The IUP Biology Department’s study abroad trip to Southern Africa is now in the planning/organizing stages for the early summer session in May, 2017. They are putting together a travel group for a 3 week visit to Johannesburg, Kruger National Park, KwaZulu-Natal, Cape Town and Swaziland. This is an opportunity for participants to observe wild animals in a variety of settings and to interact with people from South Africa’s multicultural, rapidly-evolving society. For the 2017 travel, they plan to visit national and provincial parks, private game reserves, wildlife rehabilitation centers, four different ecological zones and one penguin colony. You can find out more about our proposed travel (including cost estimates) as well as past trips at: http://www.people.iup.edu/luciano/AWSMAIN.htm
On the 2003-2015 trips they have always had places available for non-students as well as the students who enroll in summer classes. Please get in touch with Dr. Carl S. Luciano at luciano@iup.edu if you are interested in the 2017 trip or if you have any questions.
Here are the answers to the most common FAQs about the trip…
1) Arrival and departure dates are somewhat flexible for non-students. The course is scheduled for the early summer session but it is possible to arrange longer or shorter stays.
2) Every accommodation will have indoor toilets and running water. We will only spend one night in a park without electricity (Swaziland).
3) Accommodations will be in private cabins, bungalows, houses or efficiency apartments at double occupancy. No tents, dormitories or mud huts are on the itinerary.
4) Laundry facilities and/or services will be available at several points.
5) English is spoken as an official language everywhere that our group will travel.
6) We only visit safe areas.
7) Snakes, scorpions, bugs and insects are not a problem. In fact, from a biologist’s point of view, I would consider a snake sighting to be a highly fortunate occurrence as well as an unusual one.
8) It gets cold in Southern Africa during the months of May and June.
9) Once you get to Africa, everything is cheap.
10) There are plenty of opportunities for shopping.