Holiday Inn Johannesburg

Saturday, November 25^th.

I forgot to mention yesterday that when I was flying over South Africa it was immediately apparent that I was back in a country with much more developed infrastructure. There were multiple lane highways, street lights, bridges, and overpasses. None of which I saw in Madagascar. I could see that most of the roads were paved, but while flying over Madagascar I could see that most of the roads were dirt. The countryside and farms also looked much more organized.

That is not to say that South Africa is a true first world country. They have a different set of problems, some of which will no doubt become apparent in the next few weeks.

Today was a hang around in the Holiday Inn hotel room day. It was a cold (14 degree), rainy day. I had the included buffet breakfast, which was amazing! Such a variety of really edible things, so much better than the last month. I had cereal for the first time in a long time. Then I got the blog caught up, sorted photos, read, did a Sudoku, e-mailed, watched TV and at 3:00 had to change rooms where I met my new room mate. His name is David, he's 33 and from Switzerland. We talked for a bit and then at six we went down to the lobby to meet our new Intrepid guide, Jay and our group of 13 (or 14) people. There are three other Canadians (one from Toronto Danforth and a couple from Vancouver), one Australian, one German, two Swiss and I think the rest are British. He collected our particulars and then told us the few things we needed to know. We are leaving at 5:00 am as we have a 600 km drive ahead of us. After the meeting we walked around the corner and had dinner at Nando's chicken restaurant while Jay left to enter our insurance particulars in his computer. We got to know each other a little bit and then we all turned in in preparation for the early early start. I hope it's warmer tomorrow.

It was interesting to listen to Jay. Obviously he has had some negative feedback and told us up front that if we don't see many animals, if we don't see the big 5, if the weather isn't great, if it rains and our tents get wet and if we have to drive all day – it's not his fault. It's amazing what some people will complain about and unfortunately I guess the guide is easy target. He also told us this is a trip of over 6000 kilometres, so obviously there will be lots of driving. The truck will be a smaller version of the big overland vehicles I've been on before. So away we go. (Too bad we are leaving before the buffet breakfast).

It is nice to be back in an English speaking country, and I like the South African accent.