With apologies to John Denver –

All our bags are packed, We’re ready to go.
Africa holds us, and won’t let go…
Yea, we’re leaving, on a jet plane, 
Didn’t know that we’d go back again…

After three years, we are once again Africa bound. We took our Covid tests on Sunday afternoon and received the negative results back Monday. We start the journey at 4PM later today (Tuesday) flying from Dulles to Newark, and then board a direct flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. We arrive 15 hours later at 5PM local time (11AM DC time) on Wednesday. We’ll have a good night’s sleep and then take a flight to Vic Falls the next morning (Thursday), where the fun really begins. With a bit of luck, we’ll see ellies than evening while having sundowners.

We’ll be on this adventure for about 3 1/2 weeks, with most of the time on safaris in Zimbabwe and Botswana. Our first Safari camp, The Hide, is in Zim and a several hour drive from Vic Falls. This is the one part of the trip we are repeating from our last visit. After The Hide, the other three camps are all in Botswana and are fly-in camps. Those flights all set a limit of two small, soft bags and no more than 44 pounds per person. My two bags weigh 40 pounds together. It’s amazing how light you can pack when you need to.

Cathy and I, along with our friends Bill and Sharon, started planning this vacation in January of 2020. After a one year Covid delay, it’s finally here. I feel like a kid on Christmas Eve and can’t wait for this trip to begin.

Addendum:

I’ve written two other blogs about this upcoming 2021 trip to Africa.

The first one is about why we wanted to return to Africa, after having the “Trip of a Lifetime” there in 2019. It can be viewed here: https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2021/06/02/africa-in-our-blood/ .

The Second blog is about the extensive Covid testing required throughout this upcoming trip, along with some stats showing Africa is actually safer (for covid) than several of the States here in the USA. You can read it at this link: https://mnhallblog.wordpress.com/2021/09/01/africa-and-covid-testing/ .