People ask me if I'm excited about this trip. Of course I am. It is the trip of a lifetime. If I had time, I would spend all day reading blogs about the mountain and watch YouTube videos until I could recognize from the scenery which route people were on.
The reality is I have a mountain of work to get through before I leave. And I am extremely stressed because I know however many notes I send, it will be chaos while I'm away. I'm not even sure I have enough time to write all the notes! But there is an end in sight and it's coming up quickly. Once I leave for the airport, I'll not care one bit. I'll probably even have a good chuckle about it.
After two false starts, my friend Cindy's surgery was finally scheduled for Sept. 22 when I will be completely inaccessible - day 4 of the trek. I had a premonition this would happen. If I had a premonition, you ask, why did I not reschedule sooner? I'm asking myself that same question. I feel very badly that I will not be there for her. I'm upset I will not know anything for 4 days.
I'm worried I have underestimated the mountain and not trained enough. I keep reading about marathoners finding it hard. But I also read about it not being about fitness levels but taking it slowly - pole, pole - and hydrating, eating, etc.
I'm stressed because I haven't heard a peep back from the safari people who have been so prompt in responding up until now when I need them to give me a final price and say "okay we're picking you up on Sept 25". I don't want to have to scurry around when I get to Arusha to find another safari weeding through all the street hawkers. I only have one jet-lagged day there and just want to relax. I considered changing my flight and either spending more time in Amsterdam or (gasp) coming back early if they don't come through. In the end, I decided to give them until Friday night and if they don't respond, ask Henry to arrange a private safari. I'm not happy about the extra expense as it will be about 3 times what I expected to pay going with a group but I'll never be in Tanzania again. So I'll just have to suck it up.
But yes, I am excited. lol.
