africa journals

keeping my promise, here is the final count of pockets for africa: two hundred and eighty nine pockets are coming with me. and pockets, and toys, beads, lollies, and pens. audrey, your pockets arrived, and kj your pens, more pockets came from debbie in england and sylvia in sweden, and from erin, kathleen, and deb in canada. bella, your toys are here, and anushka and amy and maddy and abby sent pockets. pockets from carol and heather, and wendy, angelica, claire in england. and laurinda sent money to help with the additional bag cost. 

whew. 

again, without words here, i'm just hoping you know how much this means to me ( i know you do) and what it will mean to the new friends we give these to. i said one time it was a small thing, but now i am sure it's not a small thing at all . i thank you all with all my heart. i never imagined something like this, i really never did. 

bella drew on her envelope. me on a bird with a camera and knitting needles. 

sorry for the blurry photo, i might have had a tear in my eye.

X X X 

here we are, our long awaited for trip is finally come, we leave monday morning (eek!). bags are pretty much packed, i'm bringing one (heavy) camera backpack, one small rollie carry on, and a large duffel full of woolly pocket love to check. our itinerary printed out to twenty nine pages. saved packing lists from previous trips are helpful, so crossing my fingers here nothing will be forgotten. aside from my cameras, there is a prized possession always remembered, it's my travel journal. i've been making these books of trips taken since i was seventeen years old (still have them all) . the above book was made three years ago on our last trip to africa, to zimbabwe and botswana. when i returned  friends had wanted to read it, so trying to figure the best way to make that happen, i scanned it to share. i think i've found a better way.

africa journals is a now a blog. it's the above journal scanned in, in it's entirety. printed by hand (at times messy) it's what i kept during the trip, writing every day. if you've ever wondered what it's like to take a safari, this is one account of what one is like. i really hope, if you read it, it'll give you a sense of place, one  that i love so much, africa.

click on the photo to go. after monday, i'll see you in three weeks (i'll be bringing an ipad, but i'm not sure if i'll be able to post), my goodness i'm going to miss you.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx lori