**This is the first of what may turn out to be a long-ish series about our trip to South Africa to meet our oldest son. Most of the time Beloved is writing. I'll make a note in the entry if it was actually me writing the email.**
Day 1 (9-25-03)
The flight over Africa is long. Who knew that Africa was such a big continent? However, as I write this, I think we have about two to three hours left. Our seats are better, as we have an aisle seat, so we have gotten up and walked several times, and that helps a lot. The only bummer thing is that we are RIGHT NEXT to the bathroom. Nothing like hearing a lot of people relieve themselves.
The movies on the flight were Bruce Almighty (pretty good) and finding Nemo (better than Bruce Almighty). We are trying to stay awake on this flight to reduce jetlag when we get to South Africa. Overall, since we left, I think I have slept maybe 3 hours, and Amanda about four. We will be wiped out when we get there, but at least the local time will be night, so we can just crash out and wake up Friday morning. Or at least that is the hope.
On this flight when they give us meals, the give us metal spoons, forks and knives. That is something you won’t find in the United States right now. It would be fun to swipe a metal knife and bring it all the way back to the US. I would give it to the security guard at Pasco as we leave just for fun. We will see how brave I am feeling when the time comes, but I found it funny.
Day2 (9-26-03, Arrival in SA)
It is currently 10:30am on Friday morning. We were very happy to get off the airplane and through customs. All our luggage arrived.
When we got through customs, there was a guy standing there holding a sign that said “OurLastName.” His name is Denzel and he quickly chauffeured us to his van, and within five minutes we were on our way to the Rose guest house. It was a great relief to not be stressed out about what is happening next
In the morning, we discovered that there is no shower, just a tub. It has been years since I took a bath, and I was a lot shorter than I am now. I just didn’t fit in the tub, but I managed to get clean much to the amusement of my wife. We called and she is to meet us today at 1:00 or so.
While we are waiting, we walked down to a mall about 6 blocks from the Rose guest house. It was just a normal mall with various shops. We still don’t have any South African money, so we used our VISA to buy a razor, the one thing we forgot to bring. On the walk, we passed embassies for Congo, United Arab Emirates, the Netherlands, Kuwait, and the Slovak republic. It is a nice day, so a good walk was fun.
We meet with Abba today at 4:00, so we are looking forward to that.
Marty drove us from the Rose guest house to Lethabong. Lethabong is a family guest house that only serves families involved in Abba adoptions. We met Michelle, who as near as I understand runs the place. She said that it is her job to let us focus on our new family, and not on cooking, cleaning, travel, etc. She said that if we need anything, just ask.
Our room is very nice. It has a bed, crib, big closet and a rocking chair. Right outside our door is the pool. I can’t wait to show you guys all the pictures we will get! Three families arrived here today. There is a Swedish family and another American family besides ourselves.
I believe that we are off on a safari tomorrow and Sunday. We are staying overnight in the national park I think. It should be really fun, and will hopefully keep our minds occupied and not thinking about Monday as much.
Days 3 and 4 (9-27&28-03)
Amanda and I just got back from a wonderful weekend of experiencing South Africa. We are tired, but the adrenaline is starting kicking in as we realize that we will be instant parents less than 24 hours from now. This weekend trip was good to keep our minds off of Monday.
We drove north from Pretoria towards one of the national parks. On the way there, we stopped at an African market. Amanda got several things, but I will not elaborate because I am sure some of them will be gifts at one point. The market was very much like the markets in the DR. Everyone has the “best price for you, my friend.”
The evening/night safari was very fun. We left right before the sun went down. Our driver/guide Steve was good at explaining everything. We got lots of pictures, most of which won’t turn out I am afraid because of the low light. After the sun went down, we just had spotlights, which were great for seeing animals, but not good for pictures. We saw giraffes, elephants, rhinos, wildebeests, impala, and rabbits. The highlight of the evening was seeing a cheetah attack two impala. The impala escaped (probably because there was a spotlight on the cheetah), but it was a real national geographic moment.
The second drive started a little before sunrise. The African sunrise in the park was spectacular. I am sure our pictures of it will not be sufficient. We saw many of the same animals as the evening trip, but it was different in the light. We also saw hippos in the lake.
This afternoon we went to Lesedi, a “cultural tour” of South Africa. There were large contingents of tourists from Japan and China there. The experience started with a brief description of the South African tribes. This was a little disjointed due to having to translate the English into Chinese.
After that, we were all taken to a “dance” hall where each of the tribes gave demonstrations of their various dance types. This was by far the best part. At dinner, I had ostrich and crocodile. The ostrich tasted like beef, and crocodile tastes like chicken. Really, it tastes like chicken.
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