Oh man… this travel insurance stuff is complicated, and then some. You have to be covered for trip cancellation. And for trip interruption. And if your safari operator absconds with the funds. And if you get sick and need to be med-evac’d out. And even med-evac’d home to the US. And if your bags get lost. And if terrorism breaks out in a city in your itinerary (not a bad idea given the political situation in Zimbabwe, except I’m not sure if civil war would count). I’m not worried about flight insurance. If I end up injured, that’s what the medical is for. If I end up dead, it’s my estate’s problem. (Except that the travel insurance does cover sending your remains home. How nice…)
Now there are, conservatively estimating here, 8,462 different travel insurance policies offered by at least as many travel insurance companies. There are a few different websites that will give you side-by-side comparisons (Insure My Trip is one of the big ones) and I figure anything that isn’t bottom of the line (might miss some coverages) or top of the line (I’m not a Rolls Royce!) and that’s underwritten by a company that (a) I’ve at least heard of before and (b) has a decent rating from A.M. Best is going to be worth looking at.
And, hours and hours later (or at least so it seems), I’m looked out. I’ve picked out a few and emailed my friend Kay who’s in the travel business, and she recommended two, and I’m going with the least expensive of those two.
If Tru Travel Insurance goes belly up between now and the time I get back from this trip, I’m going to be very annoyed with myself…