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Autumn adventure: CARP goes to South Africa

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WHITE ROCK — A group trip to South Africa and Zimbabwe's Victoria Falls is planned by the White Rock/Surrey chapter of CARP, the group devoted to "A New Vision of Aging for Canada."

The fall 2014 excursion will be led by chapter chair Ramona Kaptyn and April Lewis, the B.C. representative for CARP.

"In 1974 when I first visited South Africa and environs, Nelson Mandela was in prison and apartheid was rampant," said Kaptyn, a travel writer at the time. "It will be wonderful to return to a new South Africa and see again what I think is the most magnificent scenery on earth. The creator of this world certainly chose the southern part of this continent as his ultimate showplace."

The CARP tour will start in mineralrich Sandton, the bustling cosmopolitan centre of greater Johannesburg where the world's greatest gold rush started in 1886, and move on to Soweto, where a visit to the Apartheid Museum will look at the dynamic history of racial segregation. Next stop is Kruger National Park, after a drive through the spectacular Drakensburg Mountain Range and the red-sandstone Blyde River Canyon. Kruger is the largest game reserve in South Africa and home to the "Big 5" - elephants, buffalo, lions, leopards and rhinos. One of Kaptyn's filmmaker friends, Anne Pick of Real to Reel Productions, is currently shooting a documentary called Gambling on Extinction, as many of these animals, especially the rhino, may soon become extinct.

The CARP South African adventure will also include a lagoon cruise to the famous Knysa Heads and a visit to Featherbed Nature Reserve, a wine-pairing dinner in Stellenbosch and more.

Prices for the 18-day trip in November start at $7,599 per person. An information session will be held Thursday, Feb. 6 at 6:30 p.m. at White Rock Community Centre. For details, call Kaptyn at 778-294-0787.

Other events planned by CARP in White Rock/Surrey include "Dying to Have a Conversation," a panel discussion about life choices/dying with dignity, on March 6, and a "My Life" presentation featuring Graham Kerr - TV's "Galloping Gourmet" - on April 24.