There’s nothing like flying first class for FREE. Bless those hard to accumulate airline miles! South African Airways had seats that completely reclined, comfy duvets and pillows and we were two very happy airline passengers. Landing in Johannesburg, we found an ATM machine and South African Rands (ZAR) came pouring out. Felt like we hit the jackpot in Las Vegas!

The group was staying at the Oxnead Guest House in Pretoria. Johannesburg, or Jo’Burg, is not considered “safe” and even though it is possible to visit, most people just fly in and out. The Oxnead Guest House was only a 40-minute ride from the airport and situated in a secure and gated community. Checked in and hit the sack for a few hours until the welcome dinner and orientation. The trip roster from Wilderness Travel showed a full trip of 8, Bob and Barbara, John and Judith (all from California), Ginny and Virginia (Florida), along with Steve and myself from Chicago and we were looking forward to meeting everyone.

At dinner, we discovered that Ginny’s friend, Virginia had dropped out of the trip because of illness and now there were 7 plus Pat Dewil and Lanz, accompanying the group on a photographic assignment. Lanz is now Wilderness’ tour leader for “Adventuring in South Africa” and all you photographic nuts out there couldn’t have a better leader with a chance to pick the brains of a photo wiz.

Backgrounds, family information, etc. flew fast and furious in this outgoing group and we couples quickly discovered lots in common. Primarily, all divorced and remarried with huge extended families. I think there were at least 15 children/step children between us to trade war stories about. And then Pat jumped right in with woes about the only time his adult children contact him is for money… Ah yes, the saga goes on for all parents… I imagine Ginny felt rather like a third wheel with all this going on, a major problem in small group travel. However, she was always included and never excluded from any conversations.

The other five planned a trip tomorrow to the De Wildt Cheetah and Wildlife Center but thinking that we’d see plenty of animals during the next 18 days, the two of us bowed out and just spent the day relaxing. If you are interested, the De Wildt Cheetah Research Center is situated an hour from Johannesburg and an experienced guide will take you on a guided tour. The Cheetah Research Center (established in 1971) has been successful breeding endangered species and nearly 600 cheetah cubs have been born at De Wildt. Those who went on this tour, really enjoyed it… I was looking forward to the chartered small plane into Sabi Sand Game Reserve tomorrow and spying cheetahs in the wilderness…