Day 4 at Ko-Sa Beach – From the Ball Olympics to the Final Clue

After hiking nearly ten kilometres the day before, we were hoping for a lie-in. Well, some of us were. While a few of us were still curled up in bed, others were wide awake by 6 am and made sure everyone knew it. Doors banged, conversations carried, and anyone hoping for another hour’s sleep was out of luck. We’ve still got a bit to learn about letting other people sleep.

By 8 am, even the sleepiest among us had made it to breakfast. As we had done all week, we took our time. We had plenty to eat and just as much to talk about.

We could already tell we’d got better at waiting for everyone so we could start and finish our meals together. Sticking to our agreement to speak only German at the table was trickier. Sometimes we managed it, sometimes we slipped back into English, and a few of us added quite a few push-ups to our running totals. At least our arms were getting as much practice as our German.

After breakfast, we felt surprisingly sleepy again, so we spent a quiet hour reading, writing and playing games. Then came the quick-change relay, and that soon woke us up. In two teams, we took turns sprinting across the Ko-Sa grounds and changing into our swimwear as fast as we could. We also had to remember our towels and the water bottles with our names on them. Every forgotten item cost the team points. Being the fastest runner didn’t help much if you’d left half your things behind.

Then it was time for our long-awaited Ball Olympics. In the same teams, we had to get different balls from one side of the course to the other without using our hands or our clothes. Almost anything else was allowed. We came up with some pretty inventive ways of moving a ball, but getting it all the way to the finish took teamwork.

The bucket race was even closer. We ran to the sea, filled our water bottles and raced back to empty them into our team buckets, trying to spill as little as possible. Both teams reached the line on their buckets at almost exactly the same moment. A well-earned draw!

After all that running and cheering, we were ready to get into the sea ourselves. We swam, played and chatted in the water. Then it was time for showers and lunch. Chicken and chips tasted especially good after a morning like that.

In the afternoon, we each set off to find a pattern or design on the wall of one of the rooms. The idea was to copy its shapes and colours onto paper as accurately as we could. There was one catch. Nobody could see which wall we’d chosen, because later on everyone would have to work out which drawing belonged to which room.

Next, we got together with our roommates to paint a canvas inspired by our trip. We mixed colours, tried out ideas and worked out how to fit our favourite moments into one picture. Each room came up with something different.

Before we took a closer look at the paintings, we headed back out for volleyball. We’d planned to play for half an hour. More than an hour later, we were still at it. We were having too much fun to stop, and the tips we gave each other were starting to pay off. Our serves were getting better, we were more confident receiving the ball, and we were getting the hang of playing together. By then, of course, everyone wanted to win.

Some of us still had one more sporting commitment. Remember those push-ups we’d been collecting at mealtimes? It was time to do them. Our occasional switches to English had added up, so we worked through the total ten push-ups at a time.

Then we took our drawings around the Ko-Sa grounds to match each one to the right wall and work out who had drawn it. Now we found out just how carefully we’d looked and how accurately we’d copied those shapes and colours. The quickest, sharpest-eyed detectives earned extra puzzle pieces for their rooms. First place earned two pieces, and the two runners-up earned one each.

Afterwards, we held a gallery walk to look at the canvases we’d painted with our roommates. We gave the paintings between two and five points, and the winning picture earned its room five extra puzzle pieces.

At 6:25 pm, it was time for our room inspection, followed by our usual half-hour of screen time. That half-hour lasted a little longer than usual. A missing key had everyone searching, and an unexpected struggle to get a door open added to the excitement. Even on day four, Ko-Sa still had a few surprises for us.

Before dinner, we went back to our “desks” under the palm trees to catch up on the class newspaper and write in our diaries. We had plenty to fill the pages with.

That evening, we sat down for our last dinner together at Ko-Sa Beach. We had spaghetti with tomato and garlic sauce, with jollof rice and salad for anyone who was especially hungry. We took our time and enjoyed one last evening meal together by the sea.

Then came the final room scores. All the puzzle pieces we’d collected over the week were counted, and the room that had looked promising on the very first morning had done it. “Clarni Chillz” had won!

Congratulations to Cleantha and Arcani! They’d kept their room tidy and thrown themselves into the competitions all week. Those puzzle pieces soon added up.

But the biggest question of the trip was still open. Who were our two secret saboteurs?

For four days, we’d watched one another, collected clues, compared theories and suspected just about everyone. Each new clue had helped us cross a few names off our list. Now only Missions 7 and 8 stood between us and the answer.

Both missions took teamwork, quick thinking and a sharp eye. We completed them and earned two final clues. That narrowed the field to three suspects for two secret roles. We went over the evidence once more, compared our hunches and put it to a vote.

We got them both! Our saboteurs were Nii Dromo and Florian. For four days, they’d kept their identities secret and done their best to throw us off the scent. Now our detectives had finally caught up with them. We celebrated together. The mystery of Ko-Sa Beach was solved.

And so our last full day at Ko-Sa Beach came to an end. After the races, the painting, the volleyball and all that detective work, we were ready for bed.

We still have a few things planned for our final morning. We’re hoping to be in the sea for a swim at 6 am and back on the volleyball court for one last game at 7:30.

After four days like these, will we all actually make it out of bed in time? We’ll see!