30-Day Countdown

Hey Everybody!  We are officially leaving for Africa in 30 days.  We spent this morning at REI (Recreational Equipment, Inc.) buying camping supplies, clothes and bug repellant.  We have our safari hats and gear ready to go.  Since we've started preparing our luggage and supplies, we figured now would be a good time to start our blog and give you updates on the progress of our trip.

For those of you who aren't as familiar with the details of our trip, here is a little run-down of what we are expecting to do:

July 8-10:  We will be flying from Los Angeles to New York, then to Madrid, Spain, and finally to Johannesburg, South Africa.  Total travel time will be over 40 hours.

July 10-13:  We will be staying in Johannesburg, South Africa, before heading into Botswana for the Malaria Campaign.  The World Cup Soccer Final Match will be played during the second day of our stay in the city.  The hostel we are staying in is called the "Ball N Kicka", and was built specifically for the World Cup.  Although we are not actually attending the game, we are expecting that this event will make our first few days very exciting and fun.

July 13:  We will take a 7-hour bus ride from Johannesburg to Gaborone, Botswana, where we will be greeted by our host, Tommie Hamaluba.

July 14-18:  During our first few days in Botswana we hope to get used to our new surroundings and meet some of the people we will be working with.  On the 15th we will visit the Gaborone Secondary School where Tommie is a teacher. On the 16th, we will be meeting with Nkoloi Nkoloi, the Director of Foreign Affairs for the Americas and Europe, and also a representative from the Regional Health Office of the American Embassy.  On the 17th and 18th, we will be taken on a safari in the Mokolodi Game Reserve, which is apparently one of the best places in the world to do a safari. On the 18th we will have a tour of the city.

July 19:  This is a public holiday in Botswana so we will have a free day to hang out.

July 20:  This is the Malaria Campaign--the main purpose of our trip.  We will leave for the northern Chobe District around 5am and arrive around 6pm. We will spend the night in Kasane at the Lesoma camping site. We will travel through the northern districts of Botswana to deliver insecticide-treated malaria nets.  The name of the village is Parakarungu Village in the Chobe District--"Google it," as Tommie says.  Also, during this trip, we will have the opportunity to visit Victoria Falls.  We will see the falls from both sides--Zimbabwe and Zambia.

July 26-28:  When we return from the Malaria Campaign, we plan to rest for a few days in Gaborone, at Tommie's house.  Also, we will be meeting the mayor of Gaborone, as well as some other officials from the city.  Hopefully, Tommie will give us a little tour of the city and take us to visit the school where he works.

July 29-August 2:  ???   We have no definite plans for these dates.  We are hoping that people will suggest some local activities for us to do during this time.  Or maybe we will just want to relax and hang out in Gaborone.  Or maybe we will go back to Johannesburg for more fun in the big city.  Or maybe we'll go to Namibia to see their sand dunes.  Or maybe...I'm sure we'll find something to keep ourselves busy.  If anybody has suggestions for things we could do, please comment on the blog.

August 3-5:  We are staying at a very nice beachfront resort in Cape Town, South Africa.  This should be an amazingly fun and relaxing way to finish our trip.  Besides being on the beach, Cape Town has some very interesting historical sites, wineries and golf courses to keep us occupied.  It will be very difficult for us to leave at this point.

August 5-6:  Leave Cape Town, fly back to Johannesburg, then to Madrid, then Chicago, then L.A.  Total travel time will be 26 hours coming home.  Much shorter than the trip there, but it will probably feel longer because we will be so anxious to come home and tell everyone how great the trip was.

Wow!  Just typing this made us three times as excited to go!

We'll do our best to update this blog as often as we can during the trip.  At this point, we don't know how much internet access we will have.  But please check the blog site frequently to see if anything new has been posted.  We will also try to send emails when we update the blog.

Doug and Dena