Roadblocks

I'm kicking myself for waiting so long to order Ugandan shillings. Being out of town and out of civilization while kayaking for a week didn't help with the timeline. I should have thought about ordering the money before I left for Paddle Georgia but I didn't. Today I called the American Express Travel office and found out that their broker doesn't order shillings. Also, my bank does not order them either. I panicked a little. I have one more place, the Travelex at the airport, that might have the shillings. Otherwise I will have to wait to exchange my money either in Amsterdam or in Entebbe, although I'm worried that the currency exchange place at the airport in Entebbe might not be open at 8:30 pm when I arrive. And a last minute option would be to withdraw money from an ATM at the airport in Entebbe. Kristen tells me that African airports, no matter how small and shoddy they may be will always have an ATM. Fingers crossed!

I also called about my travel insurance today to double check just exactly what is covered (i.e. an airlift out of the country if necessary), but by the time I tracked down what company I had bought insurance through the office had already closed. It's hard to make calls and get everything organized while working at camp. Tomorrow I'm leaving camp in the middle of the day to get my final vaccinations so I'll have a little time to make a call then.

On a more positive note, I checked the weather in Entebbe and the high has only been in the low 80's the past few days, with a low in the mid-60s. I can totally deal with that kind of weather! Thoughts on my trip today include a little bit of hesitation. I'm worried I'm going to be overwhelmed and homesick when I first get there. I know I'll get over that right away and have an amazing time but it is so far from home and that's starting to hit me. It's the biggest trip of my life so far! Once I do this I'll be a pro--I'll be able to handle any kind of travel I'm curious to see how I'll feel from day to day as the trip nears--only 11 more days!