Sleep Out - by Evan

This was another highlight – a night spent sleeping under the stars, with nothing between us and the lions except for two students on duty armed with torches.

After a lecture on bush camping, ending with the advice ‘Never, ever camp in a dry river bed’ – off we trundled with our packs to the nearest dried river bed to set up camp. I would point out that this was an exception as it was controlled by a man-made dam – but we were given an illustration of how quickly these fill up when the volley-ball court (in a previously dried river bed) by the camp disappeared in a matter of minutes after the heavy rains a few days later. My job when we arrived at the site was to dig the toilet – I actually volunteered on the grounds that I needed the exercise. After an hour spent digging a hole to crap in, I have to say that I was left with an unaccustomed feeling of great achievement. This is perhaps best put in context by mentioning (to those that don’t know) that I spent the last four years working for an investment bank, so to actually achieve something practical with a tangible result was, for me, awesome! I would also point out that Lucy helped greatly, when my weak little arms tired.

Who knew that digging toilets could bring such inner peace. Perhaps I should start an executive training company, taking high-flying corporate types on team building days, toilet digging in the countryside. They’d love it. I could sell it to them by using the tagline: “Learn how to bury your crap so others can’t find it!” Shame Enron went bust, they’d have been the first to sign up.