The beginning of any trip seems to always start the same, the rushing to make sure everything is packed as needed, hurrying to make it to the airport on time, and as usual staying up late the night before. This time I actually got some decent sleep, but I still slept nearly the whole way to Atlanta. Another long flight to Johannesburg and my friend Meg and I had finally made it to Africa. Our next flight to Windhoek, Namibia wasn't until the next day so we had to stay the night in Johannesburg. We had been informed that Johannesburg is a fairly dangerous city, especially for two young girls to be travelling. Some locals were very helpful but they did not work for the airport and expected us to give tips. They helped us get to the right stop for a shuttle to a nearby hotel, but they wouldn't leave us alone. Some guy helped them go away. It was more than a little nerve-racking being warned not to trust people and not knowing where to go in a big airport. Nevertheless we finally arrived at a hotel which was much more expensive than we had planned, but we were too tired to care. Surprisingly they had an Irish restaurant at the hotel where we ate dinner. Finally after over a day of travelling we were able to sleep in a nice bed and take a shower.

The next morning we flew to Windhoek. It was interesting to me because we had to take a bus to get to the plane which I had never seen that before. The airport in Windhoek is fairly small with no real terminals, but I kind of liked it. There's a lot less people. This time we had booked a hotel and were picked up by a guy holding the name Shane. I thought my name would be spelled wrong, but I didn't think I would become a man.

We have been staying at the Guesthouse Gecko for three days now and will leave this afternoon on the three hour drive to Otjiwarongo where the Cheetah Conservation Fund (CCF) resides. Meg and I have really enjoyed it here. I've discovered the hardest part with doing things around here is that we don't always understand the locals' English accents, and they often don't understand ours. The first day we went to the nearest mall to do some shopping for things we needed. We had been advised that we would need converters special for Namibian plugs. It took us over four people to figure out what we were talking about and even when we found converters, none of them were four american plugs. It wasn't until the next day we stumbled upon one that would work for any type of plug.

Luckily we have had plenty of time to get all our errands done like get cell phones and broadband while we are here. It has been a relaxing few days and last night we made a new acquaintance with a vet that will accompany us to CCF. I am very excited to see the reserve. We have no clue what it will be like, but this is the beginning of our adventure.