Are you ready for Act Two of my RTW trip?

Last year I only set foot in Africa for about 36 hours while visiting the Pyramids. I knew I wanted to see more (a LOT more) of this continent, but there wasn’t enough time on my trip.

So I came back to the States, spent time with family and friends in New England and Los Angeles, and caught up on theater… all the while planning my return trip to the Dark Continent. I began to map out popular routes, research overland tours, and play around with dates and airfare. I contacted a few choice companies to inquire about partnerships to help with my budget, and from there everything fell into place.

In the end it all happened too quickly — I realized in late May that if I wanted to proceed with the best itinerary out of the dozens of options I was toying with, I had to fly to Morocco on June 6th. Less than two weeks before my departure, I bought a one-way flight and finalized the first leg of my trip. The remainder of my time in the States was spent sleeping 5 hours a night, cranking out blog posts, researching all the countries I planned to visit, and buying all the necessary gear for a lengthy African overland journey plus a Kilimanjaro hike.

And just like that, it’s the eve of June 5th and I lay out all of my newly purchased items — seriously, I should buy stock in Amazon — in preparation for packing. Here’s everything that ended up coming with me:

It’s my easiest packing job yet, much less rushed than last year’s pre-departure and more organized than my earlier trips to South America and Southeast Asia. I’m getting better at this.

The next afternoon my mom snaps photos of me in the yard, all ready to go in my new clothes. It’s like a time-warped ‘first day of school’ photo… except instead of school, I’m headed off to safari.

Then I’m off to the train station — I plan to take the train from New Haven to Grand Central, then hop the subway to JFK for my red-eye flight to Madrid. But Metro North has other plans. Service is suspended between East Norwalk and South Norwalk, and ALL passengers have to get off and take a bus between stations. This wouldn’t interrupt my plans too much if the buses had actually showed up… but I get off the train in East Norwalk to find a huge crowd of people who’ve been waiting for an hour for the buses to show, with no word on when they’ll get here. I don’t have the luxury of time so I do the only sensible thing — I WALK a mile and a half carrying all of my luggage for four months in Africa. I pause briefly over the Norwalk bridge to snap this photo:

There is still confusion at the South Norwalk station, but eventually we are directed to the right platform and a train takes off for Grand Central before the buses even arrive. I am so glad to be on board.

It is prime rush hour when I arrive in New York and the subways are packed, but I successfully push my way on board each leg of the journey to JFK… with all my luggage. At this point I just want a nap.

With about 15 minutes to spare before the cut-off for checked baggage, I rush up to the Iberia Airlines counter and drop off my big bag. Whew — I’ve been sweating bullets for several hours about making that deadline. I grab a quick bite to eat, text my family to let them know I made it, and prepare to board.

I’ve never been so happy to be on a plane! I joke that this hiccup is merely a glimpse of the delays I can expect to encounter in Africa; it’s the universe’s way of telling me to relinquish control over my travel plans because from here on out, anything goes.

Before going to sleep, I watch a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother — and beam with pride to see my good friend (and birthday buddy) Tamar’s name in the credits. A lot of my Los Angeles friends are listed in credits of movies and TV shows, but to see it on an airplane feels especially cool.

And then… ZZZZZZzzzzzzzZZZZZZzzzz…

I wake up just before our descent into Madrid and marvel at the stunning landscape — mountains, valleys, lakes, and little villages. I kick myself for not scheduling a few days here. I haven’t been since my semester abroad over ten years ago and would LOVE to return… Spain just jumped up several spots on my ‘must visit’ list.

After a short layover and a little wifi, I board my connecting flight to Marrakech, Morocco.

And just like that, I’m in Africa and ready to kick off a new adventure.

Here’s the pretty exterior of the Marrakech Airport:

After clearing immigration and getting my bag, I stop at the ATM and quickly get a Moroccan SIM card for my phone so I can stay connected during my 2+ weeks in this country. Then a driver picks me up and transports me to the starting hotel for my trip with Nomadic Tours (this airport transfer is included in the tour, which is a nice touch).

We’re staying at Hotel Imilchil — the rooms are very basic but the lobby is exquisitely decorated and there’s a nice breakfast and pool.

I check in and meet my roommate for the tour, Tally from Australia. She tells me they gave us a room with a queen bed when she checked in but she moved us to one with twin beds because she thought we should get to know each other first. This is a glimpse into her sense of humor — and I’m thrilled we’re paired up for this tour. We spend lots of late nights gabbing and call each other big sis / little sis.

That evening our group gathers for a pre-departure meeting and dinner — we’re on the 15-day Moroccan Encompassed trip with Nomadic Tours (here’s an overview post of our outstanding trip that I put together a few weeks ago.) Little do we know it, but we’re all about to become great friends. The chemistry of this group has been the best of all my tours in Africa.

We meet our tour guide Mohamed (photo taken two days later in Meknes). He’s the best and I wish we lived in the same country because he’s very fun to hang out with.

We kick off the trip with our first tagine — the one below is chicken and it’s SO GOOD.

That’s Natalie and Ellen on the left, two sisters from Australia who I want to be like when I grow up, even though I’m already a decade older… they are so laid back and outgoing and funny. That’s Leann on the right, from the island of Jersey in the U.K.; she’s a spitfire and adds so much life to our group.

Shortly after dinner I pass out for the night — it’s been a LONG day of travel and we’re just getting started.

Thanks to Nomadic Tours for discounting my tour in exchange for photography and blogging. Opinions are my own.