So today marks one month to go before my flight to Khartoum to begin the Tour!

Things I’ve finished:

• Ethiopian Visa obtained! (just now as I started this) – The Ethiopian Consulate in Toronto is *closed*. The Ethiopian Embassy in Ottawa is the only option for this now in Canada.
• New bike purchased (neither my carbon road bike or my full suspension were recommended for the tour by anyone). I ended up buying a Surly Long Haul Trucker, which though heavier than I’d’ve liked, it’s a solid reliable bike that should be easier to repair in the middle of no where (Africa). Steel welders can be found everywhere, I’m told. 🙂 Ordered a few sets of tires for the variety of conditions one might find in 11700km of Africa
• Travel Health Insurance – Travel Guardian & Travel Underwriters.
• Plane ticket purchased (Calgary to Khartoum via Toronto and Istanbul, January 5th!)
• Hotel booked in Khartoum for the days before the tour.
• Vaccinations (Meningitis, Hep A, Typhoid, Yellow Fever, and Polio) – 4 shots in one day, including two in the muscle… Couldn’t lift that arm for at least 2 days, ouch. Got my Yellow Fever card which is required to get into some countries that care about that sort of thing.
• Requested previous vaccination report… I know I got Tetantus/Diptheria 2 years ago when I cut my leg on a friend’s skate during a hockey game (lol), but I don’t know about Hep B. Probably in High School. Waiting to hear back.
• Paid Tour d’Afrique Inc for the Tour – Ouch, my bank account. 🙁
• Got prescription for general antibiotics, cholera medication, and two types of Malaria pills. I need to look into this further. One’s definitely more recommended than the other, but the highly recommended one is about $70/12 days compared to $100/100 days or something. Making total costs $800+ or $150ish. Must investigate drug plan, actual exact costs, side effects, etc.
• Lots of lying awake thinking about things too much.

Things I need to look into soon:

• The two weeks at the end of my trip, I’d really like to goto Rwanda and see Gorillas. Need ideas about that before I leave at a minimum, or possibly even booking something.
• There’s a 3 day break on the Tour in Tanzania near the Ngorongoro Crater, where there’s a number of awesome Safari options. Need to figure out how people on previous tours booked something during this time. Possibly book my own things.
• Flying to Rwanda from Cape Town
• Packing Lists times a billion
• They suggest multiple bags to keep everything separate in the lockers, have to look into these.
• More batteries? What electronics to bring? What am I going to do re cameras?
• Spare parts for the bike
• SIM cards and Cell phone frequencies there
• Plug standards
• Books to bring
• Should I bring pencils for kids in Ethiopia? Or try and outrun the rocks they throw? Possibly both?
• Apps to blog on the run without internet
• Texting home to Canada
• Registering @ travel.gc.ca for being out of country… Need solider dates of border crossings. Swore I saw an itinerary somewhere.
• Where to find 100% DEET juice
• Setup my tent to make sure it’s got all the parts.
• Find a footprint for tent
• BIKE A TON
• Like a billion more things I can only think of at 2am