Hello Everyone!!!!
I am having an amazing time, already!!!!! Well, except for the man who was sitting next to me on the plane. He would sprawl out everywhere and start smacking his own face and muttering...... hmmmmm......
Kudos to Delta, their first class is pretty flippin' sweet!!! They even gave me moist lemon towels for my hands, and gave me about 5 tons of sparkling water, and the flight attendant asked me if I wanted champagne! She quickly rephrased the question, "Would you like some orange juice?"

When we landed in Johannesburg, I looked out of the window to find a strip of grass in between the runways, as usual, but it was that baked-bread-coloured tall grass, like the grass you would find on the African plains.
I freaked. I was so happy!!! GRASS!!! It was oddly thrilling. It was the first sign that I was really there.
When i got off of the plane and met up with dad, he told me how strangely excited he was by the sight of the grass! When I told him that I thought the same thing we laughed at ourselves.
We also saw someone with bow-hunting skills (Bonnie, Michelle, Mom, that was mostly for you). He was standing there with these two bow-and-string-things, in the line to get his passport stamped. What man in Atlanta has a hand crafted bow and arrow set........
Ah, the people you meet on planes.......

3 weeks in a plane

(TOM)
Some day, some time, somewhere over more blue water. I think it is going to take us 3 weeks just to get there. Stopped in Dakar. There was a big rainy, windy storm blowing out to sea from the Sahara. I hope it isn’t one that turns into a hurricane. A few years ago a butterfly flapped its wings over a sand dune east of Dakar and a month or so later my sister’s house was all but gone and her life still isn’t back together. Individually we are so small and so far apart on this planet, but so easily and wonderfully, and potentially tragically linked we all are as well. One life, with each other. Sisters. Brothers. One life, but we’re not the same. We get to carry each other. Something tells me this isn't the first or last U2 lyric to come to mind on this trip.

...One day in Jo-burg is enough. Off to KwaZulu Natal.

It is almost time to go to South Africa!

(TOM) OK, almost completely packed. More than ready to go. We'll be updating this regularly (both Miranda and I will be posting), so sign up if you want to get updates sent to you.

The list of our planned activities:

- One week at Zulu Nyala Private Game Reserve. Between morning and evening drives, we will take a walking safari through St. Lucia Reserve across the forested dunes to the Indian Ocean (yes, the guide will be armed), go whale watching during the peak time for one of the largest whale migrations in the world, feed baby African cats at the Cheetah Rehabilitation Center, spend a day doing game drives at one of two neighboring game reserves (either Hluhluwe or Phinda).

- Sawubona! ("Hello" in Zulu). Five days in the small village of Impendle, living in a creche with our host family, the Shezi Family. We will split our time between helping establish and keep up sustenance farms, and working with the children in the village school. Miranda is donating her laptop, loaded with Encarta and some educational programs. She will spend a lot of time teaching the people there how to use it (Massive thanks to Mark for helping get it ready for this environment!).

- Then to Cape Town. We have a few things on our list here including climbing Lions Head peak, going to Robben Island where Mandela was prisoner, a trip to the Cape, a day of neighborhood shopping, and a day doing some cage diving with the famous South African great white sharks (Yes, Michelle, I'll bring my St. Christopher!).

I still can't really believe we're about to do this.