Time flew by!!!!

During this time we bought the odd map of the different countries we intended exploring, Gavin decided that he and Jenny would travel all the way up to Spain from Johannesburg!! I opted out of the extended trip but was pretty committed to travel as far as Uganda with him and then back alone. Hey two months off work for me was a mission already, imagine extending that?

The plan was as follows, leave Johannesburg on the 1st June, travel through Botswana as quickly as posssible so that we could have more time for the distant countries. The only date set in stone was that we had to be in Uganda on the 1st July as we have permits to see the gorillas in Rwanda on the 3rd. I would meet Fiona in Uganda and she would then travel part of the way back with me as she has work commitments. I was pretty happy doing the "up" trip on my own. I am very comfortable being alone and we all need quiet time. Fiona was not the happy that I was doing the "up" trip alone but she could not take the same amount of time off that I was, so......

Excitement was abound when Gavin found himself a vehicle, the Landcruiser bakkie!!! I had also by this time sold the 80 series and bought a 100 series which was pretty well kitted out and only done 50 000 odd km's.

We now started to kit the vehicles out with all the toys that we would require, rooftop tents, water tanks, larger petrol tanks etc Lots of money but fun!!

You hear and read stories about people taking months to plan their trip into Africa... Oops we had better get cracking....... We invited my friend and neighbour, Peter Lamberti around to assist us with the route as he had spent alot of time in Africa. After a few whiskies we had a broad outline of the trip (direction at least).

Gavin's vehicle was completed and then he wanted to do a trip to Mozambique to test it out and spend his birthday there with friends. Disaster struck on the way to Mozambique when he was hit head-on by another vehicle!! Luckily Jenny and Gavin were not hurt but the vehicle was a rightoff.

Gavin and Jen decided that they would no longer be doing the trip which was a huge blow to me but after a few whiskies I was resolute in my decision to continue without them. This meant that I would be doing the "up" trip on my own. Fiona was pretty unhappy about this new turn of events but hey this is my dream!

After a a couple of weeks (too many chirps from so many friends) I asked my youngest daughter Jessica if she would like to accompany me on the adventure, shoo what excitement!! And so the planning continued!

We were not going to be doing the original route as Zambia had had their best rains ever and I was unsettled about the one vehicle possibly getting stuck.

Never the less Jess and I started to talk about what we wanted to see and do, what we wanted to take to eat!! Jess started looking at recipes that we could use. Lots of fun and bonding!!

Three weeks ago Gavin arrived at my house with another Landcruiser!! Yay, he was back with us. This fact that he was able to get himself another vehicle was awesome but now he had to start kitting the vehicle out all over again (lucky him, he gets to have fun twice). Both our vehicles were at Northern 4x4 for a bit of work to them, one more than the other!!!

With 25 days to go Gavin and I decided that we had better get our travel plan together. Our next shot at the route was again over a few whiskies with the another traveller of note (Vaughn), but now there was a bit more detail added, distances, places to stay, petrol stations and places to eat etc. Gavin poked fun at all the reading I had been doing about the route but hey here's hoping it pays off.

With many trip to the workshop (and Cesco's) our vehicles are nearing completion. Goodies purchased include a leather bound case that holds 5 whisky glasses and a bottle of single malt!

We are now 16 days away from the start of the trip and I am like a little child! Hopefully I get my vehicle back on Monday so that the final things can be done to it.