May 23, 2022: Please join Sara, Celia, and me for a toe-to-head trip on the continent of Africa. (The switch to a new platform has caused a certain amount of grief as technical “news” tends to do, but at least you can now subscribe to the tales of these young, medium, and old adventurers on the Meerkat trail.)

We’ll begin halfway up the continent in East African Kenya for the first 10 days; then take a short flight (I’m imagining Redford and Streep on their glorious ride) over the Masai Mara Game Reserve to Entebbe, Uganda, from whence we visit the mountain gorillas of Jane Goodall fame. From there we’ll fly on down to one of my favorite places in the world, South Africa, Johannesburg to be exact. I’ll introduce Sara and Celia to lovely places and people, and we’ll visit big African history before heading on down to the tip of the continent, Cape Town, for city adventures and a 5-day Garden Tour of spectacular scenery and animals ranging from meerkats to a day in an elephant preserve. And last, but certainly not least, we’ll make some jumps from Cape Town, back through Joburg, up to Cairo, and over to Casablanca for one grand last journey around the intriguing country of Morocco. The focus will include food (which even I find incredibly delicious there), ancient cultures woven into contemporary life, grand scenery, and perhaps a bit of relaxation…or not.

First trip abroad for 23 year-old Sara, first trip to the continent of Africa for maturely-middle-aged Celia, and one big fantastic last fling on a continent that has offered, to me, the best of friendships, most captivating of dance and music, and wildly idiosyncratic of adventures. Above all, the stops and trips around Africa over the years gave me a chance to find out how much I love the whole world…unqualifiedly love it all…in spite of…and we can all name so many in-spite-ofs that, sometimes, one simply must put them away for a joyful conversation, story, poem, friend or journey, and celebrate what we love on this crazy beautiful planet.