CONTEMPLATING THE TRIP

In 48 hours (weather permitting) I will leave the snow and frozen tundra of New York behind and embark on a massive overland journey through western and southern Africa, covering more than 3000 miles (4800 km) and 9 countries in just under 3 months.  Leg 1 will take me from Accra, Ghana to Dakar, Senegal.  Leg 2 starts 36 days later on March 12 with a 19-hour flight to Cape Town, South Africa, where I will meet up with Yosy, and together, we will continue overland to Zimbabwe through South Africa, Namibia and Botswana.

If the journey is anything like last year's trip on the other side of the continent,  I will be in my own special wonderland.  The experience of alien cultures and terrain, unfamiliar vegetation and spices, and foreign smells and tongues, while stripped naked of the vestiges of modern life - cell phones, intermittent (mostly dial-up)  internet, warm beds, hot showers, and bountiful and varied meals are luxuries to be coveted, not necessities to be expected -  is to ascend to life in its simplest, purest, most introspective state.  The senses are alert, on guard, and in overdrive, while the brain is in high gear processing it all.   I know from last year's trip that only when I will be on the open roads of Burkina Faso, in the fields and beaches of Senegal, asleep in the campsites of Mali, and mingling with the wildlife of the Okavango Delta, will the essentials be laid bare.

For now, the slate is clean and ready to be written upon.

                                                            Part 1:

                                        February 3- March 12, 2011

                                    Accra, Ghana to Dakar, Senegal

                                                           Part 2:

                                           March 12-April 10, 2011

               Cape Town, South Africa - Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe