So, last August, in Yellowstone, I was talking to Josh, a photographer I know there. He said he was planning a trip to Africa in the summer of 2016 for wildlife photography. We talked about it for a bit and then went our ways. A few days later, he asked me if I wanted to go.

The trip he had planned was what is called a self-drive safari. It's similar to people coming to the US, renting an RV and driving themselves around. In this case, however, it's a 4x4 camper:

Rental campers

Some of the roads are very remote and fairly rough and it's not uncommon for people to get stuck in deep sand, so he wanted another vehicle to come along. After thinking about it for a few days, I said yes.

Here's the camper I've reserved:

Camper

Here are some maps showing the area:

And our planned route:

The plan is to fly into Johannesburg and spend one or 2 nights before flying on to Maun, Botswana. There we'll pick up the campers and go to nearby Moremei National Park for 4 nights. This is the Okavango Delta, a large wetlands that is home to lions, elephants, hippos, giraffe, zebra, cheetah and leopards, along with much more.

Then it's on to Chobe National Park for 5 nights - 2 at Savuti Camp in the interior of the park and 3 at Ihaha camp on the Chobe River. Lots and lots of wildlife is here.

Then, we cross into Zimbabwe and spend 2 nights in a hotel at Victoria Falls. This will be a chance to sleep in a real bed and take real showers, do some laundry, stock up on food and see the falls.

Next, it's 6 nights in Hwange National Park. This is the park where the lion was illegally killed a few months back. There are supposed to be lots of lions and elephants there.

After that, it's 2 days of driving to Mana Pools National Nark with an overnight hotel stop along Lake Kariba, a very large reservoir formed by damming the Zambezi River. We spend 6 nights at Mana Pools hopefully seeing and photographing lions, wild dogs, elephants and other wildlife close up. This park, on the Zambezi River, is one where the campgrounds are, supposedly, not fenced in to keep the animals out.

Next it's 3 days of driving to Gonarezhou National Park in the southeast corner of Zimbabwe. One stop is at a hotel in Chinhoyi Caves National Park and the other is a bed and breakfast near Great Zimbabwe, an ancient ruins.

We'll stay in Gonarezhou National Park for 2 nights before crossing into South Africa and Kruger National Park. There we'll spend 15 nights in 5 different areas. Some nights will be in cottages and other nights camping. Kruger National Park is one of the jewels of the world's national parks, it is the largest game reserve in Africa and home to about 80% of the world's rhinos.

Finally, it's back to Johannesburg, return the camper and fly home.  Overall, the trip will be 7 weeks, give or take a day or 2, starting in early August.

At this stage, late November 2015, we've got all the campsites booked and paid for as well as all the hotels except for Johannesburg. The campers are reserved and deposits paid.    There is still a lot to do, though.  The details in Johannesburg need to be firmed up.  I need to buy the plane tickets.  What kind of vaccinations do I need?  What camera gear do I take and what do I leave at home?  What about visas - what do I need and how do you get them?  How do you cross borders?  Maps and GPS information need to be gathered.  What about my laptop and/or tablet?  How about charging batteries?  How do I deal with phones?  I'm reading you can buy a prepaid SIM and use that.  What kind and how much clothing to take.  I need to find out about electrical adapters - they use 220V there. I have lots of other questions like insurance, water safety and credit card questions.  Then there are more mundane things like laundry and food storage and cooking.

Lots to do in the next 8 months.

My plan is to update this blog through the trip, but, right now, I'm not sure how I'll be able to do it.  There may be long gaps between updates.