Friday, May 29, 2009

Day 1

5/28/09 9:00 PM
(1:00 PM Utah time)

Total of 20 hours of flight time. The flights were great! I got upgraded from Salt Lake to Atlanta. Nicole got me exit row seats from Atlanta to Johannesburg South Africa. It was great to have the leg room (thanks Bear). I am traveling with an operator trainer (Jim Sandercock) this go around, so the trip should be a little different that the Tanzanian adventure. I can't believe it's been a full year. The motel room in Johannesburg is a 5 star (American) rating. Too bad Eve couldn't come on this trip she would love this place! Still you either have to drink bottle water or wine, the tap water is not good for the body. Lots of bottled water and wine in the room. The diet cokes are the same taste as Australia aka very little taste.

On the flights I got only 20-30 minute cat naps, so when I got into the room I called home and crashed. Woke up too late to go to the restaurant, so I ordered room service. Had a great steak dinner it cost 250 Rand. I don't know what the exchange rates are. It's going to either be a great deal or the most expensive steak of my life. Hopefully I will get over the jet lag and do a city tour tomorrow and get some pictures.

The international soccer finals are going to be played here on the 14th. Jim and his sons are big soccer fans, so he is going to stay a couple more days and go on a hunting safari and try to get into the games. The clerk said the stadium holds 25,000 people. The town is expecting 100,000-200,000 people just for the games. GOOD LUCK getting in Jim.

The TV is the same as in Australia 16 channels: 12 dedicated to sports, 2 to the news, 1 local information, and 1 classic movie channel (I am watching Speed). It looks like this trip will be more luxurious than last years trip (I guess that will be OK). Of course Zambia is a lot more backwards than South Africa.

Talk to you tommorrow.

1 comment: