Joining me on this expedition are Sarah, Ilana, Jenny (our director), Meredith (our photographer), and Henry who is Jenny’s assistant.

We had an unexpected delay in Atlanta while we waited for them to locate a replacement plane for the trip. Our intended plane had some sort of malfunction. Once on the plane, I prepared for the 18-hour flight across the Atlantic Ocean and over the African continent.

This was by far the longest flight I had ever been on. Unfortunately, our entire time on the airplane ended up close to 24 hours. The only stop we made from Atlanta was in Senegal, a country in western Africa, to refuel. This process typically takes about 45 minutes. However, it appeared that our new and improved plane had a few gliches as well.  The re-fueling ended up to be a 2-hour ordeal as we waited on the Senegal runway.  Luck was not on our side; it appeared to be another engine problem. Just as we were fearing we would have to spend a night at the Senegal Airport, the plane was miraculously cleared to continue the journey. Finally, we were on our way and the final leg of our trip to Oliver Tambo Airport in Johannesburg.

Thrilled and relieved to be off the plane, I made my way through immigration and passport control and even got a nifty looking visa placed in my passport. Then, we found our driver Don, who was waiting at the airport with a sign reading ‘ProjectExplorer’. Bags piled into the mini-bus, we made our way to Sandton, a suburb of Johannesburg.

We arrived at the Southern Sun Grayston hotel in about 30 minutes. Henry, my roommate for the trip, and I checked-in, quickly unpacked, and showered (which is a treat after being on a plane for so long.)

For now, the only thing left in my immediate future is food and SLEEP.  I only hope that the effects of jet lag are not too harsh.

A weary (but VERY excited) explorer,

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