goggles, water wings and flippers, we finally arrived in Malindi. It was not too far from heaven. Day one was spent with us buliding sand castles and digging holes on the beach. We have only been anticipating the beach since about day 3 of the project. Sadly, whilst swimming in the sea Kari was struck down in the prime of life… stung my a jelly fish! Thankfully she survived and lived to tell the tale. Day two was when we started to learn how to dive! it was also jess’ birthday! We spent the day watching videos about people diving in an attempt to teach us how to be like fish. After an intense day of learning, we went out to celebrate jessday, resulting in us washing away everything we learnt with Kenyacane (n.b not kenyan style cocaine, actually just the local spirit.)

Following a hazy night, many of us found it relatively easy to sink to the bottom of the pool the following day.Most of us took to diving like ducks to water, unfortunately others struggled, others being Amol. Our Italian dive master had his doubts about whether Amol watched the “wideo” at all. We practiced lots of safety precautions in the pool, one being the emergency accent. Dr. Amol, the facial surgeon of the group, couldnt grasp that we wouldnt be able to walk to the surface of the water and would actually have to swim, “What the BEEP are you BEEPING doing!?!?! This is a swimming BEEPING pool, not a walking BEEPING pool!”, in an italian accent, if you please…

Day three of diving school and we were all excited/nervous/wondering if there was any chance than Amol would survive, when we sailed far far out to sea. Kari was already pro at falling backwards into the sea as she’d been practicing for a while. Once we were all under the sea all our fears swam away as it was so much fun! Thanks to diving we now have many new dance moves which we have been collecting throughout our time in africa! And i can proudly say that we all passed our Open Water Padi Exam (even Amol!). You will now find the 8 of us at the bottom of lakes, seas, ponds and puddles across africa.

That’s all for now my little fishes! Love from Lornashark.

Ps, to all the parents reading the blog, make sure you buy your little fishes scuba equipment as we now all have new, expensive, hobbies.