1. Africa 2023 - Itinerary and Prep

It's happening.

The trip Craig and I have been talking about, investigating and planning since we got back from South America (early 2020) has become real. Delayed for a few years largely due to pandemic related restrictions, our overlanding trip to Africa, using 3 different tour companies, will last 2 1/2 months and take us through 12 countries from Capetown, South Africa to Cairo, Egypt.

Our first tour with overlanding travel company Acacia, leaves Capetown on March 18, and takes us through 10 countries in 8 weeks as shown on the attached itinerary map. This includes:

South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Tanzania (including the island of Zanzibar), Kenya, Uganda & Rwanda.

This tour's travel vehicle is an overlanding truck that can accommodate up to 24 people. Most travellers will be about 1/2 our age (or less), which is great because the roads are described as unpredictable, and we are all expected to "help" if the vehicle gets stuck. I'm not sure exactly what that means, (can 24 people push what I imagine to be a 10,000 pound truck out of a ditch?) but I'm at the gym 4-5 times a week trying to bulk up, just in case.

The tours are booked, the flights scheduled, travel insurance (including repatriation of our remains, as needed) purchased, and our trip is registered with the State Dept. We've obtained our vaccines, malarial medication, and visas.

By the way, our luggage is restricted to a 90 litre duffel bag (needs to fit in a locker on the truck), plus a "day-travel bag". Packing is going to be interesting. Hauling a 50 pound backpack from the truck to our accommodations each day will be equally interesting. Craig better start adding more weight to his weighted squats at the gym.

Our final 2 weeks has us on a flight to Addis Ababa for a tour of Ethiopia, followed by a flight to Cairo for a tour of Egypt including a cruise down the Nile.

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