6th June - Sofia

 I felt welcomed by Mombasa and its surroundings when I walked out the airport at 5:45am this morning and likewise when I arrived at Pope House by all the other Leapers!

I got there just in time for a delicious breakfast (crepes and fruit) and shortly afterwards we grabbed our things and heading out for a beach clean-up at Bureni beach nearby. The ride there felt like we were in a Mario Kart game; but I quickly learnt this is the Kenyan style of driving - and perfectly safe!

Along with some local people we cleaned up the beach and collected 58 kgs of trash. It was incredible to experience how quickly a group of people can make a positive change.

The rest of the group headed to the Oceans Alive office for some coral reef restoration (planting out nursery grown corals to wild coral structures) while I headed back to Pope for a much needed nap (I hadn’t slept in 24-hours!).

We all gathered again for lunch and had traditional ugali (maize meal) and meat and veg. I accidentally over spiced my plate!

We then had a session with Tilda and enjoyed speaking to her and learning more about the program very much. Before dinner we all played beach volleyball and then went to the Beach Bar together. Dinner was fun and delicious!

We headed to bed quite early tonight as we were all tired and excited for the day tomorrow!

Today was a successful first day and I loved meeting everyone!