Travel Plans

The following is my itinerary for South Africa. All the usual disclaimers apply: my plans can and will change, some dates are approximate, my mother did not endorse the blog name, etc etc. Hope to see some of you at Winter Camp before I leave.

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January:
I am leaving Edmonton, Canada on Jan 3 and arriving in South Africa on Jan 5.

I will spend 1 week(ish) in Cape Town, possibly at the YMCA. I plan to get a room so I can orient myself to the 9 hour time difference, sleep a lot and get to know Cape Town a little. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Town) I also plan to climb table mountain, and catch a fish bigger than I am.

Afterwards, I will spend January 12- 18 (ish) with some missionaries I worked for last time. I want to help them out with whatever they are currently doing.

Jan 21: Begin to volunteer at the Cape Flats YMCA. http://www.saymca.org.za/programs/youthdevelopment/ywi/index.php?pageno=211 I will be living with a host family in the town of Strandfontien (http://www.mapsofworld.com/south-africa/cape-town-city-map.html, look near legend.) If you try to search for Strandfontein on the net you will get the other, more touristy one.

Feb- April:
My work hours and exact jobs will be determined when I get there, but I plan to teach life skills and possibly Christian stuff in schools and prisons around the Cape Flats area. (The Cape Flats are the so-called "ghetto" of Cape town, where poor, mostly coloured people live. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Flats). I also hope to wrestle for a local club team, and try to qualify for the South African or African championships (I have no idea how feasable that is.)

At the end of April, my work ends and I become a tourist. My girlfriend Kathryn is coming to visit around April 23. After a week in Cape Town, we will travel the Garden Route by bus, stopping at various scenic locations. (http://www.gardenroute.org/capetown/index.htm) After a couple days on a beach south of Durban (in which I plan to catch enormous fish) we plan to take a bus to Johannesburg. From them we will be taking an organized safari to the Kruger park ( http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kruger/) from May 13-18.

May-June:
Kathryn goes home on May 2oth. I then have until June 8 to seek adventure. (I can change my date of departure if needed but it will cost me money). I plan to spend a lot of that time in the bush. My plans for this time are necessarily fluid, but some things I might consider:

1) Doing cool stuff with relatives. They are aweome. (For example: http://filth-man.blogspot.com/2006/12/to-catch-giraffe-from-archives.html)
2) Visiting the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park (http://www.sanparks.org/parks/kgalagadi/).
3) Drive to, and look at Botswana. Possibly visit some missionaries. "Lonely Planet" practically dares you to bike through Botswana, so if I can find some feasable way to do it that would be awesome.
4) I dunno. Shark fishing, I guess.

June 8: Depart for Canada from Cape Town.

Merry Christmas people! NO UTENSILS FOREVER!!!