Time is now being measured in "sleeps" as opposed to days. Two more sleeps until the great, long awaited journey begins. My first leg begins on Saturday night and involves the flight between Canada and London, which will take approximately six and a half hours. I land in London on Sunday morning, the day of the Olympics closing ceremony. I can't imagine anyone will be at London's Heathrow Airport on that particular day. After a ten hour layover at Heathrow I embark on my second leg of the trip, flying from London to Nairobi, which will take just over eight hours. I land in Nairobi early Monday morning. As I sit here and contemplate what my state of mind will be like upon landing in Nairobi after 36 hours of travelling, I laugh hysterically knowing that I will most certainly be a complete basket case. Thank goodness for Lorazepam. From Nairobi, I travel approximately 45 minutes to an hour West of the city by cab until I reach my final destination. And just like that, the seven weeks begin.
Today, someone asked me what I am looking forward to the most. Elephants. Hearing African children sing. Acacia trees. Snuggling babies. The Masai Mara. Being anonymous. A shift in perspective and understanding of many, many things. Notice that Heathrow Airport is not included on this short list.
Two sleeps. I'm sure it will be interesting to see just how much actual sleep occurs.
