Thanks CJ, that Andy Biggs site is very good. I have started a new post regarding computer facilities at the Mara Serena where we will be staying. I have decided that if it is possible to transfer my photos onto CD there I will purchase 4x 1GB and some CDs / DVDs and if there aren't any such facilities I will probably have to bite the bullet and opt for the Epson. Thanks for all your help.

Regarding taking memory cards but leaving them unopened in case you want to return them or whatever. I have, on rare occasion, had new memory cards not be compatible with the camera. Or, even the backup device, cardreader, PSD, PC etc.This may not be a good thing to discover when you really need it. I format all memory cards in the camera and test for functionality. The one brand of memory card that I have never had any problems with is SanDisk. So I now use only SanDisk. However, YMMV.
regards - tom

Never had a problem either with sandisk. As much as we can try to insure ourselves from any corruption by preusing cards at home, they can still get corrupted in the field by African dust or heat, I'm told - hasn't happened to me. No 100% guarantees in life or photography.

Well, it's the old Murphy's law. I have a cousin (by marriage, not by blood) that went to Spain. He of course wanted a digital camera (his first) so he bought a Kodak whatever. Packed it, new box and all and took it. Got to Spain, he calls me - "Uh, Tom, my new Kodak does not have a users manual with it. I can't get it to take a memory card. Could you try and find the manual for it on the internet and maybe we can figure it out". I searched internet, did not find manual. He called back, after trying new cards, recharging battery, etc. my best suggestion was to take the camera to a local Spainish camera store, if he can find one selling Kodak, and ask for help. He did, camera was broken out of the box. So for rest of trip he had to lug around a dead camera until he got back to USA. I've since forgotten what he did to take pictures in Spain. This was about 3 years ago, and you know, he still does not have digital camera. But that's ok, not everybody has to be enthused about photography.
regards - tom

Hello Guys,

I EVENTUALLY decided to bite the bullet and ordered an Epson P-2000 together with 2x 1GB Sandisk memory cards so hopefully that's the memory sorted - just need to figure it all out when it arrives now!