Kenya - TravelPUNK Backpacker College Student Budget Travel Message Boards!

yesVirginia · 12-08-2004, 11:53 AM

Hey everyone! It's been quite a while! Hope everyone here is well.

I just wanted to tell you guys that I found this great opportunity to spend 6 weeks in Kenya and earn credit for it at a fieldschool for paleoanthropology.

I'd like to stay longer and maybe do some volunteer work. After some research I've found a few but wanted to ask you folks if any of you have ever done any volunteering in Kenya or Africa in general? It's kind of pricey to volunteer, huh?

And if you have been to Africa, do you have any tips on where to find the cheapest airfare?

Countdown to Vietnam: less than a month!
Countdown to Kenya: 6 months

**omisan** · 12-08-2004, 12:09 PM

Wow, sounds like you've got some bitchin' plans! I was invited to go to west Africa when I was an anthro major, but I never got to as I was still waiting on citizenship/passport/etc. *sigh*

As for getting to Kenya, I'm no expert, but what I've learned from travels through various hubs is to go to Africa with a stopover flight in the country that has the most colonial ties with your destination. For instance, I have a co-worker who goes to Africa via Paris, as his homeland was a French colony, and he gets the best deals with a Paris stopover on Air France.

Kenya has influence from early Arab colonization, and later on its status as a British protectorate, so my first hunch would be to look at flights from the UK on Emirates or a British carrier.

Good luck!

yesVirginia · 12-08-2004, 01:08 PM

Yeah, I can't wait!

Aren't all of the opportunities you can get through anthropology great? If all goes well, I'll be studying abroad through my school next year in Ghana too.

I've called STA and Travel Cuts and so far STA gave me a quote of $1,375 with taxes. That's the cheapest I've found so far and it's actually through Emirates airline with a layover in Dubai. So your advice was right! Thanks!

Now I'm just wondering if I should wait for Jan/Feb to buy the ticket or just get it as soon as I am certain I've been accepted to the program.

Isn't airfare usually a bit cheaper after the holiday season?

I should have also added something to my original post. The program is basically 6 weeks of roughing it and excavating at Koobi Fora, just East of Lake Turkana. So, I'm thinking a nice big ~5,000 cu. in. backback (including the daypack) would be good.. but I'm not sure where to go to try them out. And I'm also not sure how in the world I'm going to be able to lug around a tent and sleeping pad along too. Have any of you camped out for long periods of time? If so, with what kind of equipment?

**U2fan** · 12-08-2004, 04:19 PM

Wow your plans sound amazing. I was just sort of writing about this in another post. I have been researching volunteer programs that go to Africa and other places throughout the world. So far the best looking one I've found is called i-to-i, but yes it's not cheap. So there's a suggestion if you haven't run across that one.

**worldwidemike** · 12-09-2004, 09:32 AM

Wow, Virginia, that sounds great. One way to do it is to find out which airlines fly direct into Nairobi, then work backwards to your home. You can find that by going to OAG.com, and signing up for a trial membership. That will give you the airlines that fly there. Then go to those airlines' websites and get on their "e-mail lists." Some even let you put in city pairs, and they e-mail you when they have sales, or on a weekly basis with fares.

Be sure to check sites like www.cheaptickets.com, too.

If you have trouble, let me know.

So, what's going on in Vietnam?

worldwidemike

yesVirginia · 12-12-2004, 03:13 PM

Thanks U2fan! That's a great site. The most reasonable I've seen so far. Unfortunately, I don't think that I'll have enough money to volunteer and do the paleoanthropology program so maybe I'll have to save that for another summer.

WorldWideMike, thanks for your sugestions. TravelCuts told me that they usually get better deals in Jan/Feb so I'm going to try back every few weeks.

I'm in a scholar program at my school that allows us to go on two all-expense piad international trips and this year they chose Vietnam. So there was no way I was passing that up. I'm really excited about that. We're going through Hanoi, Danang, Hue and Ho Chi Minh.

I envy all of your travels! How do you finance all of it?!

**kingcrazylegs** · 12-12-2004, 03:19 PM

Which org are you volunteering with?

yesVirginia · 12-12-2004, 04:01 PM

None yet. I'm just doing some initial research to see if I can even afford to do it at all.

But they're quite pricey.

**kingcrazylegs** · 12-12-2004, 06:30 PM

Oh, which ones are you looking at?

**worldwidemike** · 12-14-2004, 02:50 AM

I work for an airline, Virginia...it...well...ROCKS!

Seriously, I don't get to go away for months and months like some folks, but I do get in a lot of little trips...

I'd say you have a nice start on a life of travel, too.

worldwidemike

yesVirginia · 12-14-2004, 11:52 AM

Kingcrazylegs, I'm seriously considering ICODEI. They seem to be a good organization that isn't all too expensive (~1,000 for 4 weeks). It's the best I've found so far.

The only thing that worries me is their release form.

I know that this is something that every volunteer organization has to have you sign.. but it's a little frightening..

WorldWideMike.. I should have known you work for an airline! That's such a great thing.. to have traveling and work coexist.

Quote:

I'd say you have a nice start on a life of travel, too.

I'm just getting started! It's difficult to afford it though. Waiting tables doesn't prove to be very lucrative.. But I'm trying to take advantage of all the student discounts.