I've just come back from an awesome 2 week holiday in Cape Town. I went over there to take part in the Argus bike ride which is a 110km race around the Cape Peninsula with our coordinator Ali. It's a great way to see the whole of the Cape area and enjoy the atmosphere of such an amazing event - they close all the roads and bikes take over! The only tough bit was the 65 knot winds that were literally blowing people off their bikes - it's the first ride I've ever had to start pushing my bike over the line.

I had the pleasure of staying with Ali and her lovely family while I was over there and got a great insight into what an amazing job that she and the South Africa team do, there is never a dull moment that's for sure! One minute they are sorting out logistics for the next group of arrivals, then buying toilet roll because the volunteer house has run out, then it's off to visit the projects making sure everything is running smoothly, interrupted with giving advice on tummy bugs, you name it they do it!

The projects we visited in Cape Town reminded me of the great work that our volunteers do oversees. All of our projects would really struggle without the additional help i-to-i volunteers offer and every single time they asked us to send more people through. The children at the community projects are absolutely adorable and just melt your heart when all they want is a hug. A personal favourite was the Special Needs project based in a township which helps children who are often forgotten. Just a little bit of attention puts a big smile on these kids faces and they are so unconditional. I'm an animal person really though and the Animal Rescue project remains my project of choice, it's fascinating to learn how much this entirely voluntary organisation acheives and the education they carry out in the townships about animal welfare.

I also visited the sites for the South Africa Adventure trip this summer and MC the guy running things took us on a township tour around Langa (one of the bigger townships in Cape Town). I can't begin to tell you guys booked on to this trip what an amazing time you will have, it's difficult to imagine that you can fit that much into 2 weeks and MC is just brilliant at answering questions, looking after your safety and making sure you have fun at the same time.

After recovering from the Argus we headed over to catch up with the volunteers on the Animal and Adventure Experience, with a spot of wine tasting on the way. The volunteering section of this project is, just amazing! Alan the guy that runs the ranch has some of the most incredible stories about his time working with animals - just ask him about being a gorilla's playmate or his pet trigger fish if you get the chance! The project is an educational facility with a fun theme to it and houses many animals from all over the world. They also breed cheetah and Bengal tigers in facilities nearby which the volunteers get to visit too (this is off bounds to the public). The best thing for our volunteers is that they get guaranteed hands-on experience with the animals (the safe ones anyway!) and unlike tourists they get undivided attention because they are feeding them, the tourists just get photo opportunities. I went crocodile cage diving (an absolute must), played with Bengal tiger cubs and cheetah and the highlight of my visit was feeding the lemurs - they are sooo cute!

We took the volunteers out for a posh dinner at a local game reserve to say thanks to them for letting us help with the feeding and then headed back to Cape Town. After a few days of sun, surf and sand it was time for me to return back to cold, grey England - boo hiss. I'm still struggling to get back into office life and trying to plan my next trip away so that I don't get too depressed. I think I need to do some saving first though!!