Leaving on a Khumbi...

We leave TOMORROW for our 3 week trip! I’m so excited! Travel restriction is finally over! I guess it goes to show all things (good or bad) do, eventually, come to an end. Yay!

Well, for those of you checking in anytime between now and January 6th (or thereabouts) let me tell ya where I’ll be! See, told ya I’m excited.

December 20-21 Pretoria – one of the lovely capitols of South Africa. Basically we are here to meet up with the other PCVs traveling with us and to go to the Peace Corps office to pick up our Malaria meds.

December 22-24 Tembe Elephant Park, Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa. We will be spending three days, three nights in this ELEPHANT (!!!!!) park in lovely KZN! Little history: Tembe is the home to South Africa’s last free-ranging elephants. It is located in the sandveld (dry, sandy belt) forests of KZN on the Mozambique border. There are now about 160 elephants in this area, many of them the last remnants of elephant herds from the Maputo Elephant Reserve, saved from Mozambique’s civil war. The park also has…read for this?...lions, leopards, buffalo, and rhinos!!!! Woo-hoo!

December 25-30 Tofo, Mozambique. We will be staying in a hostel right on the water. I’m going to be body surfing in the Indian Ocean! As Mozambique was colonized by the Portuguese we are lucky to be traveling with two PCVs who happen to speak said language. That should make this leg of the trip much easier! Our guide book says:

“Mozambique has a public relations problem. If you’ve been watching television the last 10 years, the only images of the country you’ll have seen are probably Kalashnikovs, landmines and flood victims giving birth in trees. You’d be forgiven for expecting a nation on its knees, wracked by war and famine, and only good for charity appeals.

“Here’s the good news: Mozambique is on the up. After more than 10 years of peace, the specters of the past are finally being laid to rest and the mood among the country’s gentle, welcoming citizens is one of unbridled optimism. Best of all, most of the world’s tourists haven’t arrived yet. Traveling around MZ is still quite a challenge…but hey, most roads lead to dazzling white beaches, magical old towns and prawns the size of crayfish.”

December 31-January 2 Mlalwane Wildlife Sanctuary, Swaziland. I’m oober excited about this part also. We’ll be staying in the sanctuary with loads of animals. It’s located in some hills that I can hopefully do some minor hiking in. To source the guidebook:

“Swaziland might be among the smallest countries on the continent and one of Africa’s last remaining monarchies, but there’s more than novelty value on offer here. You can almost feel South Africa’s undercurrents of tension fade away when you cross the border into friendly, easy-going little Swaziland, making it a relaxing stopover on the trip between MZ and SA. And it’s surprising how much there is to do here – the royal ceremonies, excellent wildlife reserves and superb scenery should be more than enough reason to come.”

January 3-6 St. Lucia Wetlands Estuary, KZN, South Africa. Back in good ole SA. This park is a UNESCO World Heritage site and stretches for 230 kilos. It has the Indian Ocean on one side and a series of lakes on the other this reserve protects five distinct ecosystems: offshore reefs, lakes, wetlands, woodlands and coastal forests. Oh and it’s also Africa’s largest estuary.

January 6 Return to Pretoria. Drop off rental car.

January 7 - ? Travel back to the Kalahari Desert rejuvenated and ready to sweat out the remaining months of summer!

That being said I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and a most wonderful New Year! Yay!