Just returned from yoga. Wonderful! It was challenging partly because it’s been two weeks since I felt like attending, and partly because it was just challenging. Things are looking up, although my stomach is still iffy. Nothing like heading out to the African bush with stomach issues. Could be more of an adventure than we bargained for. I was chatting with a friend this morning, laughing about the potential for disaster. There goes me jumping out of the jeep, running toward the woods in an emergency situation and a lion takes a big bite out of my butt. Not good. Not really even funny but I may as well laugh.

We booked The Stanley Wing Safari to Kenya and Tanzania months ago through the company for whom Jessica works in New York, Micato Safaris. I remember the three of us, BF, Jess, and me flipping through brochures in her Brooklyn apartment two years ago, selecting the trip we might take and here we are . . . time to go.

We slowly edge toward “ready for departure” which arrives this Saturday. I’m carefully studying the detailed Safari Packing List provided by our tour operator. Lacking energy, I continue to hone my online shopping skills. Now I just cross my fingers, frequently checking the front porch, praying that everything arrives on time, fits properly, and will fill the void in our suitcase. We are allowed to pack only 33 pounds each in our cool Micato Safaris, green duffel bags. Considering that we’ll be gone for two weeks, one must carefully select those 33 pounds. Makes not needing a blow dryer and curling iron a real plus!

This trip will be quite different for us. Africa is a new frontier, as is having all of the arrangements made by someone else. We’re typically “get the most for your dollar,” do-it-yourselfers, when we travel. This time, all we do is show up, find the Micato representative at the Nairobi airport, sit back, and let them take care of us. Naturally, the showing up part is not without effort. Just two, 8 1/2 hour flights back to back and we’re there. Yuck!

I must say Michael has been quite helpful in squaring away my room at school, final preparations at home, and not looking too excited about us leaving. He and a cousin are holding down the fort while we’re gone. We had a meeting last night; boundaries are set. They were planning a board game tournament, hope that’s not a code word for something else. When they were little, the two of them played “Meijer” with stuff from Maggie’s pantry. They had quite the elaborate set-up. Now they can actually go to Meijer for real. Bet they’ll still make a game of it. Hope they do.

I’m off to run a few errands and tie up some loose ends before the alarm company shows up to install our new system this afternoon. After two hours on the phone Monday morning, attempting to reinstate our ailing system, AT&T blamed ADT; ADT blamed AT&T. I got ticked and cancelled my service, deciding to start fresh with a local company who actually has a live person answer customer’s phone calls. We’ll see.