Participant Information and Orientation Packet
NCSU Graduate Program in South Africa
IMAGINE
Note: this information package is adapted from the orientation materials handed out to undergraduate OTS students arriving in South Africa. We work on that program, and are grateful to our OTS colleagues for helping to host us.
We would like to welcome you to the Imagine program in South Africa. We are confident that this trip will be one of the highlights of your graduate career.
This Orientation Packet contains very important information to help you prepare for your semester in South Africa. You should read it carefully, follow the recommendations and suggestions we provide, and bring it with you to South Africa. If you have any questions, please contact Dr. Melissa McHale,
We are extremely excited about having you in our program and introducing you to the extraordinary country we know so well.
A. Get with the Program
1. USites to be visited
We will use several locations as our major research sites and other places for short visits of special biological or cultural interest. Major research sites include HaMakuya, Shingwedzi, and Skukuza. These locations are all research stations, the latter two within Kruger National Park, one in the far north of the country (HaMakuya). Detailed descriptions of these and other sites are found in the next section.
2. Description of Sites to be Visited
Pretoria
Our first few days will be spent in Pretoria, South Africa’s third largest city, where we will be staying at a Bed and Breakfast lodge, in great comfort. Pretoria is one of the safer cities in the country, and it is fully diverse and integrated, having emerged from the shadow of the apartheid past and its close ties to the old regime. It is, however, fundamentally an Afrikaans-speaking city, with lots of Afrikaner monuments interspersed with the new architectures of the post-apartheid period. In Pretoria, we will see something of the town and the night life, and we will spend time getting to know the impressive research facilities at FABI and the University of Pretoria.
U Skukuza
“All roads lead to Skukuza.” Skukuza is the main camp in the Kruger National Park. Most of our time during the semester will be spent in Kruger. It is the Park’s headquarters and by far the largest camp in the Kruger National Park.
At Skukuza you will find a post office, shops and a full-service bank (including an ATM). Skukuza also has two restaurants, one of which we call the Train Restaurant because it is the site of the old railroad station where people and supplies were brought into the park. You can make use of the tourist camp in your free time, to relax and get out of the dorms.
Kruger National Park sees approximately 1.3 million tourists every year, many of whom spend time at Skukuza. You will be in frequent contact with tourists who will probably ask you what you are studying. Please be courteous at all times and willing to explain who you are. The continuation of the Imagine program in South Africa depends on maintaining good relations with the staff and guests at Kruger National Park.
Our accommodations at Skukuza are in the veterinary research camp situated between the staff village and the tourist camp. The vet camp is a small fenced area which consists of about 10 rooms sleeping anywhere between 2-5 people as well as a kitchen/eating area and a small classroom. During the day you can walk (in groups of 3 or more) to the OTS offices to use the internet or to the tourist camp to shop, swim, or do laundry. As the mosquitoes are more active between sunset and sunrise, you will have to avoid the mosquito problem by not swimming after six p.m. At night you should be covered and liberally sprayed with repellent.
In and around Skukuza there are many animals and plants to be seen. Inside the camp you might spot different birds, lizards, and thick tailed bush babies. Warthogs, vervet monkeys, and banded mongooses also like cruising through the camp during the day.
Unfortunately without a game guard we will not be allowed out of our vehicles anywhere in the park. Large predators, elephants, hippos, and rhinos are too dangerous for us to even think about relaxing this rule. There will, however, be frequent opportunities to go on game drives, during which you are sure to see many of the animals you associate with African savannas.
The main OTS offices will be available for us to use in Skukuza. Here you will have access to computers, a scanner, telephones, and email. Skukuza also has a large general store where you can buy books, newspapers, souvenirs, snacks, basic drugstore items, and film.
Wits Rural
This is the rural research base for the University of the Witwatersrand in the Lowveld. It is located a few kilometres outside the Orpen gate of the central section of the Kruger National Park. While we will occasionally travel into Kruger from Wits Rural, our main purpose will be to work on field work projects in the community area of Bushbuckridge.
Accommodation will be in simple bungalows. There are plenty of animals present in and around the camp, but no large predators or “charismatic megafauna” (elephant, buffalo, rhino etc), so you may walk or jog in safety.
UHaMakuya
HaMakuya lies just outside Kruger National Park, in close proximity to Punda Maria, a northern rest camp in the Park. Situated in the Venda district of the north of the country, HaMakuya offers the opportunity to become immersed in the rich culture of the Venda people. During this period, the group will interact closely with host families during a 2 day homestay, spend time experiencing what life is like as a rural person in South Africa, learn more about rural conservation efforts and also about the interaction between people and parks (e.g. the conflict between elephants and farmers, economic spinoffs of tourism derived from conservation areas).
There are five tents, and an open sleeping area (mosquito proof) under a huge thatched roof.
Tshulu camp is a base for all sorts of biological and social research. It is also the centre of a series of community-run projects, and we will introduce you to some of the key people leading these projects in the 17 villages that make up greater Hamakuya.
Site / Description / Accommodation / Shops / Phone / Email / RecreationSkukuza / Main camp of the KNP situated in the South. All facilities available including Post office and Banks/ATMs / - Staying in dormitories
- 2-3 people sharing
- 3 showers and 3 toilets for everyone – Keep clean and consider others / Large shop at the tourist camp and in staff village - 5-10 min walk. They stock everything: drinks, snacks, toiletries, curios etc.
