Our journey over

We're here!!!  We arrived late Tuesday night (or, rather, early Wednesday morning) after traveling for...well, a long time.  We arrived at the Atlanta airport at about 9am Monday morning and looked quite a sight lugging the luggage into the airport.  My sister, Lauren, was able to come to Atlanta to see us off and it was a good thing, too, because we would never have been able to get all of it with just 2 adults.  Ok, and maybe we were too stubborn about not wanting to pay for a trolley to use...

The first flight from Atlanta to Washington D.C. was only about 2 hours long and went really well.  The kids absolutely loved riding in an airplane.  The girls sat together and amused themselves with a deck of cards the whole time and the boys were content with a new magna doodle.  

The D.C. airport was a big hit with the kids, mostly due to the trains and the flags in the international terminal.  We set up camp at the gate and then James and I took turns taking the kids for walks and secret missions that ended in milkshakes and ice-cream.  

Our next flight was slightly delayed due to a thunderstorm, but otherwise was uneventful.  The kids were still overjoyed to be on a real plane and just loved everything about it.  We had most of a row to ourselves- Rosie next to a window, Charlotte next to her, an aisle, then James, Liam, me, and Henry (Henry was in an aisle seat).  Everything was fun and novel to the kids- drinks!  my own tv!  a tiny bathroom on an airplane!

The kids ate and watched a movie, then slept on that first flight.  We stopped in Dakar, Senegal, to refuel after 8 hours in the air.  It was dawn when we landed and fun to see Dakar wake up.  My impression of what I could see of the city from the plane was much like people think of when they think of Africa- square houses with square windows cut out and clothes lines on the roofs.  The buildings looked unfinished or abandoned, but they went on for miles.  

After an hour or so we took off again for the final flight from Dakar to Johannesburg, also 8 hours.  I was able to sleep for bits, but never more than 30 minutes at a time because some child was usually awake at some time.  The boys actually only pulled out their kindles for maybe an hour and the girls not at all.  We arrived in Joburg at about 6pm and had no trouble going through customs or anything.  The Beckleys and our friend, Joel Williams, were there to greet us.  All of the kids were hungry so we stopped at a McDonalds near the airport.  I know, I know, we travel how many miles across the world and eat at McDonalds.  But...they're actually rare here (though KFC is common) and they were open.  

After our quick meal it was an almost 6 hour drive up to Louis Trichardt.  We arrived about 1am, Wednesday morning.  We slept late this morning, then the kids wanted to explore.  Charlotte was dressed, and standing at the door with her field journal and crayons in hand before I could finish my coffee.  They had so much fun running around the large garden here and discovering things.  A banana tree!  An orange tree!  Look over here!  Guess what?  There's an archway over here!  

Later in the afternoon Joanne, the girls, and I drove to a grocery store.  What fun things to see!  Near the house there is a street lined with Bauhinia trees (orchid trees) that I decided to call the Purple Way of Delight.  Rosie started making a tree book- she draws a picture and labels a tree on each page and already has a lot of new african entries.  I enjoyed shopping here and seeing what is available.  The girls were happy about finding custard already made and of course immediately found all of the sweets.  I did let them get some chocolate yogurt drink and custard.  :)  They weren't so thrilled about seeing cow lips and chicken feet for sale.  I was fascinated by the ostrich meat- we'll have to try that.  Anyone want to come over for some ostrich pot pie?