To Hamp from home -

We are 13 days away from going to South Africa. Going anywhere in Africa is a dream come true. I have always wanted to go there...ever since i was little. I went to a convent school in ireland and the nuns would go to Zambia and Zimbabwe to do missionary work in villages....when they came back they would sit all of us down and show us slides from their trips. Ever since that I have wanted to volunteer in Africa - I think i even wanted to be a nun then - hey! I was young - that lasted until i discovered boys. The nun thing, but I still want to volunteer in Africa...my next trip there will be volunteering...this one will be sightseeing.

I think everything is planned but i'm sure something will come up that we didn't think about. We leave from NY on thursday March 27th and arrive in Jo'burg on the 28th. We are spending one night in Jo'burg before heading off to Kruger.
We fly into Kruger Mpumalanga Airport and then rent a car to drive around the park for 3 days. We will be staying at Pretoriuskop camp in Kruger
This hut will be our home for 3 days...I'm so fucking exticed about staying in a hut in South Africa:..
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After the 3 days in Kruger we head off to Durban for 2 days. We found a hotel on the Golden Mile which is a famous stretch of beachfront in durban..
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We fly then to PE for one night - not sure what we are going to do there but my mom has friends from south africa that recommended going to Tsitsikamma forest. Tsitsikamma forest has the highest bung jump in the world - but there is no way i'm doing that - it also has a tree canopy tour...i think i'll do that...well, we'll see...not sure...
We are driving from PE to Capetown...staying there for 5 days in a hotel called "Extreme hotel" - Francis picked it. It didn't take me too long to figure out why he picked it...check out the picture of the bathroom in the hotel rooms...i found this posted on the hotel website









I keep having dreams about getting to the airport and forgetting everything...fingers crossed i don't.

lots of pictures will be posted when i get back...bringing a video camera too so there might be some good videos of the trip.

Welcome to my blog :)  Its the count down to Ireland T- 4 days.  I thought that I would start an entry so I can send out my blog to all you's guys who are gonna read about my life. At the moment its the mad scramble to gather notarized letters, travelers checks and the like.   Also the dreaded packing is rearings its ugly head.  I must pack my entire life into one suitcase, plus all the usual crap that I normally bring in a carry on that are now prohibited.  When I arrive in Ireland I will be in Limerick for a few days and then have a homestay before I get my housing assignment and actually end up in Galway.  So thats it for now, cause I've run out of things to say.

Before I could take off for this trip, I had to do the normal, American thing... work.  Yes, I put in a boring 3/4 day at work before I decided I had to leave Office Space for the week and re-kindle the fire that's burning in my yuppie self. 

On the way back home, i tried to stop by D&L Liquors to pick up some cheap booze before heading out.  Except they denied me for being out-of-state.  Bastards... I know the real reason though.  It's cause I'm from California, and they were from Waltham, MA.  Seriously, is it even a contest as to who wins?

So we started off in Waltham, my hood.  Yes, my stomping grounds right now are pretty ghetto.  Waltham is famous for its auto body shops and mechanics, and apparantly claims to be the birth of the American Industrial Revolution.  I'm not buying it for one second though...

D&L Liquors is some shady liquor store in Waltham.  It's located on Bridge St, across the street from the Shaw's and the Gulf gas station.

Never go here.  These bastards wouldn't let me buy my Malibu Rum because i was out-of-state.  Um.. HELLO?!?! Am I not still 21, and about to pay you good money for your alcohol?  Giving me some blah blah about how easy it is to forge CA licenses (apparantly, they don't know about the holographic bear that shows up under a black light...), they denied me and set me on my way.  Luckily, I know the guy at the liquor store down the street, and he hooked me up.  And now, my man at Tedeschi Convenience stores is $25.99 richer....

Avoid this place at all costs.  They're Massachusetts elitists!