Tony and i have been all consumed in preparing for our upcoming botswana safari. a couple weeks ago we recieved our safari package from our travel agent "Eyes on Africa" - highly recommended by the way. Marguerite was very patient as we changed our minds about 10 times - and she worked with our budget - which for as much as we've spent, very budget minded for Botswana.
As I've mentioned in previous posts, we are going on the Migration Routes luxury mobile tented safari offered by Wilderness Safaris. For the areas of Botswana we are visiting, we went to Passport Health, a local travel clinic to determine which shots would be needed. We learned that our primary care physician cannot administer the "exotic" vaccines. So we went to the primary to get Hep A, Hep B and tetnus and at the travel clinic we got Typhoid and Malaria. Luckily, that was all we needed. I was nervous that we may need Yellow Fever or Rabies - but we managed to escape those.
So, when we received our travel docs from Eyes on Africa - we can only bring one 12x10x24 inch soft sided duffel. This is VERY small - especially for me. But we are working with it. We also have to plan for different types of weather - they say its upper 50s in the evening and the 90-100F during the day. We also have to come prepared for possible showers!
Over the weekend, we both bought two pairs of convertible pants. We've been told, these are a must - especially since the early morning drives can be a little chilly. We can't bring any bright colors (ie: red etc) or any white clothing. The women are advised not to wear skirts -- and of course this is my mainstay during the summer. So I have gone out and got a couple pairs of shorts, some capris and then of course the convertible pants.
Tony bought an electricity converter tonight. We had to get a converter that would convert to 220V for our camera and camcorder batteries. We have been told we can bring a backpack and I think we may bring some normal luggage and leave it in Johannesburg with the safari company.
We don't need to get any visas where we are going. We will need a visa in Zambia, but apparently you can purchase one at the border crossing.
We are trying to prepare for the 15 hour flight. We are flying direct from Dulles to Johannesburg. Not sure how we are going to handle this one yet -- although, our airline has a 15 movie video library available from our seats - so hopefully that will keep us entertained for at least a portion of the flight. We will also probably bring some reading and puzzles...or something!
I'm totally jealous about your travels! I can't wait to see lots of pictures! Definitely sounds like a packing challenge.
Posted by: Jessica | April 07, 2008 at 11:31 PM