In Africa until August 23

Not sure how much running or blogging I will be able to do over the next 3 weeks plus as Kathleen and I have a pretty hectic schedule ahead of us. We'll be leaving tomorrow via Atlanta on Delta, non-stop to Johannesburg. First time on Delta on a trans-atlantic flight, should be interesting, hopefully in a good way. Until next week Tuesday, we will be in Pretoria catching up with the family and probably watching the upcoming rugby test match on Saturday. Apparently the Springboks have a very good team and are favored to win against the All Blacks.

From August 4 until 23 we will be inspecting a bunch (12 to be exact) of safari camps in three areas of Zambia, namely the Kafue region, South Luangwa National Park and ending in the Lower Zambezi region. A mix of mostly 2 night as well as some (dreaded) 1 night stands, but we need to see as much as we can in a relatively short time. None of the flights between the camps are overly long so we should be fine. Hopefully the weather won't be too cold! I will be taking lots of photographs!

Running has been going fairly well: I eked out 30 miles last week through Sunday, a mix of track running (Kenyan relays at Reagan High School), some trail running at Memorial Park, hill work last Tuesday (getting stronger with the backward uphill running!), and a couple of easy aerobic runs on Monday (5 miles) and Sunday (6 miles).

I did not run on Saturday because I was just too tired. We went out and saw 'Hurt Locker' at Angelika downtown Friday night and didn't get to bed until around 0200A. I can handle a late night out but anything after 0100A tends to 'run over' into the next day. It was worth it though. The movie was beautifully shot & superbly directed by Kathryn Bigelow - eminently worth seeing. First class acting too - especially from the lead actor Jeremy Renner. By the end you feel as if you've spent a tour in Iraq. I have yet to see a movie that nails the experience of 'being there' - in a combat situation - quite as vividly as this one.