Africa By The Numbers

Two years ago, we set a goal for ourselves that we would travel to Burbank's sister city, Gaborone, Botswana, to participate in their campaign to eradicate malaria. We want to thank all of our friends and family who helped us to realize that goal. There are too many to thank individually, and they come from a variety of places:

• The Burbank Sister City Committee
• Students at Burbank High School and John Burroughs High School for donating money to purchase 500 bed nets
• Our family and friends for donating money to help with travel costs
• Gaborone Senior Secondary School
• The governments of Gaborone and Botswana
• All of our friends and hosts on the African continent

Here are a few amusing statistics from the trip:

TRANSPORTATION

Different Methods: 9—Foot, Car, Airplane, Bus, Taxi/Van, Boat/Ferry, Safari Truck, Zip Line, Elephant

Air Travel: 8 flights, 54 hours in the air, 23761 miles (38237 km)

Departure City	Destination City	Hours	Miles	km
Los Angeles, CA, USA	London, England	13	5437	8750
London, England	Johannesburg, South Africa	13	5632	9063
Gaborone, Botswana	Johannesburg, South Africa	1	173	278
Johannesburg, South Africa	Cape Town, South Africa	2	785	1263
Cape Town, South Africa	Johannesburg, South Africa	2	785	1263
Johannesburg, South Africa	Madrid, Spain	10	5030	8095
Madrid, Spain	Chicago, IL, USA	9	4179	6725
Chicago, IL, USA	Los Angeles, CA, USA	4	1740	2800
	TOTAL	54	23761	38237

Bus Travel: 8 bus trips, 41 hours, 1575 miles (2534 km)

Departure City	Destination City	Hours	Miles	km
Johannesburg, South Africa	Gaborone, Botswana	7	173	278
Gaborone, Botswana	Kasane, Botswana	13	474	763
Kasane, Botswana	Parakarungu, Botswana	3	150	241
Parakarungu, Botswana	Kasane, Botswana	3	150	241
Livingstone, Zambia	Kazungula, Botswana/Zambia Border	1	37	60
Kazungula, Botswana/Zambia Border	Gaborone, Botswana	11	574	924
Cape Town Open-Top Tour	Round Trip	2	13	21
Robben Island Tour	Round Trip	1	4	6
	TOTAL	41	1575	2534

Number of Taxis: 39

Number of Boats/Ferries: 6—3 ferries and 1 small pontoon across the Chobe/Zambizi River, 2 ferries to/from Robben Island

Total Weight of four checked suitcases coming home: 150 pounds (68 kg)

We spent a significant amount of time in 10 different cities (London, Johannesburg, Gaborone, Kasani, Parakarungu, Livingstone, Victoria Falls, Cape Town, Madrid, Chicago), and 7 different countries (England, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Spain, USA).

We stayed in 8 different hostels, hotels, homes, apartments, and “other” accommodations: 1 hostel, 2 hotels, 2 homes, 1 apartment, 1 camp chalet, 1 classroom)

FOOD

We had breakfast, lunch, or dinner at a buffet 12 times.

We enjoyed food and/or drinks at 30 different restaurants, pubs or other eating locations (airplanes, buses, school, villages, homes, hotel rooms and apartments).

We consumed 14 different types of meat: Beef, Chicken, Pig, Fish, Lamb, Goat, Ox, Ostrich, Warthog, Impala, Kudu, Eland, Crocodile, and Mopani Worm

We had pap with our meal on 10 occasions.

ANIMALS/WILDLIFE

We experienced 4 different Game Drives: Johannesburg, Gaborone, Mokolodi, Chobe

We saw over 30 different species of “wild” animals—mostly mammals:

Baboon, Buffalo, Cat, Cheetah, Chicken*, Crocodile*, Cow*, Dassie, Dog, Dolphin, Donkey, Eland*, Elephant, Gemsbok, Giraffe, Goat*, Hippo, Hyena, Impala*, Kudu*, Lion, Meerkat, Monkey, Ostrich*, Penguin, Pig*, Squirrel, Warthog*, Wildebeast, Zebra

*animals we ate

OTHER

We had 5 different days when we didn’t take a shower.

We made new friends from 8 different countries: South Africa, Columbia, USA , Australia, Portugal, Botswana, Trinidad and Tobago, and Zambia

We survived “The Curse of Parakarungu” with Tommie, 8 students, and 1 bus driver

We had 7 official meetings with dignitaries from schools as well as city, district, and national governments:

• ICT Club at Gaborone Secondary School
• Max Mophuting, Headmaster of Gaborone Secondary School
• Nkoloi Nkoloi, Botswana’s Director Of Foreign Affairs for Europe and the Americas
• Victoria Lesole, Mayor of Gaborone, Botswana
• Parakarungu Village Kgotla, with Gordon Nshimwe (Member of Parliament for Chobe District) and Victoria O’Connell (Regional Health Officer for the US Embassy)
• Ramotswa Center for the Deaf
• John Moreti, Botswana’s Deputy Clerk of the Cabinet

We were hosted, driven, and entertained by 6 different people in Botswana/Zambia:

Tommie Hamaluba, Bobby Hassamaka, Max Mophuting, Nkoloi Nkoloi, Peter Caesar, Victoria O’Connell

We paid for or were taken on 21 different tours and attractions:

Apartheid Museum, Boma Dinner, Bungee and Zip Line, Cape Peninsula, Cape Town Jewish and Holocaust Museum, Cape Town Open-Top Red Bus, Chobe Game Drive, Elephant Walk, Gaborone Game Reserve, Gaborone Museum, Johannesburg Lion Park, “Ladies Detective” TV set, Livingstone Museum, Mokolodi Game Reserve, Mokoni Village, Ramotswa Center for the Deaf, Robben Island, Rondebosch Golf, Soweto, Table Mountain, Victoria Falls

We encountered 7 different languages:

English, Afrikaans, Zulu, Setswana, Tonga, American Sign Language, Spanish

We used 6 different currencies:

US Dollars (USA and Zimbabwe), Pounds (England), Rand (South Africa), Pula (Botswana), Kwacha (Zambia), Euros (Spain)