Jambo!
It was June 20th when I made my initial booking for my trip to Kenya. I thought that my departure on January 1st seemed so far away. I soon realized that when planning a trip to Africa that I would need all the time I could get. Visas, passports, immunizations, travel insurance, birth certificates, booking flights, etc... In addition I was really eager to catch up on some reading materials to better help me plan for my trip. With only 10 days in the country I wanted to make the most of my free time.
I first checked into the Lonely Planet series but was disappointed to find that there was nothing on Kenya, but rather Africa as a whole. It is kind of like having a book for all of North America; Mexico, Canada, and the USA and summing them all up together in just one book.
I did manage to find a book on Swahili along with some excellent resources for AIDS that Nate's mom gave me. Now that I had the facts, I was still looking for something that would prepare me a little better for the culture shock.
As I continue to get prepared for my trip I am enjoying every step of the process. Planning for me has already been half of the fun. The more time I spend at home getting ready, the better time I will have when I arrive.
