Africa or Bust

Did I forget to tell you guys that I'm going to Africa? See, I might have. Well then, here it is: I'm taking a 13-day trip to South Africa with my dad and brother. Right now. As in, I'm leaving in about an hour for the airport. And after 26 hours of traveling (with a long layover in London), I'll arrive in Cape Town, South Africa.

I've kept the trip under the radar screen for no good reason. Partly because it feels so separate from this other journey I'm about to embark upon, and partly because it was put together kind of quickly, and I wanted to make sure that all of the pieces were in place. And also because up until I arrived in Philadelphia today, I sort of didn't really believe that I was going. But my dad's putting the rest of his stuff in his bag as I type this, and I've packed enough DEET to eradicate the entire mosquito population of Africa, so it seems like I am actually going. Today.

A brief outline of our trip: we're flying to Cape Town and will spend about 5 days there, checking out the city, hopefully learning more about South Africa than I currently know (which is, I'm ashamed to admit, precious little). Then we're going on safari for a few days in Kruger National Park. And then we're flying home. I'll have about 10 days between the time I get back from Africa and the day I leave for Thailand. Luckily, my bags for Thailand will already be packed, and, as Matt said in that last post, we don't have much left to do. Of course, there IS that pesky little task of packing up all of our worldly possessions and moving them to a storage unit, but seriously, we're pros at that. Rather, MATT is a pro at that and he assures me that he doesn't mind the work.

So there you have it. Africa or bust. I'll be taking the camera with me (of course!) but I won't be posting pictures until after I get back (because I'm sadly not taking Matt with me, and among other things, that boy knows his way around a computer and a camera). I've heard that my pictures will be incredible. So stay tuned. And stay tuned anyway, since I'm hoping to post from the Southern Hemisphere while I'm down there.

I hope you all had a tremendous and wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. I do know how very much I have to be thankful for. My cup overfloweth.

And yes, all you worriers, I promise I'll be safe and I won't feed the animals.