Will it fit?

 YES IT DID!

The packing restrictions are pretty specific.  44 pounds total including designated duffel with a pretty heavy wheel base, back pack, and jacket!  Yes, I can't sneak stuff aboard in my famous suitcase jacket this time.   I don't think they add the bag weight when they weigh you in to board the Cessnas.  But we will all know if they say ---total weight is...I will let the others think I maxed out my luggage weight when in truth it is only at 27.5 pounds including boots and shoes and toiletries in my OAT bag and less than 10 pounds in the backpack.  That includes tablet, general electronics, and books.  A book to read, a guidebook, one to use as a journal, and the African Safari Journal I bought. I still have to add the cameras, their batteries, chargers and cases.  So as long as they are 7 pounds or less, I am good to go!

It wasn't hard at all.  I did not even need to use my compression bags.  The wardrobe is pretty low key.  Several pairs of convertible pants, shirts, a jacket, a fleece vest, and underware, of course.  No need to bring things to dress for dinner although I do have specific pants I bought especially to wear to tea at the watering hole.  Everyone will be in the same boat, or jeep, so to speak, so no one will be offended if they see the same clothes for several days.  And, if they are I will not invite them the next time I go!

I also have in my bag some things with which to barter.  I thought the reference to bartering in the villages meant that you could haggle about the price but Susie, who is experienced, assures me that it is used in the true sense of the word.  We can trade.  So I have some baseball hats that Susie's husband had collected and were never worn.  I also brought pins to trade.  They will be easy to carry on this old lanyard and might be really appreciated.  Many are related to the Olympics one way or another.

 

Money maybe?

Speaking of money many of you are curious just what a trip like this costs. I am sure there are less expensive ways to do it but I expect a spectacular, first class experience.  The bill for tour itself, including air and all accommodations, all meals at the camps and some meals in the cities, a three (3) night pre-extension trip to Karongwe River Lodge and a two (2) night post extension to Victoria Falls, also includes our day tour to Soweto and another to the Stellenbosch Wine Region. The bill was $11,600 each.  Yes, each!

We included the extensions and tours at the time of booking in April of last year so that they were added in from the beginning.  Therefore we saved some money!  As long as we paid it off in cash a full year prior to our travel date we each saved over a thousand or 10%.  A regular bargain.  Of course an investment like this required some travel insurance.  That would be far too great a loss to take in case of accident or illness.  That was an additional $600 each.  The required inoculations came to about $300, not covered by health insurance.  And then there were the Visas.

Both Zimbabwe and Zambia demand Visas from U.S. citizens in order to enter the country.  These we sent away for between our other travels and the fees came to $232 USD for each of us. Interestingly, the entry to Zambia is only $25 USD.  You may pay at the time your plane lands or your vehicle gets to the border.  However all agencies, including our State Department, advise against going this route.  It costs a lot more but getting it in advance assures you access.  The Zambian Customs Officials might find a fault in your paperwork.  They sometimes just don't show up for work and therefore cannot issue a Visa. You may have to wait for days at the border.  Our group sure isn't going to wait with us!  Or they may be there and decide that since you are a rich American you can pay more, way more!  Bribes are an ordinary way of life.  So getting the Visa in advance is sort of like travel insurance as well.  Upon entry everyone will pay $15 USD more.

I wish we could have also included the gratuities.  I believe I explained in an earlier post that Vitalis, our Trip Leader is expecting a hefty gratuity.  Our daily guide and driver, and the guide with the gun will each expect a daily tip.  Those taking care of the 'cabins' are tipped as is anyone who handles your laundry. That is a service I don't expect to make use of, not something I usually require. Of course, every porter who handles a bag and any restaurant servers in the city also are to be tipped.  USD is routinely accepted, except in Zambia.  So for that location we will need to do a money exchange on site.  

Normally, when I travel, I rely on my ATM card that is attached to a travel account which does not hold a large amount of money and is attached to no other banking that I use.  I feel secure in using it that way in case of theft.  But in all four of these countries we have been warned away from using any banking services.  Exhorbitant fees would be the lesser of two evils.  ATMs routinely keep your card and do not return any cash for that little extra privilege!  

So now we have surely been set up as everyone there must know that we are carrying cash, and quite a bit.  I have several envelopes of new bills that Katie at my bank laboriously kept aside for me.  Only bills that are not even slightly dirtied or torn and are issued after the year 2000 are acceptable.  I have placed the required amounts, as much as possible, in separate labeled packets and will space them out as much as I can in my carry on and on my person.  We have also been warned not to leave anything in our rooms, I must look up the special name for these lodgings as it continues to escape me, so we will be carrying not only cash, but tablets and cameras everywhere we go.  Not sure how comfortable those Range Rover rides will be with all of that going along.

So the money we saved definitely went right back into the necessities of the trip itself.  Glad we could do that.  Also, having paid for it a year ago makes departure much less stressful.  No worries about a bill when I get home.  And if you know me, you know I might now do extra things just because it is a lot of money on an already expensive trip.  All I have to do now is relax, survive a nearly 16 hour flight, and enjoy!