Day one – The wheels on the bus go round and round….all the way to Ulusaba.

After our 12 hour flight, Christine (Virgin Management), Ben (Virgin America), Nancy (Virgin Mobile Canada), Lakshmi (Virgin Mobile India), Jon (Virgin Money), Nick (Virgin Media), Satesh (Virgin Active), Wes (Virgin Atlantic), Heidi and Roisin (Virgin Unite) were excited to meet with the remaining participants, Natalie and Donne who were already in JNB - we weren’t afraid to admit they looked slightly fresher than the rest of us having spent the night in a bed.

We began our seven hour bus journey, keeping ourselves occupied by getting to know each other, catching up on some sleep and playing some games (we learnt that ‘I spy’ in South Africa is slightly more interesting to the ones we all remembered playing as a child…’I spy’ something beginning with E – Elephant – correct – we also managed to spot a R for Rhino and a W for Wilder beast). We finally reached Ulusaba, our home for the next week and were excitedly greeted by all the Pride ‘n Purpose staff, who were surprised by our excessive baggage. To their relief we didn’t pack the kitchen sink but rather brought along nine bags filled with soccer kits, balls, books and other goodies. A huge thanks to Carol Skinner from Virgin Atlantic and her husband for the soccer donations.

After a delicious Braai (the South African equivalent to a bbq) we took in our surroundings and couldn’t quite believe we were here. We’re off to get some sleep to dream about what our second day in South Africa has in store for us. Over and out.