Faraway, So Close!

At no time are we ever in such complete possession of a journey, down to its last nook and cranny, as when we are busy with preparations for it.  After that, there remains only the journey itself, which is nothing but the process by which we lose our ownership of it.

-Yukio Mishima.

The time has come to end the begin.  Packed (hopefully), ready (mostly), excited (definitely!) – we’re off to the airport and on towards another country on another continent in a different hemisphere to begin an adventure that will take us halfway around the world and back, literally.

Two-plus years in the planning; it seemed so long ago yet it has crept up on us so quickly in the end.  Time is funny that way, isn’t it?

I’ve been very fortunate to have Kim’s wonderful, articulate, and detailed pieces on Africa, ALERT, lions, and Zimbabwe to give me room to be less so with my own writing.  I really had hoped to pen out a lengthy piece on poaching and trophy (canned) hunting, and still do; because many of the survival issues that lions and other iconic African species face can be directly attributed to the large-scale slaughter of these animals – be it through illegal, or thinly veiled legal, means. But right now, there’s a plane waiting I do not want to miss.

We don’t expect to be online much during our journey, and frankly don’t want to be.  However, we will be keeping a journal and snapping pictures to share when we return. Right now, the plan for the blog is to back-date our post-trip updates to match the date they actually took place while we were in Africa. So in October you’ll be seeing posts appearing that are dated from September.  It seems easier from a functional flow – to us, at least – especially when using the calendar module on the right.  Hopefully you’ll understand what we’re up to with it when the posts start trickling in after our return.

Tough leaving the K+C Pride behind as we go wandering off.  Lucy and Salvatore definitely do not like it when we’re away for any period of time, but I think they appreciate the adventure we’re about to embark on, and as long as we bring back some new and interesting smells to treat them with they’ll hopefully forgive our absence.

Happy honeymoon, my sweetheart!  It’s finally here!  Okay, I’m ready now.  Out the door.

No way out but forward go!