TWENTY-ONE pupils from Stonyhurst are set to go on a hockey trip of a lifetime when they fly to South Africa on tour.

The Stonyhurst girls fly from London in July to play Under 17s and Under 16s matches against three schools in Cape Town and two in Durban.

"This is the second foreign hockey trip Stonyhurst has organised, the first was two years ago to Holland," said Claire Brotherhood, Head of Girls' Games at Stonyhurst College.

"These tours are important character-building exercises. Not only will the girls experience competitive matches against foreign teams they will also see and do things that will live in their memory for the rest of their lives."

Between matches in Cape Town they will visit the famous Robben Island where Nelson Mandela was incarcerated, take a full-day peninsula tour taking in Table Mountain, Seal Island, Chapman's Peak Drive, Cape Point and Boulders Beach to see the penguin colony. They will also visit the famous Victoria and Albert Waterfront and the city's Township where they will have the chance to sample Zulu and Xhosa cuisine.

After flying to Durban they hope to experience the excitement of surf launching from Umhlanga Rocks in a custom-made, state-of-the-art 26ft rigid rubber duck with two 125hp motors.

As the boat speeds through the warm Indian Ocean waters they will almost certainly be accompanied by the resident bottlenose dolphins who love to play alongside and leap into the air.

They will also visit the Ushaka Marine World, 15 hectares of prime beach front and Africa's largest marine theme park, and go on game drives in Hluhluwe to spot the Big Five - lion, leopard, rhino, buffalo and elephant.

The final memorable experience will be a boat cruise in the St Lucia Estuary where they will see the many hippos, crocodiles and prolific birdlife which makes the wetlands famous.