Washington, D.C.
A little after 5 a.m. this morning, I’ll embark on a month-long trip to Southern Africa with a short commuter flight to New York, followed by a South African Air direct flight to Johannesburg and connection to Cape Town. Door to door, it should run an impressive 30 hours.
Done with my first year of business school, I’ll be traveling for the next 31 days through South Africa, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique. My plan is to overland much of the journey — starting in Cape Town, South Africa I’ll rent a car and visit the Winelands before embarking on the iconic Garden Route (through Hermanus, Swellendam, Knysna, Plett and PE). From there, I’ll fly to Windhoek, the capital of Namibia, and drive through most of that country, with stops at Sesriem, Walvis Bay, Swakopmund, Damaraland and Etosha.
The second half of the journey, I’ll 4×4 from Windhoek through much of Botswana — stopping in Maun, the Okavango Delta and Chobe National Park — before terminating at Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe and Zambia. My last week will be spent aboard a sailboat in the Bazaruto Archipelago, a chain of islands in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Mozambique. Hopefully, a relaxing end to a whirlwind month.
I’ve packed as light as possible for this trip, similar to my trek in Patagonia. There are Patagonia capilene shirts, a North Face sleeping bag and a bunch of new gear, including a Joby Gorillapod. It’s all been packed up in my North Face Backtrack 70 (recently replaced under warranty) and a new addition: a Deuter Futura 28, with an amazing airmesh frame.
Here’s what we’re talking about:
And we’re off!
Marc Zawel 
I ‘overlanded’ up to Armadillo Grill for lunch today. Dude, sounds like an awesome trip, I’m be keeping tabs via the blog.