Mission Africa

In one of the hottest places on earth Nick’s attempts to get water for concrete have ended in disaster and now the team is running out of drinking water. Attempts by expedition leader Ken Hames and his team to capture a herd of Giraffe start well and end in tragedy.

The heat continues to get turned up on Mission Africa. This week, things turn nasty. They are confronted by scorpions and snakes on the build site and tension grows between them. For Ken Hames, who is training some of the volunteers to be Rangers, things look up when they save an endangered Grevy's Zebra.

Nick Knowles and former SAS Major Ken Hames attempt to drill some military discipline into the team. The volunteers succeed in working together to raise a massive roof at the eco-lodge, but it's the ranger training they find a real challenge. Plus, there's a nice surprise from Elvis the baby rhino but more bad news about the new giraffe herd.

It's half way through the mission and Nick is satisfied with the progress on the eco lodges until ex SAS major Ken starts making demands. First, Ken needs to build an enclosure twice the size of Wembley football stadium and tall enough to hold a herd of Giraffe. Next, Ken takes five of the volunteers on an emergency mission to dart and collar five tonnes of rampaging Kenyan bull elephant.

Things become decidedly dangerous for some of the volunteers on Mission Africa this week.They come face to face with a very angry lion that refuses to go to sleep and on the build-site, our volunteers get a lesson from their African workmates.

Work on the game reserve continues, but danger strikes for the trainee rangers when an angry lion that refuses to go to sleep closes in for the kill with its aggressive mates. Back on the build-site, the volunteers get advice from their African colleagues, while Kerri constructs a water hole for the wildlife.

The volunteers face the arduous task of transporting five fragile giraffes 100km across some of the worst roads in the world under the searing heat. In addition to this challenge, the air ambulance makes an emergency landing when Nick Knowles crashes head-first from the roof of a Land Rover, seriously injuring himself.

Ken Hames attempts to keep the team together as they prepare for the grand opening, and goes on a camel safari to drum up support for the ceremony. Nick Knowles returns to Kenya - despite having undergone shoulder surgery in London only four days earlier - and takes the girls on a shopping dash with a difference.

The pressure begins to take its toll on the volunteers, with the deadline for the game reserve in northern Kenya just three days away, and the water project looking set to fail. Meanwhile, Ken and his trainee struggle to collar the park's first elephant.

After weeks of toiling, the team have just hours left to complete the game reserve. Hundreds of Samburu tribespeople gather for a ceremonial march and the volunteers appear on course to complete their task, but progress is hampered when Nick Knowles collapses just 10 days after major surgery.