Getting there is half of the fun! My upcoming trip to South Africa

Olivia's  First Halloween

     It has been a long time since I felt free enough to take a trip across the world.  First I couldn’t leave my children; there were football and soccer games, homework and tests, formals and parties and actually, I didn’t want to miss any of it.  Then my mother got sick and we went from crisis to crisis.  I was afraid to commit to dinner with friends, never mind a big trip.   Well, my time has come and tomorrow, Lewis and I are leaving for a South African adventure.   No one will either miss us or probably even notice that we’re not around. 

    Although, I know that this is going to be the most wonderful experience, I have had so much fun these past few months, just looking forward to it and preparing for it.  This trip has even inspired to me to drop a couple pounds, something I have been trying to do unsuccessfully, for years.  Of course these few pounds are a drop in the bucket; not enough to prevent the nightmares I am having about being asked to reveal how much I weigh before boarding the small planes.

    We purchased our safari clothes, returned our safari clothes because we just couldn’t bear to wear anything so unflattering, and bought them back again.   I struggled with what I would pack knowing that they would be very strict about weight on those reprehensible small planes.  Also concerning to me was if I would have to compensate for lying about my weight by cutting some luggage weight.  Which was the lesser evil?

    We were warned that we shouldn’t wear blue or black because they attract Tse Tse flies!  This surprised me because I actually thought Tze Tze flies were extinct! In addition we were told that we shouldn’t wear bright colors or white.  There went all my options! Earth tones, khaki brown and green were all that was left and those are not my colors.   I guess I don’t have to worry about bringing more than the allotted 44 lbs after all.

    A few weeks ago, we got all our shots and poor Lewis came down with just a touch of typhoid afterwards.  He got a burning rash up and down his arms which drove him crazy for almost two weeks.   We leave tomorrow with malaria pills in hand to take before we go on Safari.

    Now, we are in the last stretch and, this morning, I woke up with shooting pains in my ears, and Lewis lost a filling.  Good thing we were so organized because on our last day at home we had to fit in a Doctor’s appointment for me and a Dentist appointment for him.  “OY”.  

    Anyway, I am not sure whether I will be able to post when I am gone, but I will certainly try and hope that I will be able to post some pictures of my trip.