It all started with giraffe. Did you know that….

• They can be 18 feet tall with legs that are 6 feet long
• They have a 7 foot neck with the same number of vertebrae as a human
• They have tongues that are 20 inches long and are dark blue to prevent sunburn
• They have unique coat patterns and each spot layout is unique
• They sleep between 5 and 30 minutes in each 24 hour period, often power napping for 2 minutes
• They spend almost their whole life standing
• They only need water every few days due to the moisture in the Acadia leaves
• They have necks shorter than their legs requiring them to splay their legs to drink
• They have hearts weighing about 25 pounds with blood pressure twice most animals
• They have social groups called towers

The story started with a video I ran across from a place called Giraffe Manor in Nairobi. It is a sumptuous English type estate in Nairobi, predominately reached by aircraft. It has the distinction of being the home of several orphaned or rescued giraffe. After all, who doesn’t want to share their breakfast with a giraffe?

They are generally peaceful and are only agressive when feeling threatened. They are also extraordinarily strong! The estimated impact of a kick from their back leg is 2,000 psi. They can kick in any direction with that leg!

This is a link to the original promotional video I saw.

https://www.youtube.com/embed/5O3PuhVUeHg

When I travel, I always enjoy the local flora and fauna; particularly the fauna. Which eventually led to Africa; the Big Five. What a wonderful 50th anniversary celebration!

For quite some time I have also wanted to visit Sabi Sands, a private 160,000 acre reserve in South Africa.. I even had the Lodge chosen that bridged the too expensive luxurious and the too rustic but extraodinarily reasonable. From there, I planned to go north into Botswana, diverting to the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe to experience Victoria Falls. Haven’t you always wanted to go on a road trip in South Africa?

I ran into a few difficulties with this route.

• border crossings are tricky
• Botswana is very expensive
• the drive to the west coast of South Africa is quite long, though a lot of dunes

Then I found a lovely train that would take us from the Johannesburg area across South Africa, to Cape Town. It takes 3 to 4 days and looked quite opulent; not Amtrak like in the least! As I researched, I discovered that it is a premier line described as a ‘bespoke train safari through the heart of Africa combining magnificent scenery with the glamour and excitement of the golden age of leisure travel.” Oh dear! It has a dress code and you have to a dress for dinner.

After quite a bit of back and forth research, we settled on a route that will take us from Portland to LAX to Dubai to Johannesburg. We will stay a few days in Johannesburg to adjust to the eleven hour plus one day, time change. We are also hoping to visit with Dr. Drew and his wife Holly. From there we will travel to Graskop, also known as God’s Window inspired by the dramatic scenery.

In Graskop, we will be lodging in my ‘nod to rustic‘; a tented treehouse 20 minutes out of town on an agricultural farm that neighbors a silk farm. One of the amenities included is the need to make your own hot water.

From there we will travel over a road that is washed out in places to Sabi Sands. My animal friends! I am looking forward to the safari experience, even though you have to get up before dawn!

From Sabi Sands we will travel to the east coast of South Africa, including a border crossing- South Africa to Eswatini formerly Swaziland to South Africa-, following the coastline of the Indian Ocean to the very end of South Africa; think penguins!

Then around the Cape and up the west coast to Cape Town. I think it will be somewhere between 1500 and 2000 miles, all on the wrong side of the road! Most fortunately, I do not have to drive. A dear friend of ours is coming with us. He will split the driving with Dave so that they can be the adults making the decisions in the front of the 4 x 4 truck while I am the kid in the back seat with a blanket, a pillow and all the snacks.

This is the grand plan. All the reservations are in, the flights are booked along with the truck. Now all we need is for someone to pack.

One is not like the other! Care to guess who belongs to which luggage?

Eventually we will end up back at LAX so we can have Thanksgiving leftovers with the John’s.

On a practical note, I have no idea how the blog posting will go. There are places with little to no internet…..or very slow internet. I changed to Word Press, which I am not proficient with, to allow for offline work. I have each day set up to auto send out at 11:59 pm in the evening so…….if you receive a blog with nothing, or no blog at all, that is why! Hopefully not though. Eric set me up with a small laptop to hopefully help….along with a bag of assorted cords and attachments. We also loose and gain calendar days from here and back again. So speaking optimistically, I have it all figured out! I especially hope the lodging reservations are on the right days. Eeeesh?! I have checked and rechecked……..

I am looking forward to sending photos of all the places, animals, food and scenery that we experience. We are thankful for the Lord’s grace and mercy in our lives and His caring providence.

Just for fun, here are a few of the names of the lodgings we will be staying at.

• Reilly’s Rock Hilltop Lodge – where you have to check in before 5:00; after that they close the gates to keep the rinos out.
• Leopard Corner Lodge
• Kingston Farms
• Seal Point Lighthouse
• Knysna Elephant Rescue Park and Lodge
• Lovanne Estate and Guest House