Preparation

I will be departing for South Africa in two days. I have spent the past 2 months preparing for this trip which is the longest one in duration that I will have taken. Traveling is not just about being prepared for the trip but making sure that what you leave back home will operate until your return. Key actions that I took:

1. Visited the Fairfax County Health Clinic in early November for a consult on travel to Africa. The clinic provides useful information - sanitation, mosquito repellents, cautions regarding food/water consumption, and immunization issues. My shots are up-to-date and I received a prescription for malaria pills which I will begin taking 2 days before the trip begins, during the entire trip and for 4 weeks after the trip ends.
2. Explored via the Internet each country that I will be visiting ..........learned about the geography, people, culture, foods, things to see, etc.
3. Prepared a document outlining financial, insurance, location of critical documents and other pertinent personal information in the event Ann Marie, my wife, needs access to this critical information.
4. Prepared emergency contact information in the event my family needs to get a hold of me.
5. Developed a financial scenario to pay my bills during my absence.
6. Purchased a digital SLR camera so that I might take pictures of the "Big 5" from afar; cape buffalo, elephant, leopard, lion and rhino....a "point and click camera" just won't do!
7. Purchased a small AMAZON kindle on to which I loaded 10 electronic books to read ...this eliminated the need for carrying heavy paper-back books.
8. "Unsubscribe" from Internet solicitation and newsletters that I receive; notify my "email friends" of my absence and request a halt to all emails until my return.....my "email cup" would overflow!!
9. Notified my ATM and credit card companies of my travel plans....if they are unaware of my travel plans; there is a good chance that my ATM/credit card transactions would be denied. Made a list of all card numbers and related emergency contact info in the event I lose a card.
10. Set-up a SKYPE Internet telephone account so that I could call home from Internet cafes as I traveled throughout Southern Africa. I loaded family and friend phone numbers and the customer service numbers for my credit card and ATM accounts.
11. Money, money, money...how much to take, denominations, where to carry it....decisions, decisions!! I decided to take $800 in varying denominations.
12. Establish a travel email account (I use Hotmail) so that I can communicate with family and friends individually...this BLOG serves as my primary vehicle of keeping my family/friends advised of my travels....facebook is another vehicle.
13. My travel company sent me a pre-departure document which provided general information on clothing requirements, health considerations, travel and accommodation expectations, visas, currency and emergency contact information.
14. Selected my clothing for the trip  and sprayed them with Premelin to ward off mosquitoes (malaria) and other insects (tse-tse fly)....besides clothing and sleeping bag; packed necessary medicines, personal items, camera, kindle, international telephone...total weight not to exceed 40 pounds.
15. Pack, pack, pack...from chaos to a single back pack weighing no more than 30 pounds...I did it.