South Africa Day 1

We made it to the airport but still had to get through passport control, get cash, get a car, and drive 1.5 hours to our friends.  Unfortunately the one thing we had checked (a box of things for our friends) didn't make it and it took Mr. 4 and me a while to find the one person in the Cape Town airport who knew what I should do.  Meanwhile David got us a South African sim card so we could make calls.  We picked up our car, squeezed 4 tired kids and all our bags (cars here are not made for a family of 6 - especially with luggage) and drove out to Worcester.  On the drive, driving on the left side of the road, David made a comment about how little culture shock he was feeling.  Except for that baboon crossing sign.  Ha, ha - and then 2 baboons actually crossed the road right in front of us.  Okay, maybe a bit of culture shock.  Our friends welcomed us with a warm pot of chili which was very welcome indeed because it was cold!  It is winter here and we actually weren't prepared for just how cold it would be.

The kids played around the house - what fun visiting someone with 4 kids too!  3 of their kids are in the US so we're sad to miss them but there's lots of space and lots of entertainment.  A trampoline!  And a cat!  In the evening David went with our friend A to a local prison where he works with a group called Restorative Justice and I went to the YWAM base with J and the kids for their Thursday night worship service.  Mr. 4 and Mr. 7 both fell asleep and the older boys were looking rather groggy.  We got home just in time to eat, bundle everyone up and get to bed.  It's chilly during the day but there is no heat in most houses in Cape Town and it is freezing at night.  Mr. 11 has become obsessed with starting a fire in the morning and in the evening and we sleep under lots of blankets.  It's actually fine but has been a bit colder than we thought it would be!

South Africa here we come...

At 4:30am on 6/29 our alarms went off and it was time to start the journey to Cape Town.  Given the craziness leading up to our trip, including both us working long days the day before, the adults had not gotten much sleep.  But we were ready and by 5:30 (okay more like 5:45) we were in a taxi headed for the airport.

Our first flight left for London at 8am.  We made it through all the checkpoints and even had time for breakfast before boarding.  Our kindles were loaded and everyone except Mr. 4 had their own carry-ons so we didn't even check luggage.  Happily the plan was equipped with lots of video games so the boys passed a happy 6 hours alternating between video games and the other activities in their backpacks (reading The Hunt for Red October for Mr. 13, new rubix cubs for Mr. 11, and Cat Stax for Mr. 7).  David and I took turns entertaining Mr. 4 and sleeping and I even managed to read all of the new Flavia de Luce book between the two flights.  After a quick layover in London, we were back on the plane.  This time for an overnight flight to Cape Town.  The boys were under strict instructions that there would be no games, only reading, dinner, and sleeping (a maybe a bit of Kung Fu Panda 3).  Everyone actually slept although not for as long as needed and we made it to Cape Town in one piece!