Mosquito repellent. Check. Anti-malaria pills. Check. 35 rolls of Kodak Gold. Check.

After making sure I had everything, I was ready to go! I flew American from San Diego to JFK, where I met up with some people going on the tour. I had posted a message on Contiki's web site that I was going on the tour and these people had contacted me. We boarded a large, half-empty plane and prepared for a very long flight to Johannesburg. On the way, we joked nervously about being Canadians if anyone asked, as the 2 embassy bombings had just occurred in Kenya and Tanzania a few weeks before.

We arrived in Johannasburg and I  met up with my new acquaintences at the baggage claim. Eventually, everyone found their bags, one by one. Well, everyone except me. I silently panicked as I realized my luggage wasn't there. Oh god, not now! I'd been wearing the same clothes for 30 hours and tried not to think about the possibility of being in Africa for the next two weeks with nothing but my inadequately stocked carry-on. However, this didn't seem like too much of a big deal after we heard that a Hard Rock Cafe in South Africa had been bombed while we were in flight. Nothing like a little perspective!

I filled out a claim at lost baggage and they promised it would catch up to me the next day in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare. I went with some of the others to meet our driver, who was to take us to our hotel. The others had a late morning flight the next day, but since I had booked the trip late, I had to get up at 5:30 for an early flight to Harare. The plane was small and looked kind of old. And I got a little unnerved when I realized the only place the airline name (Air Zimbabwe) was on the entire plane was a little poster that looked like it was taped to the wall. I imagined some stenciling it under it that said "Mike's Charters: Leave the Flying Up to Us." I also recalled something at the U.S Government's Travel Web site about Zimbabwe airliners not meeting their standards. I dug it up after I got back:

Aviation Safety Oversight: The U.S. Federal 
Aviation Administration (FAA) has assessed 
the Government of Zimbabwe's civil aviation 
authority as category 3 -- not in compliance
with international aviation safety standards 
for oversight of Zimbabwe's air carrier 
operations.

Hmmm. The only thing I liked was that you could actually smoke on this plane! My travel agent had booked me a non-smoking seat but I resettled in a smoking seat halfway through the flight. I talked with a nice woman who was a British expatriate about the evils of American paranoia about secondhand smoke.

We all spent that night at the same hotel in Harare. South African Air had managed to get my bags to the Harare airport and I paid a taxi to take me back there to pick them up. I was impressed with Harare's infrastructure. The roads were well paved and clean. The only thing that struck me as odd was the huge posters of Zimbabawe's President Mugabe on all the street lights.

We had a little party in a private room that night. I went to bed pretty early because I wanted to be fresh for tour that would start tomorrow.

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