Planning for Africa

I've been planning my first real trip to Africa (I don't really count a long weekend in Fez, Morocco as a trip to Africa) and so am using this as the launching point for my blog. For this trip I've gone the easy route and decided to work with a couple of local agents to get everything planned out. More on them later once my itinerary is closer to being finalized.

My initial trip criteria were pretty broad:

• Try and stay in each place 3 nights or more to avoid the hassle of constant relocation
• Running water at least every 3rd night
• Electricity at least one a week
• Generally no ultra-luxury places since I didn't see the value for the expense
• No locations that are too risky politically or otherwise
• No multi-day adventure hikes or other physical toils - it's supposed to be a restful vacation
• No tours with more than 12 guests - I didn't want to feel like part of the human herd on safari
• A focus on sub-Saharan Africa with a mix of nature and culture
• A priority to be placed on locations that won't be the same in 5 years

I solicited suggestions from a wide range of friends and after lots of considerations decided to spend 4 weeks combining Kenya and Tanzania. People told me to go to South Africa, but it seems like trying to combine East Africa and South Africa is very difficult in one trip, so I've decided that I'll just have to cover South Africa some other time. Coming in the next few days - my itinerary, vaccinations, and what I've already learned about travel in East Africa without even leaving home.