Anyone that chooses to be a responsible traveler is by nature a unique and special type of person. Perhaps the fact that they are unique is unfortunate because if everyone was a responsible traveler, I doubt we would have as many problems in this world as we do.

Anyways…here’s the deal. Diani, where our home is (yes, that’s what others would call “the office”)  home to lots of unique and special people too, and yes, that includes a very special clothing brand called Lalesso which even the great names like Sienna Miller have worn. Set up by Olivia Kennaway, (one of our own from Diani!) and Alice Heusser, the Lalesso brand was inspired by the intrinsic patterns and vibrant colours of the Kenya’s coastal traditional attire, the kanga. This little story told by Olivia has so much synergy with us – not just because one of our gappers is the star. Lalesso is not just another fashion brand but like Camps International, is one that is based on social responsibilities…Hat tip to Mill!

The Diani weekend beach bar hang out, Forty Thieves, is many things, but a model scouting hot spot, who would have thought? I managed to persuade my good friend Leo to ask Mill Levy, who would later transpire to be a Camp Kenya volunteer, if she was a: A model and b: Be interested in modeling for Lalesso (a clothing brand that she had clearing never heard of). As I watched from afar I realised the situation that my good friend Leo had gotten himself into and that no matter how genuine one might be, a guy asking a hot girl in a bar if she is a model just doesn’t fair lightly! So I stepped in and apparently managed to convince her that we were a legitimate and genuine company and so the ball got rolling…

The rest of the Lalesso shoot crew arrived from South Africa, VC the photographer, Ernstly his assistant and Alice, the other half of Lalesso. With Camp Kenya fully committed and ever helpful assistance, Mill arrived at the final hour, quite literally. Mill is from Melbourne, Australia and has been with Camp Kenya for nearly 2 months. During the dates of the shoot her group was out in their camp in Tsavo, so we had to get her back to Diani, about a 4 hour drive away. A long story short but she missed the first bus coming back from Tsavo and finally arrived back in Diani at midnight. We were to start shooting at 6:30am the next day! So straight to bed for some not so much needed beauty sleep and we were all up at dawn to catch a boat to the sand bar at the reef for the first shoot location. Mill settled in really well and we were all delighted with the first set of pictures.

Back to land and straight in a car off to the next shoot location at The Funzi Keys, an island about an hour south of Diani. Some more fantastic pictures including a great sunset scene on the islands airstrip with the owners little cesna aeroplane as a ‘prop’ in the background. Back to Diani for a much needed good nights sleep and ready for another early start the next day.

Day 2 saw us all head off to Mombasa. The first location was the beautiful old town where reminiscences of old Arabic trading and culture is rich amongst the architecture and life within the streets. All the locals were totally unphased by this bizarre group hauling around big white screens and making a girl walk backwards and forwards hundreds of times. We captured the African cultural essence that lies within the Lalesso brand with the great rustic backgrounds that Mombasa old town boasts. Next was the old Mombasa train station, which despite it’s appearance is still very much in use. Again, both the authorities and by standers were hugely hospitable and let us get on with our work.

Day 3 was beach beach beach and there really is no better location than Diani Beach. Sun, sea, blue sky and sand… not to mention the postcard perfect palm trees that frill out along the vast coastline. Just as the sun settled on the horizon on day 3 we got our final great shot at the Tiwi River Mouth, a magical little destination where the Tiwi river mouth meets the ocean and you get one of the most magical sunsets that I have ever seen anywhere in the world. It was a wrap and the champagne cork was popped!

Mill went back to join her group a couple of days later after a bit of R&R and left us with some fantastic images to start our spring summer 2011 launch campaign. She was an absolute super star and whilst she has done a little bit of modeling previously we hope this job has given her the support and encouragement to pursue a very promising talent that she has… so, you never know what possibilities await for you in Kenya!

(The images shown will be available in Australia at the end of this year and in Europe/USA next summer. Please visit the Lalesso website at www.lalesso.com or shop online at www.lalesso.com/onlinstore or to receive updates of where we are and what we’re up to Subscribe to our newsletter by clicking HERE

Hannah Cambridge, Alice Agnew, Lucy Smith, Jordan Williams and Ben Colonna have been in Tanzania for one month. Lucy, a fervent diarist gives us a glimpse of what happens in Camp Tanzania. Thanks for sharing! Mothercamp (Mbokomu) We arrived at Camps International, Mbokomu on the first day of our tour and were immediately greeted with [...]

