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• P O S T P O N E D - Nature & History Tour + Picnic Lunch at Tropical Audubon Society

  • When
    04 Apr 2020
  •  
    10:00 AM - 12:45 PM
  • Location
    5530 Sunset Drive, Miami 33143

  Register

  If the Tropical Audubon Society isn’t already in your radar, you might have passed by their headquarters near downtown South Miami, never even noticing an unassuming, rustic, wooden house on a large lot, set back from Sunset Drive east of Red Road.  If so, it’s time you became acquainted with TAS!

  
  

  TAS volunteer and RPCVSF member Steve Rawlins (Korea ’71-72) will be our host and guide to see the property and learn about TAS.  Other TAS volunteers among our RPCV community may also be there.

  
  

  Please registerfor the free tour and (optional) picnic lunch ($7) by Wednesday, April

  1st.  Pay cash for lunch at the event. Please include yourself and additional guests (adults and school-age children) in your registration.

  
  

  If the number of lunches you want is different from the total number registered in your party, or if you have additional preschool children, please email Patty pharespl@gmail.com.

  
  

  10:00 AM - Tour the grounds which feature native plants and habitats, and a new bird-friendly demo garden.  Learn about TAS and its activities to “conserve and restore South Florida ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife and their habitats.”

  
  

  11:00 AM – Tour the fascinating Doc Thomas House (TAS headquarters) built in 1932 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places, and learn about the history of the house and “Doc” Thomas.

  
  

  12:00-12:45 PM – Picnic lunch.  Reserve a lunch of sandwiches, salads/sides and drinks ($7), or bring your own, or stay on your diet and just stay to socialize.

  
  

  Free parking on site (enter from SW 55^th Ave., south of Sunset). 

  Kids and guests are welcome, but please leave Fido at home.

  Questions? Please email Patty at pharespl@gmail.com.  

  More info about TAS:  http://www.tropicalaudubon.org/

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• P O S T P O N E D -- Bon Voyage Picnic - Please RSVP !

  • When
    26 Apr 2020
  •  
    2:00 PM - 5:30 PM
  • Location
    A.D. "Doug" Barnes Park, 3401 SW 72nd Ave, Miami, FL 33155 - Shelter # 3

  The Bon Voyage Picnic will be held on April 26th at A.D. "Doug" Barnes Park, Shelter # 3. The picnic and park entrance are free, Rain or Shine. Glass bottles and pets are not allowed in the park.

  
  

  Please Register so we know how many to prepare for.

  
  

  The afternoon’s itinerary:

  
  

  2–4 pm 

  
  

  Enjoy visiting with invitees, their families and your fellow RPCVS. Bring photos of your service days to share. Snacks and beverages will be provided, but feel free to bring more! There are also nature trails, a pool, a playground and space around the shelter if you'd like to bring outdoor games. You are welcome to come earlier to enjoy the amenities.

  
  

  
  

  4–5:30 pm

  
  

  Honor the upcoming PCVs and share a potluck meal.  You are encouraged to bring a dish from your country of service.  Several upcoming PCVs and their families have already accepted the invitation, so please be generous with your dishes! If your dish needs to be kept cool or warm until we eat, please bring it in your own insulated container. The shelter does not have refrigeration.

  
  

   Drinks and kid/adult-friendly sandwiches will also be provided.

  
  

  See http://www.miamidade.gov/parks/ad-barnes.asp for directions and more information. 
  

  
  

  Email Patty at pharespl@gmail.com if you have any questions.

  
  

  Besides a dish and your family, please consider bringing photos from your PC service.  Last year a photo album from Sierra Leone helped calm the fears of parents who were fearful of their daughter going to Africa.  Many of invitees are the first in their family to venture far away from home, even though the parents may be immigrants.  The experience of talking with you will be helpful to invitees and their families, and you will be impressed with the crop of upcoming Peace Corps Volunteers.  You’ll enjoy talking with them as much as they will appreciate talking with you!
  

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• P O S T P O N E D - Safari in Namibia

  • Start
    30 May 2020
  • End
    10 Jun 2020
  • Location
    Namibia

  
  

  All safaris are postponed to a date indefinite.

  Watch our website for a rescheduling.

  
  

  A program of Returned Peace Corps Volunteers of South Florida, Inc

  
  

  RPCVSF GOES ON SAFARI and BIRTHDAY PARTY to NAMIBIA 

  
  

  Trip Leader Greg Zell (Nigeria)

  Greg’s very BIG birthday party June 9 at Joe’s Beer House in Windhoek. 

  Honorary Hostess: TUEY MURDOCK (Colombia)

  
  

  May 30 (recommended) through June 10, 2020

  
  

  Safari limited to 14 travelers with a payment schedule.

