The Africa Trip 2017--Getting Ready

Well, it's Day One Minus Three-Thursday 5 January, 2017, and I've started counting sleeps. Only three more till we take off to the place where all our ancestors come from-Africa!!! Magnificent, mysterious, magical Africa---I expect it to be all those things and more based on a lifetime of reading books, listening to music and  viewing movies and TV shows about this mighty continent.

But, whew!! There's a lot to do and already I feel like I need a holiday just to get over getting ready for this holiday!!! Here's a list of the pre-trip stuff we have done already:

Consult with specialist Africa travel agents and arrange airfares, hotels etc
Consult with local doctors to review health history and find out which vaccinations/medications we require for the trip
Consult with specialist tropical disease expert doctor in Whangarei and receive immunisations. These include: yellow fever, hepatitis,tetanus, malaria.

Pay the bill for those and other medications such as insect repellent, sunscreen, pain killers, tummy bug pills and various lotions and potions etc-total cost approx $800. Ouch!

Buy new luggage because you will be travelling sometimes in very small planes and your total baggage allowance per person is restricted to soft-sided bags only and a total weight of up to 15 kilos.Purchase two super-light and super-compactable bags.

 Add on two pairs of breathable, lightweight safari pants. Thank you, Katmandu, your products are always excellent value.

Realise that baggage restrictions mean you need an everyday back pack which is small and very well designed so that you can  hyper-organise the stuff that you need to carry with you in the cabin of a plane and also when on day-trips. Fortunately, only I need one of these as my husband already has lots of specialist camera bags and gear. Go looking for one extraordinary, super-light high-spec backpack with air-cool technology. Purchase the Tenba Shootout 14L Actionpack 632-451.

Just the name of it was exciting. I almost felt like a young cowboy!  Junior writers, I hope you are noticing that I am adding lots of really specific nouns, adjectives and even numbers to my story to add interest!!   Cost: $288.00. Who cares/ it is super cool.  But thank you, Tenba. You guys design great gear and no one ever regrets buying quality stuff 'cos it always makes your travel so much easier.

Read numerous books about Africa including: The Flame Trees of Thika and the Mottled Lizard by Elspeth Huxley; Out of Africa by Karen Blixen;The Tree Where Man was Born by John Barkham;The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuscinski;  African Diary by Bill Bryson; The Making of Mankind by Richard E Leakey and The Scramble for Africa by Thoma Pakenham. Take note that most of those writers may have lived in Africa but are not African, so the ideas and opinions in their books may not be correct and/or even up to date.

Pack and weigh all your stuff about six different times, each time jettisoning cargo because you are overweight, until all your junk is pared down to the absolute essentials.

Mow the lawns, spray the weeds, clean the house, get a haircut and go down to school to move a bit of furniture around in Team Moana rooms ready for the end of January!!

And finally...
The bags are packed
We're ready to go
We've lined them up beside the door........
Suddenly, there's a song in my head and I feel excited.