Details, Details, Details...

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It's August my friends! And at the risk of sounding cliche, it truly is amazing how time flies. We leave in just a little over a month for Africa - ONE month - yikes!

As our departure date nears the excitement is definitely escalating, however coincident with that excitement is an ever growing anxiety. One thing that I am quickly realizing is that traveling to Africa is very different from a trip to the Caribbean. There are so many other factors to consider... Vaccines, insurance, visas... oh my. Even for a type A planner like myself, it's overwhelming. So here in this entry I am going to break it down - both for my own benefit and maybe to open up conversation with others who are going through or have gone through similar issues.

Passports and Visas:
So of course everyone knows (I would hope!) that you need passports to go to Africa, or really anywhere outside of the US. So naturally that was one of the first things we looked at when we booked this trip - do we have our passports and when do they expire... We both had valid passports already. However, Jeff's expired about a month after our return date from Africa. I was very concerned about this and thought he should just get a new one. Jeff, however, was confident that it would be ok. To his defense, he did research this online and all the data seemed to point to the fact that this would indeed be ok and there was no need to get a new passport for the trip. Plus, he wanted to have all the Africa stamps in his passport that he took to England. I get that... As far as visas, certain countries require you have a visa AND a passport to enter and stay there. Mozambique is one of them.

Fast forward 10 months. We got an email from our tour guide telling us that they have had difficulty with lines and delays getting visas on the border going into Mozambique. They suggested that we try and get our visas ahead of time if we could to eliminate this hassle during our trip. Jeff looked into this and come to find out you can only get a visa for Mozambique if you have a passport that is valid for 6 months past your date of departure from the country. Enter Panic!! I have to say there were some I told you so's thrown his way... I just couldn't help myself... However, after the initial panic subsided and I got my "I told you, I told you, I told you's" out of the way, I realized that this was really a good thing. You see, had our guide not recommended that we secure our visas on our own - we would have gone to Africa with our current passports and Jeff would likely not have been able to get into Mozambique, which would have been a major disruption in our trip and a very upsetting surprise. So it worked out...
Regarding the passport: It is too close to our departure date to get a passport the traditional route. However, you can get an expedited passport if you are within two weeks of your trip departure date. So next week Jeff will be taking care of that and hopefully by the end of next week he will have his passport in hand.
Regarding the visas: Once he has his new passport we should then be able to get our visas within that two week period. Worst case scenario, we have to get the visas at the border and wait in line. Not the end of the world.
So my man Jeff is on it and I am confident it will all work out just fine. Positive thoughts and energy!

Traveler's Checks / Currency:
I won't go on and on about this except to say that banks don't carry that large a quantity of traveler's checks on hand at any given moment. Luckily I went to get them early - as I found out the bank has to order what we need and then we can go and get them when they arrive. So the traveler's checks are ordered and picking them up is on my task list for next week. As far as currency - I was told it is good to take some US money and some of the local currency for tipping, small purchases, etc. So our plan is to convert some US dollars to rand at the airport on our way there.

Insurance:
This is something that confuses the hell out of me to be honest... There are so many kinds of insurance that it really does make your head spin. There is insurance for air fare, insurance for the trip itself, insurance for baggage, medical insurance, emergency evacuation insurance... You name it, there is an insurance. We are in the process of trying to figure out which insurance to go with and are almost there. Here is a handy comparison site if you are interested:
http://www.travelinsurancereview.net/buying-guide/travel-insurance/plans/
The most cost effective and convenient way to go is a package deal that bundles the various types of insurance under one easy plan. So this is something major we still need to do and do very, very soon.

Vaccines:
I highly, highly recommend Passport Health for vaccines and travel planning. Not only do they give you all your vaccines, they also make you a nice little personalized book detailing all the countries you are visiting, the health issues for each country and other very useful details like temperatures for each season. Very useful. Jeff only has one more vaccine to go and I am done - thank goodness! We do however, still have to select and get our malaria prophylactics. These are pills that you take so you don't get malaria. There are a few different kinds you can get so we still have to select and decide which ones we are going to take and order and pick up our supply.

Luggage:
Many flights within Africa do not allow you to take hard suitcases. In addition, often they have strict size and weight limits... So we had to get small soft, duffle bag type luggage on wheels. We actually found some awesome ones at Walmart for just $29 per piece. They got really good ratings and look super nice; with lots of compartments and ample space. I ordered them yesterday and we should be able to pick them up in store next week. Then I can get my packing on!

Clothes / Packing:
So we have talked to lots of people about this and the consensus is the less you can take the better. For a girl who normally takes several bags on even a short trip - this is a daunting task. Normally even my shoes have their own dedicated bag! What we have learned is that one small bag is all you should take; that and a carry on purse or back pack. In fact, one person we met with who has been to Africa many times, said that she recommends only a few days worth of clothes and two pairs of shoes! Well, this I cannot do. However, I am sticking to three pairs of shoes and minimal clothes. They do after all, offer laundry services at several places during our trip. Eastern Mountain Sports sells awesome pants that zip off into shorts. I highly recommend them. I also have lots of dresses - as they take up minimal space. In fact, I think if I buy one more dress Jeff will cut me off! I could go on and on about clothes - but suffice it to say after months of planning and researching, we both have almost all our safari clothes for the trip in nice little piles ready to go!

Camera:
This is not my department... Jeff is the expert here. We have our camera and our camera case all ready to go. I do know Jeff is planning on renting lenses instead of taking ours. When you rent them they are insured in case of damage or loss - and that way you don't spend lots of money on a super zoom lens that you really would not use on a day to day basis. The site that we are going to use (recommended to us by a friend and photographer) is www.borrowlenses.com.

Other:
There are still a lot of things left to do but those are the major categories. Some other odds and ends include making copies of our passports and other important documents, making a first aid kit to take, getting umbrellas for Victoria Falls... Oh and for all you ladies out there I was given a fantastic piece of advice that I plan on taking heed to - dying your eyelashes!! Apparently there is a salon in Annapolis that dyes your eyelashes and eyelids so it looks like mascara and eyeliner. It lasts about 30 days and runs about 30 dollars. Genius!! We may be roughing it for a bit but I can still look good! 😊

Oh and another fantastic piece of advice I was given was pertaining to hair... Apparently it is pointless to take a hair dryer or straightener (musts for me on any trip!) as 1. they take up a lot of room and 2. they are prone to melting / malfunctioning when hooked up with an adapter. At first, this seemed appalling and inconceivable to me. However, I have been practicing the all natural air dry method on the recommendation of this woman - and have perfected it to a point where I feel comfortable traveling sans hair tools. Also, her genius recommendation is to visit a salon in Cape Town (the more metropolitan part of our trip and the place where I will want my hair to look its best) - and pay to have a professional wash, blow dry, and style done. This will likely last the rest of our stay in Cape Town and will be a nice way to kick off the more luxurious leg our our trip. Brilliant.

Like I said, details, details, details... As we get closer there is still certainly a lot left to do, however, it seems manageable, especially now that I have organized it and planned it 😊

I'll check in again before we leave... Until then, looks like I should get moving...

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