I have been saving for over 4 years for this and I am finally going! Everything has cost just a bit more than I expected so I am way overbudget. I estimated about $1000 for a week safari, about $1500 for 2 weeks of volunteering, about $1500 for the plane so about $5000 I was thinking. But, I guess time flies and things get more pricey, and I underestimated how all the little things add up. There's the shots, extra flights, the bus, additional nights accommodation, the passport, tax, money transfers, khakis, bug repellent, sun screen, luggage, never mind gifts and minor spending when I get there! I have never been strong at math. But, almost everything is now paid for and with the arrival of the passport I feel like it's really happening. I can't wait, but I kind of have to since I'm not leaving for 7 more weeks!
I initially looked at visiting Tunisia, or maybe Tanzania, then I wanted to go to Botswana (mostly because of The No. 1 Lady's Detective Agency novels). I also looked at Namibia and kind of had my heart set on that for quite a while. I had hoped to go for the World Cup last year but I didn't have enough saved to be able to go then. Last fall I bought Fodor's 'The Complete African Safari Planner' and the Lonely Planet's 'Botswana and Namibia' guide to help get my plans going and out of fantasy land. The problem with Africa is that there really wasn't anywhere I didn't want to go. Everything sounded amazing and fun, and how could I possibly decide! I finally had to make decisions based on personal connections. My co-worker's nephew had spent several months at this one place in South Africa and had an amazing time so I got into contact with him to get some more info about that. Another co-worker's relative owns a Safari business in South Africa and gave me their contact info. Thanks to their help I finally started the process of really planning the trip. I realized it didn't really matter what I did because I would love it, no matter what.
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