African safari 2019: Arrived and Started the Advnture

With all the practice that we have had traveling, we managed to pack light. Of course going somewhere warm made it easy. We got to Dulles and made it through security in no time which gave us plenty of time to practice sitting around. The plane took off on time and the 16 hours of travel began. Yeah, it was as bad as you imagine, but we managed nicely. We stopped in Accra, Ghana to refuel and resupply, but we remained on the plane.

At last we arrived in Johannesburg. We got there shortly before the World Cup winning Spring Bok Rugby team. The public sections of the terminal were a sea of green and gold waiting to cheer the returning champions. In no time we found our driver and other members of our group. After arriving at the hotel, we met our tour guide Lisa, got our key and went to unpack. At dinner we met the rest of our group, enjoyedsome conversation and soon returned to our room to get some much needed sleep.

We left to hotel at 8:30 to go to the Apartheid Museum. Lisa and David (a local specialist) pointed out all the sights and how they fitted into Johannesburg's history. The twelve of us spent nearly three hours with David telling us about the history and social ramifications of this sad part of South Africa's history. (In addition to many birds, we finally saw some wildlife as a small lizard scampered across oone of the outdoor exhibits. Then it was back in the van and a drive which included the highway that runs from CapeTown to Cairo to Liliesleaf.

At Liliesleaf we enjoyed lunch which included milk tart for dessert which is a local delicacy. Then we toured the compound which was the underground headquarters for the movement to end apartheid. It was also a very interesting visit.

Now we have a sense of the history of South Africa and all the various people who now have a vote in their democracy. Tomorrow we head to Zambia and our first game sightings.