The Best Dad in the World!

Disaster averted! While sitting at the Princeton Junction train station discussing my packing experience with a friend, I realized I left my extra camera battery, and more importantly, the battery charger plugged into the wall in my bedroom. I didn't have time to get home and taking the next train would have put me at risk for missing my flight. Dad to the rescue...

After frantically discussing a half a dozen options, he offered to meet me at JFK to hand deliver the battery and charger.

Despite being exposed to norovirus earlier in the week, he ran to my house with gloves and disinfectant, got the battery, put it in a sterile plastic bag and started driving. In the meantime, I called Olivia and Ed to see if they had the same charger so that I could potentially use theirs, but alas not. Olivia even went so far as to contact several of her friends and local stores but no one carried it. So, two hours later (a nj transit, LIRR train and Airtrain later for me and a lot of highway miles for my dad), I am now sitting at the gate with battery charger, extra battery and much needed beer in hand!

Best dad ever! Now I just need to make it worth his while and get a photo for him at 19,341 ft! Thank you dad! I love you!

The countdown...

All the gear and no idea!

Finally the chaos in my room has been replaced by a neatly organized, half-full duffle ready to be checked and loaded onto my KLM flight tomorrow at 6 PM (plus a plus tightly-packed backpack and camera bag).  Despite my every urge to pack the duffle full, I know that some poor porter is going to be schlepping it up a 19,341 ft mountain in just a few days, so I'm doing all I can to resist the 10 additional outfits, 3 extra pairs of shoes, multiple books, etc... that are tempting me.  Besides, our flight from the Serengeti back to Arusha (near Kili) has a weight limit of just 15 kilo (33 lbs) for our one allowed bag, so for safety reasons, keeping things light is a must. 

Gearhead!

OK, after spending about 3 hours this weekend at REI (on top of umpteen trips to EMS, multiple online orders from Patagonia and Sierra Trading Post; the latter is a great place for steals on outdoor / hiking gear!), I think it's official....I'm a gear head. I think I've read on no less than 100 websites that I'm supposed to pack light. This should be a challenge.

I'll post here a somewhat comprehensive list of what I'll be bringing and will try to revisit this entry post-trip to indicate what was most useful, in case any readers are considering making a similar trek!