Planning the Details

So I (well, we, between me and my brother) have worked out a preliminary itinerary. I love doing things like that, I get very excited. Some things are still being worked out, as we asked him to take the lead on arranging some of the things. I like everything planned well in advance but he just does things on the fly and it drives me nuts! I like to know what I am doing, when I am doing it and how long and how much! He is still working out our hotel in Capetown.  He did send an itinerary for the days on safari in Kruger which sounded good. I, of course, had to take it a step further and work out the times we would be doing everything! I can’t help myself! I also want to be able to work out the times I will be able to call and Skype home. I want to talk in some format at least once a day. My brother just called me (in response to my call checking in) and told me that one of his friends called him about an experience you can do where you walk with lions. How great would that be?! I told him I would do it singing “Born Free” at the top of my lungs! He said the lions would just look at each other and ask someone to pass the ketchup and mustard. He’s not adventurous like me and Mom!

So for my own sanity to see where I am with every little thing, here is my itinerary thus far (I got real specific with the safari since the times are so specific for them, as far as when the game drives are, when the meals are, etc):

Fri -1- Fly out of Dulles 5:40PM

Sat-2- Arrive Joburg 4:30 PM (10:30 AM in US, call or Skype home to let them know we arrived safely)

Sun-3- Sandton/Mandela Square

Mon-4- Aparteid Museum? -- FREE TIME

Tue-5- Fly to Capetown 9:00AM (arrive 11:00AM) - Camp's Bay (Hermanus)/Cage dive?

Wed-6- Table Mountain/Cape Point (Cape of Good Hope)/Robben Island

Thu-7- Stellenbosch/Wine estate tour/V&A Waterfront for dinner

Fri-8- Fly back to Joburg 10:15AM (arrive 12:15PM) -- FREE TIME

Sat-9- Soweto (Nelson Mandela museum?)

Sun-10- Brunch -- FREE TIME

Mon-11- FREE TIME – Theater to see Dreamgirls

Tue-12- To Bongani Mountain Lodge/Kruger -- Arrival mid afternoon (afternoon game drive at 4:30 pm or relax??), then dinner

Wed-13- Kruger/Bongani -- Coffee 5:30 am, then Early Morning Game drive (6:00 am), breakfast 9:00 am, lunch 12:00 noon, relax poolside for the afternoon, tea at 4:00 pm, then dinner later (8:00-ish)

Thu-14- Kruger/Bongani -- Breakfast 9:00 am, then Krugar National park all day (lions??), dinner back at Bongani

Fri-15- early game drive (6:00 am) then leave for Johannesburg -- FREE TIME

Sat-16- FREE TIME - Fly out 9:40PM (3:40 PM in US, call home to let them know we’re in transit again!)

Sun-17- Arrive Dulles 10:00AM

So it’s all falling together. The only really unsettled part is what we’ll be doing what days in Capetown. I would like to organize this myself, but I am too far away and not familiar enough with the country to do that all from overseas. I told my brother what we wanted to get in and that we wanted organized tours, so now I have had to leave that all in his hands, which is making me nervous (after all, he wanted us to just get tickets on a hop-on/hop-off bus – in a foreign country with no idea of where we are, and a 69-year-old mom!). I prefer to plan things out myself, then I know they are going to go the way I want. But I will have to give up the reins on this part. I just want to make sure we fit in all the things we want to see and do. It’s not like we’ll be coming back anytime soon, so we have to make the most of our time! OK, OK… relax, breathe. This is coming up in one week and I want everything to be perfect. This weekend, I will start packing. I want to allow myself enough time for forgotten things and to pick up a new bathing suit! Friday is D-Day. Cyn has offered to drive me to Harrisburg and pick me back up, which I thought was really sweet. So we’ve decided we’ll just get up that day like we’re going to work, get dressed and ready to go (maybe pack the car the night before). We’ll go out to breakfast and plan to be on the road by 9:30 to be in Harrisburg by 11:00. Then, it's me and Mom for the next two weeks!

