We didn’t have to get up too early — bags outside the door, breakfast, and off we went. The drive to the airport wasn’t long, though it was punctuated by an elephant calmly blocking the street. As one does. Lynn had taken my shaving kit into her checked bag (which is now about ten pounds […]
africa
Day 5: Downward Cheetah, Dirt Baths, and a Wee One Testing Mom’s Forebearance
Up again at 5:00 a.m. For some reason my alarm didn’t go off — but thank goodness this lodge operates on the very practical system of knocking firmly on your door until you rejoin the living. I was especially tired today. I haven’t been sleeping particularly well, and I’ve been battling a growing frustration with […]
Day 3 (Part 2): Teeth-Loosening Glory
We headed out this afternoon for our first official game drive — in what I can only describe as a safari vehicle engineered by someone who thought, “What if we made a jeep… but also a small apartment building?” It’s a very (very) tall open-sided truck with three rows of covered seats. Getting in requires […]
Day 3: Bags Outside the Door by 7:30, Safari Begins
Well. Bags outside the door by 7:30, breakfast at 6:30 (“…at the buffet-a…”), wheels up (well…van wheels up) at 8:00. Safari logistics have officially entered the chat. We left Pretoria this morning and began the drive north toward Entabeni, which Abe (pronounced “A.B.”) cheerfully informed us would be about three to three-and-a-half hours…with a snack […]
Well, Here We Are… Into Africa!
As I type this, I probably should actually be sleeping — but ~24 hours’ worth of travel can do that to a girl. (And probably the Illy coffee that smelled so good about two hours before landing…which was…duh…6 p.m. local time.) I’m going to skip “waxing lyrical” about my TrustedHousesitters, Theresa. She arrived and we […]
I asked ChatGPT to choose my nail polish. H had other plans.
I’m about to leave for Africa, which means my life has entered its sacred pre-trip phase:lists, sub-lists, nested lists under other lists, and a level of logistical intensity that suggests I’m either going on safari with a weight limit . . . or launching a rocket into orbit. So when it came time for my […]
Next Trip: Africa! (Then Vancouver…then Japan…)
Coming up in February/March, I’m off with Overseas Adventure Travel again, this time to Africa. The overview is HERE, the day-to-day itinerary is HERE. I am doing the pre- and post-trips as well, then staying an extra couple of days in Namibia, at a Cheetah Conservation Organization that Herbert and I have supported for decades. […]