Ready, Set, Go

The trip is officially upon us. We have enough vaccine in our veins to survive nearly any epidemic (well, as long as that epidemic involves hep A or B, typhoid, yellow fever, polio, the current strain of influenza, or tetanus . . . as long as we stick to those, we should be fine . . . oh, and Megan is safe from whooping cough . . .). We started malaria medication today, and the plane takes off tomorrow.


First stop is Nairobi. We've been told that our hotel there is one of the safer ones--each floor has its own armed guard. From there we head south to spend Christmas in Arusha and then west to the Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater. After getting our fill of uncaged wildlife, we will return to Arusha and then to Zanzibar. Finally, after a few days on the island, we'll return to Dar es Salaam to catch our flight to South Africa. The maps below show Kenya and Tanzania. The second map reaffirms my love for Google Earth: you can actually see the clarity of the waters around Zanzibar.










In Cape Town, we're staying in Camp's Bay at Atlanticview. The map below really gives a feel for the topography. Camp's Bay is sandwiched between Table Mountain and the Atlantic. After rough Kenyan roads and the heavy dust of the Ngorongoro Crater, a little South African wine on our balcony as we watch the sunset might hit the spot.

We've done all the preparation we can do. We've chatted with a friend who studied law in Cape Town last summer and another who worked on a game ranch near Kruger Park a few years ago--they have provided some excellent information. Thank you George and James!


We look forward to posting our updates (most unlike David Livingstone who, at one point, lost contact with the outside world for six years). As always, I'll be keeping a relative price index by charting the price of beer at each location. We'll see if anywhere tops the 23 cents (USD) I paid for Lhasa Beer in Tibet.


These trips tend to generate new friends, digestive fireworks and great stories. For now, Happy Holidays! Merry Christmas! Happy New Year! Etc.! Etc.! Etc.!