Author Archives: aaalbee

Made it to Kenya

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I had a fairly smooth 4 hour flight from Joburg to Nairobi, but it took me over an hour to get through immigration. I thought the point of getting a visa early is so you do not have to wait in line with everyone getting a visa but the people in charge told everyone it didn’t matter what line you were in even though there were signs for Kenyan residents, east African, visa, & other.

When I finally made it to baggage claim my backpack was just lying on the floor in front of the carasel.

All day I was nervous that village volunteers would forget to come pick me up because my information and itinerary had been sent months ago, but James was there to get me when I walked out of customes. It is very overwhelming when you step out of the sliding glass doors because there are tons of people with signs and you really have to stop and scan them as they all glare at you.

It was a short drive to Wendys house where I had dinner and was shown my room for the night.

Wendy is very nice and an Apple fan. She really enjoyed playing with the iPad.

I wasnt able to get a SIM tonight when I arrived so it might be a few days before I get one.

Leaving for my first village tomorrow with 4 other volunteers from Slovenia.

Sorry I wish I could write more but I am very tired. I just wanted to post so everyone knew I had made it safely.

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Shosholoza: The Train to Joburg

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25 July

At 8AM we awoke to the buzzing of my cellphone alarm. I greatly enjoyed naturally waking up the last several days, but today we were on a schedule. The overnight Shosholoza train to Joburg departed at 12:30 PM, but we needed to pack, grocery shop, check out of our room and be at the station an hour before departure.

over the past four days we had taken full advantage of the space in our room by spreading the contents of our backpacks all about. As a result I expected it to take us some time to pack, but it went rather quick and we managed to fit all our souvenirs into our backpacks, except for my kelp art.

Finished with packing we walked around the corner to Woolworth’s Food on Long Street to get snacks and lunch/dinner for our trip because we did not know if there was a dining car on the Shosholoza train. We thought it would be logical for them to have a dining car since it was the sleeper train, but we have learned when traveling in the 3rd world to never fully rely on what we consider logical. With sandwiches, fruit, water and chocolate in hand Alex and I strolled back to our backpackers to check out.

Believing that check out for Cape Town Backpackers was 10AM, we were ready to leave before having breakfast. However, upon further investigation we discovered that check out was an hour later at 11AM, so we were able to eat. Alex was tired of traditional ZA breakfast so he chose to eat a donut on our patio before going upstairs with me to the cafe where I had eggs and toast.

Just before 11 we gathered up all our bags. Alex carried the big blue backpack on his back with the Timbuk2 electronics bag over his shoulder. I carried my daypack on my back, Alex’s daypack on my front, the food bag in one hand and my kelp art in the other. Good thing we were only walking upstairs to checkout and catch a cab because I would not have wanted to walk to the train station like that.

Upon arrival at the train station we observed that the Shosholoza ticket offices were closed and wondered where we needed to go in order to get our car and coup assignment. Continue reading →

A Beautiful Day in the Cape

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22 July

Last night at dinner I had noticed several delicious breakfast options on Greens menu and wished to return. Our backpackers is wonderfully located within walking distance of several great restaurants, but since Alex decided that is was my Cape Town day, I wanted to go Greens. We walked around the corner and sat outside in the warm sun. It was such a beautiful day with clear views of Table Mountain. I order French toast with berries and bacon and Alex had scrambled eggs with bacon and chocolate muffin. The meal was a great start to an enjoyable day in Cape Town.
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