Teacher on Two Wheels

Monday 2/23/09 Pretoria, South Africa

Greetings from South Africa!  I landed in Johannesburg a few days ago and am staying with an amazing Couchsurfing host here in Pretoria.  Incredibly, I’ve attended one barbecue per day for the last four days.  Dean, my host, has introduced me to his friends, taught me about South African history, and cooked some delicious food.  Despite South Africa having a completely different vibe than the South American countries I’ve recently visited and grown accustomed to, Dean has made me feel right at home.  My time here so far has been awesome.

Tomorrow I’m heading off to visit Kruger National Park, South Africa’s famous big game habitat near the Zimbabwean border.   The rough plan for the next 11 days is:  spend a few days in the park, head to Durban to spend a few days on the beach and visit Durban’s massive Indian community (I just learned that this community is the largest Indian community outside of India), and then head to Drakensberg National park to hike for a few days.  Because Invisible Children explained a March arrival would be better than a February one, my flight to Uganda has been changed to March 6th.

So far, connecting to the internet in South Africa has been frustrating.  Many cafes have wi-fi, but without paying for a national wi-fi access plan (some cost as much as $6 U.S. per hour), it’s impossible to access the internet.  I’m writing this post from an internet cafe, one that, for some reason or another, won’t let me upload photos to Flickr.  When I am able, I’ll post pictures to the site and write about some of the recent goings on.  Lots and lots to write about.

all the best,

A