South Africa travel planning

The countdown to South Africa continues. We are nailing down final plans. My brother is not sure if he can get the extended amount of time off for the two weeks we will be there, so Mom and I are planning to go to Capetown ourselves! That will be an adventure. He will try to join us if he can, but he's not sure yet. So I booked the flights from Johannesburg to Capetown last night. I was going to try to book the hotel and tours today, but realized that my brother must have better knowledge of the goings-on there than I do. I cannot tell from here what companies might be scams, or if they're overcharging for something. So I appealed to Mom to talk to him about just making the basic arrangements for us from there. When she requested this, it comes out that not only would it be easier for him to do this from there, he actually know the General Manager of the hotel we're trying to book. So of course he'll have an easier time booking this for us! And getting my requests of a top floor and a room facing Table Mountain! So good for that. So for Capetown, we are going to try to visit Camps Bay, Robben Island, Table Mountain and Cape Point. Then Mart (my brother) is going to get his friend to book us a trip to a place called Stellenbosch for a vineyard tour.

We're also planning a day trip to Soweto, possibly catching a show one night, some museum visits, and of course, going to Kruger National Park to go on safari! That will be during the second week there, and I am really looking forward to that. We'll be staying at this beautiful place called the Bongani Mountain Lodge. We get our own little hut with a thatch roof. As well as armed guards to walk with you after dusk so you don't get eaten, as there are no fences around the lodge, you are just out in the bush.

I've gotten my necessary shots, my prescription for anti-malaria, so all that is taken care of. Less than two weeks!

Lazy Saturday

So in detemining the purpose of this new blog, I am leaning towards making it a documentation of the day-to-day goings on of life. I don't particularly do all that exciting of things, but there are exciting items that do come up here and there, and I would like to keep a record of those, in addition to my daily life. I love to travel, so this will be a great opportunity to document that. But it will also be a good opportunity to just document daily life, that can be looked back at and either laughed over or cried over, depending! So with that said....

Today was actually a rather low-key day. We got up and shared a nice cup of coffee before having to get ready to head to Willow Grove to get Ish to her infusion appointment. Once there, we dropped her off and Cyn and I headed over to Home Depot to kill the hour it takes for the infusion to be done. We got some plants and wandered around. Whenever I go into a Home Depot or Lowe's, I realize how men must feel when they are forced to go shopping with women. Really, how many tools can you look at? And I guess they think, how many pairs of shoes can you look at? So it all balances out in the end! Once we picked Ish up from the infusion clinic, we headed to Sonic for the tradtional post-appointment treat. I wasn't very hungry, so I just got a kid's grilled cheese sandwich. From there, we hit this dollar store that is The Best Dollar Store in the World! I found out about it last month, and bought all kinds of things to decorate for St. Patty's Day. This time, I went Easter-crazy! I got peeps and eggs and chocolate and all kinds of stuff. I found a camoflauge Easter basket for Cyn, as I don't think she'd really like the traditional pastel colors.

From there, we drove the hour home and just chilled around the house for awhile. I started dinner, as it was a roast that took a couple hours. Got that going and just hung out in my bedroom, reading on the eReader. I've missed reading on that, as all my reading for the last 4-5 months has been studying for the CPSM. But now that that is over, I can read for pleasure again. I started Seabiscuit for book club a little while back and didn't finish it on time (because of the aforementioned CPSM studying), but I have this thing where I cannot start a book and not finish it. So... I muster on. Not my kind of book, but... hopefully, it picks up soon.

So, really, a low-key day, not much going on. We'll see what tomorrow brings!

Getting Started

I am trying out a new blogging site, as my old one is reminiscent of a life I no longer really lead. So I thought I would come here and see how I like this site. I will have to learn how to do things like post picture and hyperlinks and such. But I think it will be a good experience and a good change to where I have been blogging since 2003.

OK, just a shorty post tonight to see how everything works. There will be more later!