Update from Jenna in Namibia

Hopefully you've heard from your daughters in the past few days. I got a short email from Jenna last night, and thought I'd pass along a few notes about what she said they've been up to in Namibia.

They hiked Dune 45 on Friday and were going "sand sledding" today. Sounds like fun! Previously, they visited a ghost town near Lüderitz, I believe it was Kolmanskop? She said it was a great location for photos. She describes Namibia as "the craziest place ever" with nothing else but "dry rocks in the land".

Oh, and she said that the phone cards are very expensive for just 3-5 minutes. So, if you don't hear from your daughter...

Looking forward to reading posts with news from the other girls...

Article about ceremony Nelson Mandela attended when girls saw him ...

I've searched various news and search sites, and can only find one article referencing the ceremony that Nelson Mandela attended when the girls saw him. The article is from The Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.co.za/2007/10/09/Easterncape/aking.html.

Has anyone found another article or video? If so, please post a link. Thanks!

Hi all! I am Kelsey's mom and I am a novice blogger so forgive me for taking so long to participate. Kelsey is a senior from Bedford, NY. Her sister Nancy attended the tts?( can't remember the number but it was three years ago) to Sothern Africa. Kelsey has learned alot about the trip from her, and I know she has called her at college to share her expereinces. The last time I talked to Kelsey was this week early in the morning while they were visiting Nelson Mandela's hometown. Gennifre alluded the their experience in her email, but I guess wanted the girls to be able to tell you. Kelsey is incredibly upbeat and excited every time she calls. She enjoys being with all of your daughters! She is also working on college applications, and I don't know where she finds the time in between classes, hiking rock climbing, and going on Safari's.

On another note, I traveled to meet up with the tts when Nancy was on her trip. I started in Capetown where I met the homestay families while trying to track down some packages we had sent over. I then met them in Namibia and hiked the red dunes with them. This year I will be traveling with my 12 year old son to meet them in Namibia right after Thanksgiving. I believe there is at least one other parent or family planning on the same visit. We will be traveling with the girls through Etosha National Park. Then we are ading another 3 days to our visit after we leave the giirls.

Thanks for the update.

Robbie Morell

Debating Cape Town vs Namibia ...

Hi, all! Just saw Charlie's post about Cape Town. Anyone else decided on Cape Town? How about Namibia? I'm trying to decide whether to go at all, and if so, which trip (not sure I want to drive 300 miles solo). Anyone interested in tacking on a few days at the beginning or end of either trip? I talked with Brian at Mango Safaris today and he said it's doable, assuming flights are available.

And, like most, if not all of you, I heard all about the Kruger visit, which sounded like quite a thrill for the girls. Jenna sounds like she's really enjoying the semester so far, despite being one of the girls who came down with a stomach virus. I heard about a township school visit. Jenna was a bit saddened by the condition of the school (old, wooden desks, orange plastic chairs, only a blackboard on the wall, and not many books), but she very much enjoyed the visit. She said when she took her camera out, she was swarmed by kids who wanted to see their picture on the back of the camera. I'm sure all girls who had their cameras with them experienced that! Jenna said they are having a drought (unlike central Africa where it's flooding), and it's sunny every day. I can tell she already misses the rain. :-) They've slept out under the stars several times, and have seen the Southern Cross. The truck has a cheat sheet on southern hemisphere stars so they can figure out what they're seeing. On Saturday, they had two local girls teach their Afrikaans class.

Despite talking to Jenna for 15+ minutes, I still feel like I'm missing so much of what they are doing. If you've heard additional stories, please share! :-)

Cape Town anyone?

We just had a wonderful talk with our daughter Hannah yesterday morning at 3:00am. She explained that the phones are often tied up during the mornings and evenings with other travelers calling the states. While I remember some of the call she sounded thrilled about the trip, and the other girls. They have become quite a team apparently. They did get to witness a lion taking down a gazelle while in Kruger NP as well as viewing all the big 5 african beasts.

Hannah went to South America last semester with TTS and is a senior this year. She lives to travel and has a huge interest in cultures and international poliltics. She loves skiing soccer scuba diving and having a drivers license. She to is heavy in planning college visits and international relations degrees/courses etc. She very much enjoyed Carlton College in Minnisota, as well as Georgetown in DC.

Just curious who might be planning on the Cape Town trip next month.
I will be traveling with Pellagia Mulliba a Zimbabwean women that works with an organization called Partners Worldwide. Partners is a business to business mentoring NGO that connects US business people with developing country business' in hopes of making connections and sharing good business practices. She is a very close friend of our family and especially our daughter Hannah. If fact Pellagia has a lot to do with Hannahs initial interest in traveling abroad.

So we will be visiting the girls for the 4 days in cape town and hope to connect ahead of time with anyone else planning to go. Unfortunately we will not be enjoying the adventures in the game parks. We will be heading to Kenya to connect with Pellagias work.

Love to read about other reports.
Thanks
Charlie Royce

A little about Heather

Heather is one of four children and the only girl. She has two older brothers who are 19 and 21, and younger brother who is 13. They all love soccer and music. Her other interests are snowboarding, skiing, hiking, camping and a little horseback riding. We moved to Bozeman 3 years ago from Green Bay, WI. Yes, Heather is a cheese-head. The move was a bit of a challenge for Heather but she emerged more self confident and independent. Heather loves a challenge, has a smile that lights up a room and is all about "fun". Before we left Green Bay we kept telling Heather she has "best friends" she just hasn't met yet. Our hope is that she will meet more "best friends" throughout her adventures in South Africa.

while we wait to hear ... introductions

Hi, all! I'm Jenna's mom. Like you, I'm anxiously awaiting that next phone call or email, while dreaming of the girls' wonderful adventures!

It was nice to be able to put names to the faces (thanks, Whitney!), and it would be great to get to know a bit about all of the girls, especially when stories start to roll in. So, to kick things off ...

Jenna is in 10th grade this year, and turned 15 in June. We live in Bellevue, WA, just outside Seattle, with three pugs. Jenna's dad, stepmom, 5 year old sister and 1.5 year old brother live in Wenatchee, WA. Jenna loves soccer (has played since first grade, although sat out most of last season with a hip injury), tennis (played for the first time last year on her school's JV team and had a blast), reading, photography, piano, and, of course, travel (NYC and Amsterdam are her favorite cities; she would be happy to move to either at a moment's notice, :-). She is a dedicated student, and is already looking into various colleges (any tips on that process welcomed!). One on one, she can talk your ear off, but tends to be reserved and quiet in larger groups (she's hoping to change that this semester). She's caring, thoughtful and pretty even-keeled. She has a quirky sense of humor (loves The Office, Scrubs and SNL) and has turned into quite the Seahawks fan. And, she is THRILLED to be able to partipcate in this experience!

So, tell us about your daughter ...