Restaurant and take-aways at main camp / Public phones in the tourist camp, cell phone reception. / Yes / - 2 recreational swimming pools in camp
- 25m swimming pool in village
- Soccer, volleyball, Frisbee, game drives
- Exercise: Can run around the village in groups, before dusk ONLY
HaMakuya / Located in the North near the northern section of the Kruger National Park. Very remote, near the beautiful and friendly village of HaMakuya. / - Homestays for 2 nights, 4 people to a household sleeping on grass mats... prepare to challenge yourselves!
- Remaining time at lovely research camp situated on the Mutale river in very comfortable en-suite tents (6 to a tent) / -Only local village shops but we will stop at shops on the way to HaMakuya / No / No, also no electricity. Power via a generator. / - Soccer with the locals
- Running
- Plenty of space to explore and go for long walks around the camp.
3. UAcademic and Student Life on the Program
You will no doubt have many questions about what student life on the program will be like. Please review the FAQs as well as the material below.
For most of the program, you will be living with other students in large dormitory rooms, cottages with 4 – 6 students, and smaller cottages with 2 students per room. Because of these group living situations, we all have to be conscious of other people’s comfort and convenience. We must keep our personal space organized (so keep your baggage to a minimum) and make sure that our comings and goings at night and in the early morning disrupt our companions as little as possible. We will try to schedule short periods of time in every day when you will be free to go for a run, play soccer or Frisbee, take a swim, amble over to the grocery store, write postcards, or catch up on your reading and studying. The intent, when possible, is to give you one free day per week with no scheduled events. You may use this time to catch up on work or to take a mental break.
The semester will be an intense academic and social experience and we expect everyone will have ups and downs. We will schedule times for students to meet individually and in groups with the faculty in order to receive feedback on their course work and to express their concerns. Because of the rigors of the academic schedule and the constraints of group living, however, we will not be able to tailor this program to meet everyone’s individual needs and desires.
4. Meals and Special Dietary Requirements
Meals are provided by our caterers, Shadreck and co. who refer to themselves as AggyShadow Catering company. The food is fantastic, regularly cited as one of the highlights of the program, and we warn you in advance about the possibility of expanding waistlines!! The menu is highly varied and usually dinners consist of a variety of choices of side dishes. The program caters for those of you with special dietary requirements (i.e. vegetarians, vegans) or food allergies but please let us know in advance so that Shadreck can prepare accordingly.
B. UPreparing for the program
UAdditional reading
You may want to do some advance reading about South Africa. For quick, easy reference, we suggest you look at one (or more) of the following guide books: Lonely Planet Guide to South Africa, Lesotho, and Swaziland; Let’s Go South Africa; or Frommer’s South Africa.
For current literature coming out of South Africa, the following is a list of books on the shelves in South Africa now that can also be found at Amazon.com:
K. Sello Duiker “The Quiet Violence of Dreams”
Pamela Jooste “Dance with a Poor Man’s Daughter” “Frieda and Min” “People Like Us”
Antjie Krog “Country of My Skull”
Zakes Mda “Ways of Dying” “The Heart of Redness”
Phaswane Mpe “Welcome to Our Hillbrow”
Ivan Vladislavic, “The Exploded View”
J.M. Coetzee won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2005, and his novels are widely available in the U.S. and South Africa.
For nonfiction and a great summary of the rise of the ANC during the Apartheid era, Nelson Mandela’s “Long Walk to Freedom” is highly recommended.
A couple of older classics are Rian Malan’s “My Traitor’s Heart” and Alan Paton’s “Cry the Beloved Country.”
For an interesting evaluation of different regions of Africa by a leading U.S. African Studies professor, see Louis Henry Gates, Jr.’s “Wonders of the African World” and John Readers “Africa. Biogeography of a continent”.
For those of you wishing to purchase your own field guides, these are readily available in South Africa. They would include, for instance:
1. Mammals. Chris and Tilde Stuart, Mammals of Southern Africa
2. Birds. In order of preference.
Newman, Birds of Southern Africa
SASOL, Birds of Southern Africa
Roberts, Birds of Southern Africa
3. Insects. Mike Picker, Field Guide to the Insects
of South Africa
4. Reptiles. Graham Alexander, A Guide to the Reptiles of Southern Africa
For some preparation on sub-tropical savannas we recommend you browse through recent issues of ecological journals and edited volumes on conservation, such as the Journal of Ecology or Conservation Biology.
D. ULogistics
1. Passport Information
If you have not already obtained your passport you should do so immediately. If you plan to travel elsewhere in South Africa after the semester you must check for other visa requirements. You must ensure that you have 2 facing blank pages in your passport. This is really important as people HAVE been turned away at the border for this reason.
2. Airline Reservations
We are planning to travel as a group to South Africa, so you should stay in contact with Norma at Beeline Travel. The flight coming in from the US arrives at 9pm in the evening. We will meet you as you exit the customs area at OR Tambo International Airport, and we will help you with logistics. From there, we will drive you directly to Pretoria, to your Bed and Breakfast hotel and a late, simple supper.
3. Money
Plan to have enough money for personal expenses. You will be required to pay for health care, mail, sodas, and souvenirs. Film and batteries will also be supplied by you. It is hard to set a standard here for you to follow, but keep in mind the following (the exchange rate is around R7 = 1 US Dollar):
A can of soda is about R7.00;
A bottle of mineral water is about R 9.00;