Travel Insurance

So we currently pay a combined fee of over R1000 per month for comprehensive insurance in South Africa. But travel insurance doesn't cover travel for longer than 90 days overseas... so we had a problem.

Travel insurance. Insurance for people who are travelling, getting into trouble, partying, water skiing, swimming with sharks, climbing mountains, throwing snow balls, eating home grown vegi-meals, playing with wild animals, riding elephants... the usual story.

So one would expect it to be more expensive, right? But it's not. For a year's cover it costs R1600 each. In total. For a whole year. Doing anything... must I go through the list again?

Either normal insurance is WAY too high, or the travel insurance companies are charging WAY too low. Something is not quite right. But hey - I'm glad normal people benefit for a change... well, travelers benefit.

Pooja and Friends

We've been doing research on places to stay in India. We're on a small budget and want to learn and meet people. A good friend of mine (thanks Maria)introduced us to a website called www.workaway.info for people like us who want to travel on a budget... and do some pretty cool stuff.



They have a huge lists of hosts (people who want volunteers) from all over the world and profiles of volunteers (me and Leen) who want accommodation and food in exchange for hard (or fun) work. Like facebook, but with a purpose! Check out the website for an idea of the broad range of projects.

So far we have a couple of cool options. Leen is interested in working at a farm/orchard at the foot of the Himalayas. Can you imagine how happy he would be walking barefoot through an orchard picking fruit all day?



We have a few other options at schools, too... teaching a variety of subjects to kids of all ages. Our first choice so far is with a woman named Pooja and her school teaching 4-11 year olds everything from maths to english. We'll be headed to Northern India the first week of December to meet Pooja and help out at her school.



Photos from Pooja's profile of the school and some of the students. We're excited to meet her! :)

Vaccinations... ouch!

So far our list of errands includes: tickets (check), Visas (we're still processing the paperwork), travel insurance (still shopping for quotes), accommodation in India, new sleeping bags, and vaccinations.

So today, we hopped on the bike to a tourist's fav place in CT. The waterfront.



Little do tourists know, but that's where people can also go to get stabbed. 3 times per person apparently! So Kristen and I are walking around with sore arms... feeling like someone just beat the both of us up. And yes, as Kristen is nagging me to include, I was the baby. I almost fainted half way, and had to lie down. So as much as this picture is of a girl, it's really of me.

Just Bought Tickets

Leaving Cape Town on the 29th November 2011!

Heading to Mumbai. 

Coming back to SA in August 2012. 

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!