Johannesburg
Arrived today around 11:00 after an uneventful, if bumpy, 12 hr overnight. Just happy to have left Frankfurt on time after all that has been going on w European (and now US) airports.

Not much to say today. Just that this is a sharp contrast to 24 hrs ago. Lunch was by the pool, and now I sit, at 18:00, in shorts and a tank top on a park bench overlooking the summer terrace and the hills of Joburg (pictured) It's pleasantly humid and lovely warm and I am surrounded by Agapanthus, ferns, and roses. The air is heavy with the smell of jasmine (climbing behind me) and pine. Sounds like paradise, feels like paradise, but this sprawling hotel complex is gated and secure, and huge tracts of this city of 11mil are truly dangerous. Perspective is everything. I think we'll eat in the hotel tonight.

Tomorrow, very early, we head out to Botswana. (because one should head out on safari at first light, don't you think?)
I'll continue to journal, and just attach to the blog when we hit service again. Probably not much from here for a while!

Happy New Year to all!

Jennifer
&
(itinerant proofreader)
Gus