Luggage, weather, language and clothing

Vaccinations, drinking the water

Someone asked me recently when he needed to send money for the trip. Well, "not yet" is the best answer. I'm working every day to negotiate our rates and arrangements, but it is still pretty far in advance. We won't need to lock in anything with financial committments for a little while still.

You might want to start some of your trip planning now, even this far in advance. The more prudent will be putting $70 from each paycheck aside starting now so that you avoid credit card bills when you get home. Watch for great bargains on travel clothing and luggage. Keep in mind that you'll be limited to two suitcases, but they can be big ones! Don't count on carry-on baggage... that may be a thing of the past by the end of next year. We will be going to two basic climates in Africa. The first will be the grassy planes which are at an elevation of about 5000 feet... much like denver... called the "highveld". The weather there will be like Orlando, Florida, but a little more dry. They do grow citrus, mangoes, papayas and the local favorite fruit, Marulla (http://www.knet.co.za/ddkmarula/). You can expect it to be hot in the daytime and cool at night. If its a very sunny day, the sun will be surprisingly intense!

The second climate will be one we encounter when we go the area where we will have our safari. This area drops 3000 feet to land that is at the level of the Indian Ocean. Here it will be more tropical, more humid, and distinctly different. This is the bush. You'll be surprised that, while there are no native trees at all in the highveld, the trees here in the "lowveld" are short, more like big bushes. Thats why this kind of forest is called the bush ... and because they can reach the tender new growth on top, its why giraffes love it there. You'll also be amazed when you see an elephant yank one out of the ground just to bite off the roots.

So, shop for clothing travel bargains over the next year. Clothing styles in South Africa are very westernized. In general dress is a bit more modest than in the US, but just about anything you enjoy wearing here in the US will fit in there.

Don't worry about language barriers on this vacation. In an effort to be as inclusive as possible, South Africa has eleven official languages and english (the Queen's version) is the official language of business. Its spoken just about everywhere. If you happen to speak dutch, you'll be surprised that the second most widely spoken langauge, Afrikaans, is a mixture of dutch and english. Don't worry about food... McDonalds and KFC are everywhere. I hear taco bell is moving in as well... ugh. You'll have to puzzle over whether or not to try a "monkey gland burger" at "Steers", the countries own burger chain. If you are a catsup lover, pack a bottle because the only place you can find it is in McDonalds.

While the safari fee includes all your meals, accommodations and transportation, you will want o be prepared to purchase souvenirs and momentos, especially the beautiful hand carved wood and stone items that you can get for a song at roadside stands. They have shopping malls just like ours (even many of the same stores), but we will generally avoid those. I've also planned several special south african meals while we are in the bush which we will all pitch in to prepare over the fire under the guidance of our native guide.

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Vaccinations, drinking the water - Good morning, hope everyone is having a great weekend. We had some much needed rain here in Va. and this morning the sun is out and working on warming things up. I had a great Saturday pruning my apple trees, digging the onion garden for this years crop, and I set up about 100 Vidalio onion and green cabbage plants in jiffy pots to get them ready to go into the garden. I'm not going to do a huge vegetable garden this year, only onions, sugar snaps, peanuts and tomatoes. In the herb box I'll have two kinds of basil, parsley, cilantro and elephant garlic along with the sage, rosemary and garlic chives that come up each year in the garden. If you come to Dynasty Vacation Club dinners here this summer, you'll get to enjoy some of these fresh items!

Have you visited www.dvclub.com yet? The safari details are there!

Things are progressing really well with the Dynasty Vacation Club Safari 2003 trip arrangements. I now have definite price quotes on everything except one, and it looks like the price will be on the low side of my estimate!! Yeaaa, I love saving money. In addition to this, I'm also working on getting us trip cancellation insurance included in the package so that if something out of our control happens, or should anyone get sick at the last minute and not be able to go, the insurance will cover the cost.

One thing that will be helpful to know is if you want your air travel arrangements to bring you all the way from your home town to Atlanta, of if you want me to just book you from Atlanta and you get there on your own. I can get you to and from Atlanta at the same cost in the DVC package, but if you deceide to drive to Atlanta, or if you want to add an extra day on either end of the trip for touring Atlanta, then including travel to and from Atlanta in the DVC package may not be the best deal for you. Consider it and let me know. Oh, also if you are going to add a day in Atlanta, I suggest you do it at the start of the trip and not at the end. Once you get back from Africa, you will need the next day to get over the jet lag, so you would just waste that day in Atlanta.

You may have wondered about vaccinations, etc. Not to worry... South African immigration only requires a valid US passport to be granted a tourist visa without any additional arrangements. (Oddly enough, the US isn't nearly as welcoming to South Africans... they have to give their passport to the US embassy about 2 months in advance of wanting to come here to get a visa.) So, you will not need to make any arrangements other than booking the trip with the club, as long as you have a valid US passport.

Obviously, you should make sure that you do have all the usual health care matters taken care of here, regardless of the trip. You do not need to worry about things like drinking water, etc. The water systems in the city where we are going are as modern as ours and you can drink tap water freely. While we are camping, the water is from wells and is clean and tasty. While camping, we will have plenty of soft drinks on hand as well... and I intend to take some starbucks with us for morning coffee.

I would suggest you discuss a couple things with your doctor sometime in the next six months. One is getting hepatitis vaccinations. Again, I have no reason to have ever felt at risk of catching any of the three forms of hep where we are going, but its a good idea whether you eat at McDonalds (or anywhere else) here in the US, or in Africa. When I had my vaccination, it was a series of three tiny little shots over about 6 months... didn't hurt at all... and gives very good protection. A friend of mine here got hep once (from someone he slept with) and, believe me, after seeing what he went through, getting three shots instead of that is a joy.

Also, discuss your plans for the trip with your doctor, and ask him about ways to prevent getting malaria. We are going to a malaria zone (Kruger National Park). Now, before you get nervous, lets understand that you can't catch malaria unless you are bitten by a mosquito that happens to be carrying it. My last trip there, I was never bitten by a mosquito while in the zone at all.

Things like wearing light and cool clothing that gives good body coverage helps. If you are particularly nervous, do what I did my first trip: purchase a mosquito net to put over your bed and sleeping bag. There are several kinds of malaria medicines on the market and your doctor can tell you what to expect form each. Some people have side effects, others do not. You'll begin taking the malaria medicine about a week before the trip, and continue it for about a month after you get back. So.. not to worry, just be wise and take the precautions your doctor recommends.

Next email, I'll talk about the economy where we are going and whether or not to convert dollars here or there.

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