A Birthday/Christmas Wish

Family and Friends,

Many of you have asked what to send over here for my birthday and for Christmas. While items from America would make me very happy, and I would appreciate it very much, I have but one Christmas wish.

Living in Southern Africa is something I will never do again. It allows me to take a myriad of trips to many nearby countries, and every trip is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Below, you will find detailed itineraries for the big trip I have planned at present. If you’re interested, sponsoring an activity would be much appreciated, and would be a whole lot cheaper than shipping anything over here anyway. If you are interested, checks can be mailed to my mom, who is kindly taking care of all my banking while I am away and unable to do it.

You’ll get the coolest thank you cards ever, by the way!

Cape Town and the Wild Coast, South Africa                                      April 18-28

Date	Activity	Cost (USD)
Friday, April 18	Fly to Johannesburg	$160
	Ride up to the top of Table Mountain	$20.50
	Check into Bohemian Loft Backpackers (A former museum of contemporary art!)	4 nights at $12 each = $48
Saturday, April 19	Visit the Lion’s Head	Free!
	Shop!	Depends
Sunday, April 20	Visit Robben Island to see the prison where Nelson Mandela was held during Apartheid	$23
	Visit Boulder’s Beach to see wild penguins	$4
Monday, April 21	Cheetah petting
	District 6 Museum
Tuesday, April 22	Head to the Winelands for a wine tour – this is in Stellenbosch	$45
	Stay at Stumble Inn Backpackers	$10
Wednesday, April 23	Begin road trip down the coast – First stop is The Crags
	Dyer Island	$140
	Shark Cage Diving	$170
	Check in to Wild Spirit Grassroots Backpackers	2 nights at $10 each = $20
Thursday, April 24	Birds of Eden	$10
	Monkeyland	$10
	Elephant Sanctuary	$2.90
	Riding an elephant	$67
	Bloukrans bungee jump	$75
	(Or, if bungee jumping is too scary, hike to the top just to look down)	$10
Friday, April 25	Check into Aardvark Guest House and Backpackers in Addo	$10
Saturday, April 26	Check into the Coffee Shack on Coffee Bay (Wanna know the address? It is, and I kid you not: On The Beach, Coffee Bay, Wild Coast. For real.)	$12
Sunday, April 27	Check into Happy Hippo Backpackers in Durban	$13
	uShaka Marine World	$13
	Victoria St. Market	Depends
	Roma revolving restaurant	Depends
Monday, April 28	Return to Swaziland
	Total Budget, including car rental, gas, and other not previously listed expenses	$1100

I have tentative other trips planned for my second year in Swaziland. I’d love to go sand surfing in Namibia, ring in the New Year in Mozambique, take a safari in Kruger National Park in South Africa, visit beautiful Botswana, attend a malaria conference in Senegal, and play around Swaziland (natural hot springs, caving, climbing the steepest rock face in the world, doing a 5K, attending incwala/umhlanga, and many other cultural experiences). As you can see from the prices above, traveling here is pretty affordable on the US dollar, but as I am a volunteer, I have a very modest stipend in Emalangeni, not US dollars.

Your support makes all this possible. I’m not just talking about the traveling – I’m talking about surviving each and every day in a culture where women are subservient to men, sexual harassment is the norm, people speak a different language, my culture is misunderstood, I work hard for people who have a different definition of working hard, and I see a lot of children struggling with the challenges of being orphans and extreme poverty. Without support, staying here and continuing to work to develop sustainable projects to make Swaziland a better place would not be possible. This is one tough job, and I appreciate everything you do for me from that side.