It's hard to believe that we leave in 4 short days, but I actually feel semi-ready. Claire and I have gotten 5 out of 6 of our vaccinations, and my yellow fever is set up for Wednesday. We've been working steadily to prepare our place for the subletter, order necessaries from Amazon, shop for other things, and get all of our visas/vaccinations/general paperwork finished. It's a bit amazing that we've managed all of this, but we are a good team, which bodes well for our upcoming adventures.
Thursday night we will fly from JFK in NY to Paris, which should be a fun 12 hour layover :) then off to Nairobi. We should touch down in Nairobi on Saturday morning, then at some point in the next couple of days, make our way to Kisumu where we will be spending the next nearly 3 months. Near Kisumu is one of the Millennium Villages, which is why we will be stationed there. From the travel guides I've read, there is a rain forest slightly north of us (I believe the last remaining one in Eastern Africa), and we will be right on the shores of Lake Victoria, which is surrounded by Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda. Everyone I have talked with says that Kisumu is very hot and a highly malarial region, but we will be taking many precautions to avoid malaria, and will just have to manage the heat (I'm hoping for at least a fan in our place!).
I don't know what sort of internet availability we will have, but we will have African cell phones and can always call for next to nothing via skype (pending internet access, of course), and emails are always a great way to keep in touch. This trip will be much different from my first time in Africa in 2002, but I'm definitely looking forward to the adventure, making some new friends, and being immersed in a totally different culture for a few months.
Katie, you are one adventurous woman! You have had many experiences in new places and you always have adapted. You all will be in our prayers, we love you very much.
ReplyDeleteMom and Jim