Vaccinations

My deltoids are throbbing as I write this. Today I got 5 vaccination shots. 3 in my left arm, 2 in my right.

I met with a doctor who specialized in travel to exotic locations. In his mid-60s, he was a sloppy Einstein with a whiff of Elmer Fudd. His last name's a blur because I could only wonder at his first name -- Spiro. This was the first Spiro I'd ever met. Before that, I'd only ever heard of Spiro Agnew and I was never quite clear on why he was famous, but you can't deny the singular beauty of that name. Spiro Agnew. Whatever road that name travels, it's bound for greatness.

My Spiro was a master of his field. Every anxious question was answered with a calm that eased my worries. I would need five shots. Six if I'm smart. Hepatitus A and B, Tetanus, Typhoid, Polio, Yellow Fever. The sixth shot was for rabies, but it would be three shots at $200 a pop. So $600 x 2 since Jennifer will need the same as me. $1200 toward our free trip --

"Do I need that shot?"
"Well no, but if you get bitten by a rabid dog, you'll die in the wilderness." Said so casually, you might think he was discussing the merits of Sonoma reds over Napa Valley.
I fought my growing anxiety and passed on the rabies. Surely that was an exaggeration...right?

So I went for the five shots.

Having spoken with other African travellers, I sought advice on the shots. Of the three people I met, all of them warned me...I'd be flat out the next day. Yellow fever would do a number on me. It's painful, brutal. I'll never walk again, probably lose vision in my left eye. Expect hives, toes will drop off!

Perhaps I'm exaggerating, but they had me primed for a nervous visit to the nurse. She could sense my anxiety. I asked if five shots were a lot for one go. "Oh the most I've ever given was seven." It was small comfort realizing I was 2 shy of her record. But she was a pro. Five quick arm jabs and I was headed home.

The worst I can say is that I felt like I was drunk for the next 4 hours. The next day, my arms were like brick blocks hanging off my body. The day after that, I was back to 100%.  I guess everyone reacts differently. Maybe this means the malaria-laden mosquitoes will buzz away out of respect.

Or maybe not.

The Prize

Okay so the prize was mine. I still had a nagging doubt that I could be the victim of some elaborate scam, but I'll talk about that later. For the moment, let's look at the prize itself:

You are the grand prize winner of an Olympus Prize pack consisting of an African Photo Safari adventure for two and your very own Olympus PEN EPL1

So the very first thing I did? Check into this PEN EPL1.

And THIS was exactly the sort of camera I wanted. Not a full DSLR but portable enough to be a pocket camera with the horsepower of the SLR. And removable lenses. Sweet. 

Of course, the idea of this grand prize is that I will take advantage of this wonderful camera and snap beauty shots while I'm in Africa. Sounds like a brilliant plan.

I talked with the prize people who laid out the situation. The prize has a set budget but where we go in Africa is rather wide open. Where would WE like to go? This was unexpected and very exciting. I haven't been to much of Africa before. Libya, Morocco. I spent 2 years in Abu Dhabi which is sort of near Africa. But I have never been to what we all consider AFRICA. Lions, cheetahs, zebras and the vast Serengeti. 

We briefly toyed with the idea of hiking to the snows of Kilimanjaro. Who knows how long the snows will be there? But we also realized it was impossible to guess when we might be back to Africa again. And taking a classic safari seemed very much a once in a lifetime sort of deal.

After some minor research and debate, we settled on Kenya or Tanzania for our safari. First we wanted to go in February, then May. But then we decided March would be best. Then it was settled. June would be the date of our trip!

We finally contacted our prize rep and proposed a September trip to Africa. He promised to contact us once he got news back from the travel agent. 

And so we waited while reading up more on the EP-1 camera and Tanzania.