Just a quick post to tell you all I Made It!
Had a wonderful tour of Frankfurt with CouchSurfer Sue.
Flight leaving was 3 hours late. The video was broken. So who cares? Got plenty of sleep. Joan met me at the airport and whisked me off to lunch with fellow bloggers Ann and Evelyn.
I’m feeling pretty good except my feet and ankles are swollen. Sure hope that goes away by tomorrow so we can start exploring.
Will post pics soon.
.jpg "Flight route from Phoenix to South Africa")
I leave tomorrow morning and my typical anxious excitement is at peak. Plus, my procrastination left me packing for South Africa until today. Wonder what I get back for that? (Something to think about on a Very long flight.)
.jpg "Packing lists")
I’ve been making lists for months; what to bring, where to go, things to do before leaving, important addresses, phone numbers and email addresses, consulate numbers. I try to cover my bases without over planning. HA!
.jpg "Stuff to be packed")
Checking my backpack with the camping equipment. Making a list and taking photos in case it gets lost United will know what they have to replace.
I’ve been making lists for months; what to bring, where to go, things to do before leaving, important addresses, phone numbers and email addresses, consulate numbers. I try to cover my bases without over planning. HA!
Checking my backpack with the camping equipment. Making a list and taking photos in case it gets lost United will know what they have to replace.
Still sewing on the money belt
I hope to keep posting on the new netbook as time allows. I’m also going to try and keep up reading your posts as best I can. But please don’t be surprised if I miss a few. I’ll just apologize now for that, OK?
I hope to keep posting on the new netbook as time allows. I’m also going to try and keep up reading your posts as best I can. But please don’t be surprised if I miss a few. I’ll just apologize now for that, OK?
.jpg "South Africa relief map")
I may have mentioned I’m going to South Africa in recent posts and realize many of you may not have been around when I bought tickets back in June.
I’ve wanted to see the world all my adult life and this is my first trip off my own continent. I’ve been in western Canada a few times and traveled throughout a lot of eastern Mexico. Now’s My Time!.jpg "Flight plan from Phoenix to South Africa")
In fact blogging has a lot to do with my going specifically to South Africa, although it was already on “the list.” Not long after I started blogging, over a year ago, I found an amazing blog written by Joan at SouthAfricanPhotographs with many gorgeous and teasing photos of her country and wildlife, that’s Big and Small as she is really into bugs and such. We cultivated more than a “followers” friendship and she told me I could stay at her place if I came for a visit. That got my gears rolling and I started to research the possibility of following my dream. The cost of the flight wasn’t too bad and within my budget and the rate of exchange is around $1USD/$8Rand. The hardest thing was actually buying the ticket, 9 months in advance. I rarely plan anything more than 6 months ahead.
I started to research, something I truly enjoy. For me the “plan” is part of the journey. I discovered and joined CouchSurfers (CS) hosting a couple of times last summer at the North Rim Grand Canyon NP.
Since then I’ve made several contacts with people along my proposed route in South Africa and should find overnight accommodations in the comfort of a welcome home at many stops along the way interspersed with some camping.
.jpg "Flight route from Phoenix to South Africa")
I leave from Phoenix Monday morning, March 1, switch planes in Washington DC and arrive in Frankfurt, Germany Tuesday morning. A fellow CouchSurfer is going to show me around as I have an 11 hour layover and don’t need a Visa to leave the airport. Wednesday morning I land in Johannesburg, South Africa where Joan will pick me up. Then, hopefully, attend a lunch with two other SA bloggers, Just I and Myself and Thatchwick Cottage.
[The big 5 http://www.smartguide.co.za/]Joan is taking a vacation and we’re going safari camping in the world renowned Kruger National Park. OMG, I can hardly believe I’m getting a chance at possibly seeing the “Big 5” of South Africa. Hopefully we’ll actually see some animals over all the talking we’re sure to do. 😉
.jpg "Sign for driving on the left")
Thanks to blogger Jo at Memorable Meanders I will be backpacking 2-3 days in the Drakensberg Mountains with her son John and maybe wife Debbie. By then I’ll have rented a car and have to remember to drive on the “wrong” or left side of the road.
I want to see it all, but a month just isn’t long enough, so I made a long list and will do what I want/can. I hope to journey into KwaZulu-Natal, the Garden Route coast of the Eastern Cape, Little Karoo and the Western Cape where I fly out of Cape Town Monday, March 29.
.jpg "The new netbook")
I bought the Netbook to stay in touch. So hopefully I’ll find a little time to post. Otherwise, if I can ever label all the photos I’m sure to take, I should have enough posts to last…..
Am I Excited? You Better Believe It! 18 days and counting.