Africa wasn’t on our bucket list–and not just because we don’t have a “bucket list.”  (We’re not old enough yet; don’t you have to be thinking about “kicking the bucket” to have a bucket list?) There are just so many safe, predictable places to visit in Europe, Latin America, and Oceania that the thought of braving strange languages, tropical heat and dengue fever in Africa never got any screen time in our minds.  Heck, Betsy doesn’t even LIKE international travel.

Then our valued friends of 35 years, Joe and Beth Volk, stopped in Atlanta as they set out on a two year, round-the-world trip (see their terrific blog, Simple Travel Our Way).  They had already

Joe & Beth Volk, plus Joanna Spear, last year in SE Asia

booked a private trekking safari in Tanzania, a year and a half out, and they needed a couple more people to round out the group.  Would we like to meet them there?

We didn’t answer for a couple months, but the thought kept emerging like a whale gliding in the ocean.  “What do you think about Africa?” one of us would casually ask.  “Joe and Beth are such great travelers….if we were to ever go…..”

Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania

A year later we’re booked into Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, on Turkish Air 603.  We’ve watched “Out of Africa” again, seen The Lion King musical and read a couple books about white colonists in the early 1900’s.  We’ve glanced at animal pictures and purchased an African bird book.  OK, we’re taking a lightweight approach–hardly Africa as Africans know it!  We won’t presume to learn much about a huge, complex continent, or even much about the little piece we’re traveling through.  Native culture and life intrigues us and we’ll be looking for moments of insight but our itinerary isn’t really about that–we’re on the tourist track. We’ll spend the first week in Zanzibar, a white-sand island, and the next week-and-a-half hiking after the Big Animals on the Masai Steppe.

Fish Market, Dar Es Salaam

We’re curious about real Africa.  We’re going  to learn what we can on the fly.

That’s what this blog is about.

Real elephant? Real Africa?