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We have completed another Snowdon adventure and are all feeling the pain in our arms, legs and bums, but even so we have taken some amazing memories away from the experience!

So we were all packed and ready to leave at 7am on Saturday morning for the 5 hour drive from Bournemouth to North Wales. We had our tunes, sweets and most importantly our pillows for a nap on the journey.

As we entered Wales the scenery started to change from boring motorways to stunning, winding country roads and hills filled with sheep (I notice these things as I am from Wales after all!!) After hours of “are we there yet?” the mountain appeared in the distance and we all got really excited – me more than anyone – as I hung out of the window with my camera trying to catch a good shot!

When we arrived at the hostel the teams started to turn up. Everyone seemed to be in high sprits and looking forward to the climb. After they all settled in we had a few safety briefings, dinner and then it was off to bed with lights out for everyone to catch some much-needed sleep before the exhausting climb ahead of us!

It felt like as soon as we went to sleep our alarm clocks started ringing and we all staggered around like zombies getting our kit sorted so that we could join our teams.

Bea and Cheryl and I were placed to walk with Beaconsfield who headed out first. Behind us with Lyndsey and Lynsey with Thomas Aveling High School and Devizes School. And then last but not least with Hannah and Anna was Westholme High School.

As we started walking we could see that this wasn’t going to be a straightforward walk up the mountain and we were going to have to be determined to make it and hope that the rain would hold off for us.

The girls in my group were amazing from the start. We were singing and chatting and in very high sprits. All the other teams seemed just as upbeat and all we could see and hear were loads of little lights and singing in the distance.

On the first half of the climb we stopped a few times to adjust our boots and take some layers off as we were all getting really warm. While we were resting I went round with my video camera filming our adventure as best as I could but everyone ran away from my camera, so I realised I was going to have to be sneaky with it!

As we climbed higher and higher the mountain became steeper and we really had to get down on our hands and feet and climb up the rocks. Our buddies played an important role in this and we all worked as a team to get everyone past the difficult parts. Everyone did really well to keep morale high and people moving by motivating their friends and giving them a helping hand when it was needed.

As we approached the top we could see that the snow coverage was going to make it too dangerous to make it to the summit. We all had to wait on a snow covered ledge and scramble up slippery hills to get to the top of the mountain but it all seemed worth it when we realised we had make it to the top even though it wasn’t the highest peak. We huddled like penguins for a while to keep warm until it was time to make our way back down.

As we got closer to the bottom we all started to get tired and achy but we kept it together and kept walking just thinking of the bacon at breakfast!!

Each and every student, teacher, marshal and leader played such an important part of us all getting up the mountain to achieve something amazing together. This year was one of the hardest climbs we have done so everyone should be very proud of themselves! I am still buzzing from the experience!

Thanks all for such a wonderful weekend!!

I just had a glance through our Facebook Fan page and it’s really inspiring to see all the effort that travelers are making to raise funds for the school expeditions or gap year travel with us. Recently I heard that some chap has been sitting in a tub of baked beans outside his local supermarket to raise a few extra pounds. Now that’s innovation and determination! We know its not easy but we also know that there is so much more gratification in working hard to raise money for your trip especially since it is all about helping towards a cause greater than ourselves so hat tip to all!

Meanwhile, we thought that this little fund raising story might be an inspiration to you. A group of lads who call themselves the Chuckle Brothers Football Club undertook a ‘fun run’ the other to raise funds for the various projects run by Camps International by way of a thank you as Camps had sponsored their football kits for the season. They set themselves a £500 target and shot through that it no time and as of today have raised £706!

Big thanks to these chaps and for everyone out there raising funds, good luck – you know it’s worth it. And don’t forget we are here to help you in any way we can!

Girls and boys, please don’t try this at home!

“And if you don’t drive me to the ice cream shop, I will…”

“You know doc, I have been having terrible nightmares about gappers attacking our drivers and painting themselves with cement. I don’t know if its all the steak I have been eating at night and you know my slippers are…ooh did you watch yesterday’s news…apparently some chap in New York had a heart attack in his office, kicked the bucket and nobody noticed for five days! I think I might be going slightly mad…I am going slightly mad! Teeeheehee…”

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