   The non-refundable deposit will be made as a group March 23, $500

  
  

  Facilitator: Acacia Namibia.

  This is a customized itinerary based on but shorter and more interesting than one used by Overseas Adventure Travel at an amazing price.

  
  

  Note: The trip leader receives no compensation.

  
  

  Highly Recommended Option:

  Depart May 30; Arrive Johannesburg May 31 to recover from the long flight. Take a half day tour June 1 of city and Soweto Townships. Visit home of Nelson Mandela and see home of Desmond Tutu. Fly to Windhoek June 2.

  
  

  Safari approximately $4000 including International air from MIA via ATL to Johannesburg and on to Windhoek, Namibia. You book airlines directly and can use frequent flyer miles. You will be guided in booking flights and hotel in Johannesburg. Single rooms are very scarce. Request a roommate.

  
  

  Travel insurance is available with cancellation option at an absurdly high premium. (Travelex) Evacuation policy is available  (Emergency Assistance Plus $179 varies by age).

  
  

  Notify Greg Zell at travel@rpcvsf.org to book or for questions.

  
  

  DEADLINE: Sunday March 22, 2020

  
  

  You are required to take anti-malaria medication. Malarone is the suggested one with the least side effects. A generic version is available and covered by Obamacare. You will be guided through this. If you will not take anti-malaria medication, DO NOT BOOK THIS TRIP. The Malaria in Namibia is not deadly. It will only knock you out of commission for a week or so during which time you will wish you were dead.

  PACK LIGHTLY: You are strictly limited to 44 pounds and must have a carry-on for medicines.

  You will be given Peace Corps/CDC protocols on eating and drinking in Africa. Bottled water will be available when needed because the trip leader is in charge of water. Follow the protocols and you will not get sick from anything you eat or drink. Promise.

  This is not a strenuous trip with little walking. If you have difficulty getting in or out of a safari vehicle, there are always large men of color around to assist you.

  Other trip highlights:

  1. Initiation of Newbies (people who have never been to Africa) at Tribes Lounge in The Emperor’s Palace Casino complex.
  2. Dinner at Tribes Restaurant. The ostrich steak in berry sauce is not to be missed. Vegetarian note: It tastes like kale. 
  3. Climb a sand dune. Slide back down on your butt.
  4. Experience Darwinian theory at work in the seal rookery.
  5. Watch the sea create skeletons along the Skeleton Coast
  6. Sundowners: The sun sets in the west in Namibia. We toast it every night at no extra charge.
  7. 2 game drives in Etosha National Park, one of the largest in Africa.
  8. Desert adapted elephants and standard elephants.
  9. Cheetahs and at least one leopard at the Africat Foundation Conservancy.  

  10.  See the remains of history: First Boer War, Second Boer War, WWI, WWII,   

         South African political revolution of 1948, End of Apartheid, Independence. 

  11.  Desert critter expedition. An eye-popper.

  12.  A tower of giraffes; a crash of rhinos; a bloat of hippos; a pack of painted dogs

          (with luck); a pride of lions (vegetarian tolerant); antelopes you never heard of.

  13.  Mountain and lowland zebras. (Zebra rhymes with Debra.)

  14. 3 of the prettiest cities in Africa: Windhoek, Walvis Bay; Swakopmund.

  15. Ubiquitous warthogs and Guinea fowl. Are those real pork shops and chicken     

         stew on the dinner buffet? Vegetarian alert: They taste like kale.

  16. Brangelina birthing hospital. TWINS!

  17. A major Peace Corps country.

     

  Note: Food and drink included where indicated. Food, drink, hotel in Johannesburg not included; Food, drink in Windhoek not included.

  This is not a fund raiser. No organization funds are involved.

  ZAR=Zuid Afrika Rand

  Approximately $1 US=15 ZAR=$15Nab

  
  

  Rates change daily. Your charge card always gives the best rate.

  The US dollar is VERY strong against these currencies at this time.

  FIRST NIGHT HOTEL: After booking flights, go on line to Metcourt Emperors Palace to book a room for June 1. If you are doing the optional half day city tour, book 2 nights May 31 and June 1 at around $100 US per night. The tour will be the next morning, cost depending on the number of sightseers. The hotel is about 5 minutes walk from the airport. We do not walk anywhere in Johannesburg. There is an airport shuttle. The hotel has a razor wire fence around it and armed guards. It is part of a huge casino complex holding plenty of money amid very poor neighbors.

  
  

  Price Namibia Land Package 

  28500 ZAR=$1900 US

  Single Supplement 5540 ZAR=$363 US

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