Free Time in Cape Town

My group from A Fresh Chapter and I will be volunteering daily during the week for 2 weeks, but we will have some free time after work and on the weekends. We are all connected on a Facebook group and "talk" a lot though we haven't met yet in "real" life. We are planning ahead as we will be in Cape Town "in season". We just booked a round trip ferry and tour to visit Robben Island. Robben Island is where Nelson Mandela was held captive for 18 of the 27 years he served before the fall of apartheid. We are booked for a cable ride up to the top of Table Mountain as well. More plans to come!

Travel Doctor

I'll be in Africa in just over a month. Today I saw my primary doctor who is also a travel doctor. We reviewed the CDC guidelines and made some choices about vaccines and meds for my trip. I decided to go for lifetime protection against Hep A. So I got one shot today and I return in 6 months for the 2nd dose. I also opted for an oral vaccine for protection against Typhoid. I'm going to start that in 2 weeks. It's refrigerated and is taken every other day for a number of days. I'll be protected against Typhoid for 5 years. Next up, malaria protection. I won't start taking those pills until 2 days before I enter a malaria area (Kruger) and will take them during my safari as well as after. We discussed over the counter drugs that I should bring on the trip (Pepto!) and she gave me a back-up scrip of Cipro. Lastly, we talked insect repellant. I have avoided spraying my house for anything since my cancer diagnosis. Now, I'm like "bring on the DEET lol! I do not want malaria! If you are wondering, I was told to get Ultrathon at either REI or Amazon. As I seem to be very inviting to mosquitos, I'm going to look into insect protective clothing and a mosquito net to sleep in. Better safe than sorry!

RFID. What?!

I've bought a few things with safety and security in mind. Today's mail had my Identity Stronghold passport and credit card sleeves. They are the best RFID (radio frequency identification) protection around and they are available in different themes. Of course, I went with the safari theme!