So the time has flown by and I leave for Botswana in a mere 13 days. As promised, here is a rough outline of my flights to and from Botswana. All times are local.
Sunday, Jan. 4
From: Boston (2:38 pm)
To: Washington D.C (4:20 pm)
Duration: 1h 24m
From: Washington D.C. (5:40 pm)
To: Johannesburg, South Africa (3:50 pm, Monday, Jan. 5)
Duration: 15h 10m
Monday, Jan. 5
From: Johannesburg (5:15 pm)
To: Gaborone, Botswana (6:20 pm)
Duration: 1h 5m
Saturday, May 9
From: Gaborone (3:45 pm)
To: Johannesburg (4:50 pm)
Duration: 1h 5m
From: Johannesburg (5:25 pm)
To: Dakar, Senegal (12:05 am, Sunday, May 10)
Duration: 8h 40m
Sunday, May 10
From: Dakar (1:05 am)
To: Washington D.C. (6:00 am)
Duration: 8h 55m
From: Washington D.C. (8:45 am)
To: Boston (10:16 am)
Duration: 1h 31m
As I have been getting ready to depart, I have stumbled across many informative sites. Some are posted below (as well as to the right bar). My hope is that this blog will become an additional source of information for anyone thinking or traveling to, or already in, Gaborone.
Since I am travelling to Buffalo/Ellicottville, N.Y this week for some skiing, I have yet to begin packing. Thus, a packing list does not exist yet, but I do hope to post one.
For anyone worried about the situation in Zimbabwe, please don't fear. Although the situation is very dire (read about it, here and here), Botswana is a very stable country that does not support this regime. Zimbabwe recently has had some serious water problems, while Botswana has put tons of money into infrastructure to keep water safe.
Finally, I am still waiting to hear back from Wheaton College Global Education about my housing situation in Botswana. Originally I was told we would have singles in either graduate or undergraduate housing. However, turns out that isn't the case. This is just one of many pieces of misinformation handed to me by the Global Ed Center. They can be a bit slow and full of red tape, but it is what I must deal with. They are truly teaching me the art of patience.
Please peruse some of the links below and see what you find interesting. Leave a comment if you have any ideas for future posts or things I should definitely explore.
Mokolodi Game Reserve
Wikitravel for Gaborone
Wikitravel for Botswana
VirtualTourist
Hope to hear from you all soon.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Preliminaries
As many know, next semester I will be attending the University of Botswana in Gaborone, Botswana. This blog is intended to keep you updated, provide a resource for anyone interested in visiting Africa, and as a way to gather my thoughts and adventures into some semblance of a coherent document. I will try to publish as many links to documents and articles that may be interesting and provide more information about my travels.
As of now, I am still in the process of packing/figuring out what is exactly going on in Botswana when I get there. The class selection process takes place during our orientation, which is vastly different from American schooling, where we would have registered for classes two weeks ago! Also, there is no air conditioning in any dorms, and many dorms do not have Internet, which is a huge change. It will be very peculiar without such "amenities."
For now, since I have little information, I will just post some links to sites with good information. The only information I have so far is flight information. The total costs of airfare runs about $2500 round trip, for any interested. Almost all flights run through Johannesburg, South Africa en route to Gaborone.
On the medical side, I have so far received three vaccines (and supposedly a fourth?). I have had Yellow fever, Typhoid, and Hepatitis A vaccines. In addition, I was prescribed Malerone, which is an anti-malaria drug. Luckily, Gaborone has no malaria risk. However, many northern areas (especially the game reserves) have a malaria risk, so the medication must be taken while in these areas. I said "supposedly a fourth" vaccine, because I am currently in the process of trying to figure out whether I am supposed to get a Polio booster shot or not. Rabies vaccines are also recommended, although they are next to impossible to get right now in the US due to a shortage.
Finally, the exchange rate is looking pretty good. The currency in Botswana is the Pula. A little more than 8 Pula are equal to $1. Average costs and spending money per semester run about 6000P (pula) or around $750. This is a very small amount of money for 4 months!
Hope to have more information soon enough. Will eventually include a packing list.
As of now, I am still in the process of packing/figuring out what is exactly going on in Botswana when I get there. The class selection process takes place during our orientation, which is vastly different from American schooling, where we would have registered for classes two weeks ago! Also, there is no air conditioning in any dorms, and many dorms do not have Internet, which is a huge change. It will be very peculiar without such "amenities."
For now, since I have little information, I will just post some links to sites with good information. The only information I have so far is flight information. The total costs of airfare runs about $2500 round trip, for any interested. Almost all flights run through Johannesburg, South Africa en route to Gaborone.
On the medical side, I have so far received three vaccines (and supposedly a fourth?). I have had Yellow fever, Typhoid, and Hepatitis A vaccines. In addition, I was prescribed Malerone, which is an anti-malaria drug. Luckily, Gaborone has no malaria risk. However, many northern areas (especially the game reserves) have a malaria risk, so the medication must be taken while in these areas. I said "supposedly a fourth" vaccine, because I am currently in the process of trying to figure out whether I am supposed to get a Polio booster shot or not. Rabies vaccines are also recommended, although they are next to impossible to get right now in the US due to a shortage.
Finally, the exchange rate is looking pretty good. The currency in Botswana is the Pula. A little more than 8 Pula are equal to $1. Average costs and spending money per semester run about 6000P (pula) or around $750. This is a very small amount of money for 4 months!
Hope to have more information soon enough. Will eventually include a packing list.
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