I haven't mentioned our upcoming vacation much because I'm getting less and less enthusiastic the closer it gets. It isn't because it won't be an exciting trip, and it isn't that we won't enjoy ourselves once we're there. It is the preparation that has gone into this.
We have cats, and because we feel very responsible towards those animals, we hire a house sitter to take care of them while we are gone. We pay her what amounts to a small fortune (no I'm not kidding, around $125.00 a day), and for that, we get someone who will care for the house and the cats like we do. This is our second house-sitter. The first one was a doll, but she moved away to get married, and thus we had to go advertising for another. We found our current sitter through our veterinarian (whom we call Auntie Janine because she's one of my best friends as well as our vet).
We have preparation to do for her end of this vacation. Things like medications, food, treats, toys...those all have to be ready for her. And everything needs to be stored in an orderly fashion, as she has to be able to find everything she needs to run a house.
Then there are the preparations for the trip itself. We are going on safari. Yep, you heard right. A safari. First we'll spend a couple days in NYC, where I'll try my best to find a pair of casual boots and will visit Mood Fabrics (featured on the show Project Runway). Then we'll get on a plane and fly to South Africa. We'll fly from Johannesburg to a smaller, rural airport near Kruger Park. We'll spend 3 days in Kruger Park...then we'll move on to a couple of different large game preserves bordering Kruger. Each day will have at least one game drive...and possibly a game hike. Every morning, we'll go out with a guide at dawn to specific places within the preserve and/or Park.
When we're in the vehicles, we will have a guide and a ranger (for the lack of a better name for him) who will be armed. For the walks, and this caused me a little bit of pause, the guide and the ranger will be armed with elephant guns and handguns. Our nights will be spent surrounded by mosquito netting in quite elegant rooms (we've seen pictures).
The preparation for this which is causing the most problem is Malarone. This medication is to be taken beginning two days before you arrive in any malarial area and for 7 days after you leave. Obviously, you also slather on bug spray everywhere you go for the time you are in an area where malarial mosquitos might be found. The "mosquito" season in South Africa runs from October through March, but we are going at the end of September and because of Climate Change, we may find mosquitos waiting for us (oh goody gumdrops).
I had no problem with being told we had to take the malaria medicine. My problem arose when I tried to get it prescribed and filled at a pharmacy. Our local hospital, Fletcher Allen, decided that it would cost us $321.00 EACH for the appointment, the medicine, and the counseling. I told them more than once that neither of us needed any sort of counseling, but their reply was that it was mandatory.
Next I called my doctor, who told me that the counseling had to be done by the "travel office" at Fletcher Allen. I told him that we didn't need counseling, that we understood malaria, Malarone, and what we needed to do. He then, finally, granted my request to prescribe it. Great! Well, maybe not. First the drugstore didn't stock it and it had to be ordered. Then, when they tried to charge our insurance, the insurance carrier went crazy, going even so far as to call us on the phone and ask what we thought we were doing, lol.
Finally, we get the scripts filled and find that the medication is $171.00 per person. So we paid the $342.00 gladly, considering Fletcher Allen was about to charge us almost double that.
So, we will begin taking the medication on our second day in New York, and we're hoping to avoid insect bites during our trip, so that we can arrive back home safe and sound.
The rest of the prep has been the clothing, which has to be pretty specific, based on the conditions we'll encounter. We're taking one set of clothing for New York, then we will pack all of that away and store one suitcase at JFK airport while we're gone then pick it up when we arrive back in the US.
As you might be able to tell, this has occupied us for the last month, and now we're down to the last week and a half or so before we leave. I'm excited, and somewhat relieved to have it finally arrive. We've gone on some wonderful vacations, adventures if you will. Hopefully, this vacation will be as great as the last 3. :-) We'll see.
