First Days of Our Adventure.

Greetings from the southern hemisphere.

Our trip to South Africa has been long expected and a joy to finally embark upon. Our flight over was as fine as a flight can be, although I am sure Jimmy feels otherwise. He stuck his foot in his mouth a quarter of the way into the flight. After he explained that he would not be that guy that leans his chair all the way back to the gentlemen behind him, he was unlucky enough to have the man in front of him recline to the chairs full capacity and then some. Seven hours later, a bitter Jimmy and confused Paula arrived at Heathrow airport, in London. Between our confusion over whether our luggage would be checked all the way through and the news of our delayed flight, Jimmy and I awkwardly made our way across the airport to a set of benches that became home for a good 10 hours. Luckily, we shared the seat with fellow delayed South African flight mates. Much conversation ensued and uncomfortable intermittent sleeping as well. Finally, we successfully load the plane to Johannesburg. This flight went over far smoother, as the man in front of Jimmy did not recline one inch.

Upon arrival in Joburg, Mike, Jimmy's uncle, was their to greet us and for us to follow him in our rental car. Unexpectedly, we received a manual vehicle. My heart was pounding when we took off from the Avis depot. It had been three years since I had driven a manual and the first time I had driven on the left side of the road. Scared out of our minds, we made it safely to Mike and Pippa's flat in the outskirts of Joburg. We rested and had a wonderful meal with Jimmy's aunt and uncle.

The next day, we sorted out our Kruger park reservation and called around in hope of returning our manual for an automatic. We decided to take it to the airport on Thursday, before we headed to Pretoria. In the mean time, Pippa so kindly took us out to lunch, to visit the World Cup Stadium (Pippa is directing the establishment of the hall of fame museum that is being built in the stadium) and to the Apartheid museum in Gold Reef City. We were unable to spend as much time as we would have liked at the museum, but we experienced enough to grasp the horrors of the situation. On our drive back, we became aware of the increasing tensions developed by workers on strike. Petrol was now not being delivered to the "garages" (gas stations). Pippa drove around looking for gas because she only had a quarter tank. Unsure of what to do, we headed back to the flat to regroup. After cleaning up, we decided there was not much we could do, so Pippa says, "So let us drive while we still have gas" and we headed to Hyde park to have a drink at the Island bar. On our way, we saw a garage that had cars filling up. We make a quick u-turn and struck gold. We celebrated with a delicious drink and a spectacular view of the city. Pippa then drove us to Chris and Guy's house (her sons, Jimmy's cousins), where we braaied (South African barbecue) and ended our wonderful day.

Today, Jimmy and I gathered our courage and followed Pippa's wonderful directions back to the airport (the only Avis with an automatic in Joburg) and exchanged our vehicles. We were so relieved to be driving an automatic car. We hopped on the R21 and drove straight to Pretoria, the capital of South Africa, and visited the Union Buildings. It was a short, but necessary visit. What a spectacular building and garden. By about 1:00pm, we were headed home for a rest and a fantastic meal with the family. Pippa cooked a wonderful Indonesian meal for Jimmy, myself, Jeremy (her brother), Mike, Beverley (Jimmy's aunt, Mike and Billy's sister), Devon (Jimmy's new found cousin), and Chris. After many laughs and a rather delicious meal, we are now settling down for the evening and preparing for our next adventure - THE KRUGER!

Tomorrow, we start out early to return our rental car and pick up Jackie (Jimmy's cousin who is flying in from Dubai) from the airport with Isabella (her mother), who are both accompanying us throughout our time in the bush. The next two weeks will be filled with nature adventures and so my ability to correspond electronically will be severely limited, but attempts will be made to keep my new blog fresh and up-to-date.

For now, cheers from Johannesburg, South Africa!