What I'll Be Doing

A lot of people have been asking me what I'll be doing while I'm in South Africa, so I thought I'd let everyone know!

For the first six weeks I will be working at an orphanage! South Africa has a very high HIV prevalence rate, so as a result, there is an increased amount of orphans. I will be working at an orphanage teaching the children, as well as feeding, cooking, caring, and just providing the children with love and attention. Most of these children's families can't afford to send them to school, or even to feed them sometimes, so the orphanage tries to help them in as many different areas as they can. I will be working at an orphanage in the Capricorn Township for 6 weeks. This is put on by an organization called IVHQ. (www.volunteerhq.org) If anyone is considering volunteering abroad, I would definitely recommend this organization! They have been very helpful in helping me plan my trip, and are very organized. They have very reasonable prices too! 

After the first six weeks, I will be volunteering with the same organization, but doing something different: sports development! Although some children do go to school during the day, they don't have anything to do after school to keep them out of trouble! It is not uncommon to see kids begging for money on the streets, stealing, drinking, doing drugs, and causing havoc after school. This project gives them something positive to do. By promoting an interest in sports, it encourages them to focus on that, it also gives them something to look forward to.
During school hours, I'll be teaching football (soccer to all you North Americans :) ) at the local township, and then after school I'll be teaching skateboarding, swimming, and even surfing! (I'll have to learn that first myself, which is an awesome bonus!) 
After that I have a week off. As of this point, I have not booked anything for this point, I think it would be best if I evaluate once I'm there what I've already done, what I would like to do, what all the other volunteers are doing etc. HOWEVER, that being said, there is a really awesome tour that I am very seriously considering doing! It is a 7 day tour put on by Travellers Worldwide, this is how their website describes it:

"Our 7 Day Cape to Addo Park Safari is a unique, safe and affordable way to experience the thrill of game driving in an authentic BIG 5, 145 000ha National Game Park, while touring the coastal regions of both the Western and Eastern Cape. On this tour nothing is left out as we explore the Whale Route, Route 62, the Karoo and Garden Route all the way to Jeffrey’s Bay, Mandela Bay and Port Elizabeth."

You can read about it fully at: http://www.travellersworldwide.com/08a-south-africa/xtras/08-sa-add-on-tours.htm#7-day, but basically here are the highlights.
Day One: Sea boat cruise to look for whales and dolphins, walk along "Die Plaat", the longest beach in the Southern Hemisphere!

Day Two: swim in 43-degree natural hot spring, and then either: ride an ostrich!!! OR pet a cheetah, see endangered species and go cage diving with crocodiles (don't think I would do the cage diving part, although it is the only place in the world where you are able to!)

Day Three: Cango Caves, Bloukrans bungi jump (the highest bungi jump in the world!!!!!!!!)

Day Four: zipline at Tsitsikamma Falls Adventures, Jeffreys Bay (apparently one of the best surfing waves on the planet!)

Day Five: Addo Elephant Game Drive Park (the only park in Africa that has the Big 7 (Elephant, rhino, lion, buffalo, leopard, the Southern Right Whale and the Great White Shark))

Day Six: Crags Orphaned Elephant Sanctuary (you can feed, walk and ride an elephant!)

Day Seven: go to an aloe factory, return to Cape Town

That would be one action-packed week! But I think it's a great/safe way to explore other parts of South Africa.  Now I just have to figure out when I'll get up to Johannesburg and Kruger National Park!

After that week off, I will be volunteering at a Penguin Conservation Centre in Cape Town. Until recently, I didn't even know that there were penguins in Africa! The African Penguin is actually considered a vulnerable species.  As recently as the mid-twentieth century, penguin eggs were considered a delicacy and were still being sold. Nowadays. their main predators are sharks and seals in the water, and mongoose and genets on land. 

At the South African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds (SANCCOB), I will be taught how to catch, hold, feed and tube feed the penguins! 

Below is a picture of oil-slicked penguin chicks waiting to be cleaned up!

We will be taking part in boat release programs at Robben Island, which is an exhilirating experience from what I've heard. Of course, there will be lots of other tasks that need to be done daily, including the preparation of fish (yuck!), cleaning the pens, pools and mats, and sterilising syringes. I will be working with the penguins for 8 weeks. I booked this trip through AVIVA, I was very impressed with them as well, they have a phenomenal website that is so helpful for planning your trip. Their website is: http://www.aviva-sa.com if you want to look around further.

That brings me to the end of January, at which time I'll have to see how much money I have, and what I feel like doing next! I might come home, might travel elsewhere, or might go to another country to volunteer! But I'll keep you posted as I make all those decisions!

This time next week I will be somewhere en route to AFRICA. So crazy!!!!!

Oh, the places you'll go!

Congratulations!

Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.

You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go.
You'll look up and down streets. Look 'em over with care.
About some you will say, "I don't choose to go there."

With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you're too smart to go down any not-so-good street.
And you may not find any
you'll want to go down.

In that case, of course,
you'll head straight out of town.
It's opener there
in the wide open air.
Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,
don't worry. Don't stew.
Just go right along.
You'll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU'LL GO!

You'll be on your way up!
You'll be seeing great sights!
You'll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won't lag behind, because you'll have the speed.
You'll pass the whole gang and you'll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you'll be the best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don't
Because, sometimes, you won't.
I'm sorry to say so
but, sadly, it's true
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.
You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You'll be left in a Lurch.

You'll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you'll be in a Slump.

And when you're in a Slump,
you're not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they're darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?

How much can you lose? How much can you win?
And IF you go in, should you turn left or right...
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it's not, I'm afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you'll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.
The Waiting Place...
...for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or a No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.
NO!
That's not for you!

Somehow you'll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You'll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,
once more you'll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you're that kind of a guy!
Oh, the places you'll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. there are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.


Fame! You'll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.
Except when they don't.
Because, sometimes, they won't.
I'm afraid that some times
you'll play lonely games too.
Games you can't win
'cause you'll play against you.
All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you'll be quite a lot.

And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul
On you will go
though your enemies prowl
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl

Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike
and I know you'll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You'll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You'll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.

So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life's
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.
And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and 3/4 percent guaranteed.

KID, YOU'LL MOVE MOUNTAINS!

So...
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way!




Oh Dr. Seuss,
what a wise man he is.
That book is the inspiration for the name of my blog.


I leave in 12 days, I can't believe it!
I'm excited, nervous, happy, scared, a whole plethora of emotions, but I know it'll be an amazing experience!