South Africa Itinerary!

Hi Everyone,
Here's the plan for our time in South Africa. Gives you a good idea of where we'll be at, and some detail of what we are doing! I'm getting really excited about the trip! I can't believe that it's only 19 days away!

ACCOMMODATIONS IN SOUTH AFRICA

Cape Town (Dec. 28 – Jan. 1 ~ 4 nights)
We will be staying at 2 B&B’s south of Cape Town on False Bay . Fourteen of our group will be staying at Sunny Cove Manor in Fish Hoek www.sunnycovemanor.com and 5 will be staying at The Inn at Castle Hill in Kalk Bay (a small bay in False Bay) www.castlehill.co.za about 15 minutes from Fish Hoek. (Breakfast will be provided while in Cape Town – we are on our own for the other meals. We can go out as a group or in small groups – NEVER VENTURE OUT ALONE!) The approx. cost per person/night is $45.

Eshowe (Jan. 1 – 2 ~ 1 night)
Eshowe is the oldest town in Zululand . We will be staying at the recently remodeled historic George Hotel that was built in 1906 www.eshowe.com/article/articlestatic/9/1/12 . During the day we will spend some time at an old fort/museum/Norwegian Mission as well going to a boardwalk built into the jungle canopy where you can see a variety of amazing birds, monkeys and other wildlife. We will see a few other sights before heading to St. Lucia in the evening.
(Breakfast provided, other meals on our own) The approx. cost per person/night is $30.

St. Lucia (Jan. 2 – 4 ~ 2 nights)
At St. Lucia we will have the opportunity to relax, shop for curios, watch hippos and crocodiles, or spend the day at Cape Vidal and snorkel/scuba dive/surf. St. Lucia has been designated as a world wildlife sanctuary. We will be staying at Hippo Hideaway www.hippohideaway.co.za . (All meals will be on our own) The approx. cost per person/night is $50.

Umfulozi/Hluhluwe Game Reserve (Jan. 4 – 6 ~ 2 nights)
Because of logistics and reservations on a first come first serve basis, we could only get 2 bush lodges in the game reserve: 8 people will be staying at Gqoyeni bush lodge; 8 people will be staying at Munyawaneni bush lodge; and 3 people will be staying in a 4 bed (2 separate tents) Luxury Safari Tent at the main Mpila camp in Umfolozi. We have to bring all our own food to the Game Reserve but they will provide the cooks to prepare the meals while we go on “safari”.
The official website for the Game Reserve is: http://www.kznwildlife.com/ . If you go to the web page, look on the right hand side under where it says MAP and you will see a link to electronic brochures. Click on that link and when you come to the electronic brochure page scroll down to where it says bush lodges which include Gqoyeni and Munyawaneni. To find Mpila, scroll down further to Individual Locations that are listed alphabetically. That will give you a little glimpse of where we will be staying while on “safari”.
The cost per person/night will be approx. $95 for those staying at the bush lodges.
The cost per person/night will be approx. $52.50 for those staying in the Luxury Safari Tent. (The three staying in the Luxury Safari Tent will receive an $85 discount for the trip.)

Mpophomeni Mission/Hilton (near Pietermaritzburg) – (Jan. 6 – 12 ~ 6 nights)
During our week of mission work (building 2 day care centers for children of HIV/Aids victims; working with crafts with women; doing a 1 hour/day VBS with children) we will be staying in the homes of members of the Hilton Methodist Church . Most of the meals will be provided. We might go out for dinner one or two nights. There will be no cost for housing during this week. Further details of our mission venture will be forthcoming in early September.

Durban (Jan. 12 – 13 ~ I night)
After a hard week of work we will have a wonderfully relaxing time at the African Peninsula Guest House http://www.africanpeninsula.com in Durban before catching an early morning flight to Victoria Falls . (Breakfast provided) Approximate cost per person/night is $65.

Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe (Jan. 13 – 15 ~ 2 nights)
We will be staying at the Sprayview Hotel which is less than 1 mile from Victoria Falls . (Breakfast provided) Cost per person/night including transportation from the airport to the hotel will be approx. $75. Riverboat or helicopter ride will be extra. If you are interested you can go online for yourself and check out available excursions at Victoria Falls – just so you can get an idea of what things cost.

2007

2007 has been a busy travel year for me! I have been incredibly blessed to have had the opportunity to travel to many different places! Some include: Vegas (twice), Alaska, Washington DC, Virginia, Maryland, Tanzania-East Africa, Idaho, St Louis - MO, and Mexico! I have loved every minute of it, and am still planning ahead for more trips! I leave December 27th for South Africa, and am hoping to go to Europe right after that. Should be a great start to 2008!

I hope to document my upcoming trips on this site - to keep you all posted on my whereabouts!

Love, Sara