The Simple Life

Part of the challenge of this trip (for me at least) will be leaving all of the luxuries, technology and comforts we are used to.  Due to grad school, my job and my slight Facebook addiction (I will admit it), I have yet to start the digital detox that I had planned on starting in January.

One of the most exciting things about the trip is that we will be "eating clean". For a while I have only been buying foods with less than 6 ingredients and let me tell you, this has been a challenge. If I can't recognize something in the ingredients list, I won't buy it. We mainly eat fruit, vegetables, any beans seeds and minimal dairy. This is typical to the diet we will consume in Africa, so we won't have to adjust too much.


I have been reading lots of travel blogs with advice on what to pack. We are considering bringing a big backpack instead of rolling suitcases. Every time I travel with a rolling suitcase it's a catastrophe. They topple over, I break the handles and they are so heavy. We will be taking our luggage with us everywhere we go and I just can't imagine lugging around a big suitcase. It will also force us to pack lightly which I have a hard time doing.


We are also researching a lot of homeopathic medicine instead of traditional Western meds. I rarely take any medication, but Laren and I love street meat and will definitely be eating some questionable foods along the way. Whole Foods carries some natural tablets for all different kinds of ailments. I am also stocking up on Activated Charcoal. It's a life saver. After we went to Mexico Laren brought back a stomach bug of some kind that lasted for weeks. After taking activated charcoal it went away. The charcoal absorbs any toxins in your digestive system.

Our Itinerary for the trip

We really do want to be spontaneous on this trip, but I am a huge planner and needed to have somewhat of an outline for the month while we are there.

Here is an outline of our agenda for the month-

5/22- Flight leaves out of Chicago (Thanks to the Ragland's for driving us all there)
          We fly from Chicago to Zurich, Switzerland. We will be staying in Hotel Hottingen in Zurich. It is
          perfect for the night we will be there and close to everything. Holy cow Switzerland is expensive!
          Luckily we are only staying for one night.
          https://www.hotelhottingen.ch/en/

5/23- We will leave Zurich the morning of the 23rd and fly another 9 hours to Kenya. Once in Kenya we
          will have a short layover and then fly to Dar Es Salaam. Pastor Fred will be in Dar waiting for us.
          We will be spending the night in Dar and heading to Morogoro the next morning.


5/24-5/31-  Our first 7 nights in Africa will be spent in Morogoro. We will be volunteering wherever
                    they need us, exploring Morogoro, hiking and relaxing.
 

5/31- 6/6 From Morogoro, we are going to head north to Kibaya, Tanzania. We will be picked up by the  Bishop we are staying with there. Kibaya is much more remote than Morogoro, so it will be an adjustment for us. We will be staying on a compound in a house connected to the church or school ( I can't remember which one). There, I think I am going to be teaching English, or doing something in the school.
 

We are hoping that while in Kibaya we can go to the Massai Village about three hours away. I have only seen the Massai on National Geographic, but have always dreamed of going there.

 

6/7- 6/8 After our stay in Kibaya we will take a bus to Arusha for one night in the Davos Hotel and then two nights at the safari lodge. Through a Facebook contest we won two nights stay at the safari lodge we a wanted to stay at. This was actually going to be one of the most expensive parts of the trip, so we are very excited.

6/9-6/11- Safari at Tarangire Safari Lodge. http://www.tarangiresafarilodge.com/

6/11-6/12- Stay in Arusha two more nights and explore Arusha National Park
http://www.tanzaniaparks.com/arusha.html

6/13-6/18-  5 nights in Zanzibar


6/18- 6/19- Dar Es Salaam and then back to the states!

It's been a while.....

I have been meaning to update our blog, but life has been crazy. Laren is very busy teaching, being in three bands and writing and producing his first musical this year. We thought 2013 was going to be a year of doing "less", but clearly neither of us know how to do that.

We've been working on an agenda for the month in Africa and have a good outline of where we will be and what we will be doing. I have checked several things off of our list this month including; Tanzania Visas, reservations at the safari lodge and reservations for our hotel in Zurich, Switzerland ( we have a day long layover which I am super excited about).

I've also done a lot of online shopping for things I think we need. I am trying to be very practical and really only bring what we are going to need. Laren may need his own carry on bag for his hair products, but I will let that slide.

For Christmas all I wanted was Africa stuff. Laren equipped me with lots of cool stuff I can use on the trip. That night I pranced around the house wearing the headlamp and mosquito net. I never thought I would be so excited to get these kinds of gifts.