I made it!

I made it to Botswana much smoother this year. There wasn't the airport drama like, thank god! My mom took me to the airport early Thursday morning. I got upgraded to 1st class to Atl so that was great! I had a 4 hour layover in Atlanta so I called Andrea to see if she Buck and Allison would meet me at the airport so I could meet Allison for the 1st time. They came to meet me and I was to meet themat the baggage claim area so we could go over to the atrium and sit and have some lunch.

I made it off the plane quick and headed over on the tram to the baggage area. When I got off the escalator I saw Buck, Andrea and Allison who was holding a sign she made that said welcome Aunt Jen. We headed over to the restaurant area and found a table for the 4 of us. We sat and talked for a while and then Allison wanted me to color with her so we booted her dad out of his seat. ha ha! We colored for a while and then I got a sandwich and asked Allison if she wanted anything. I did ask Andrea 1st if it could be anything she wanted and she said yes. Allison didn't know what she wanted so I showed her all the pastries and cookies. She didn't want a cookie becasue she already had on that day so she said she wanted a cupcake. She then changed her mind and wanted a piece of carrot cake cheese cake. She ate her cake and I my sandwich. She got a bit of a sugar high, ha ha that is what aunts are for!! It was then time for me to go to get my plane to Jo'burg. We said our goodbyes and I promised Allison I would come and visit her when I got back from Africa and the weather was nice in Atlanta. She has to plan all the places she wants to go with me in the meantime. It was great being able to spend my layover with them.

I got through secrurity quick and only had to wait 45 minutes to board the plane. It was a full flight and I couldn't upgrade unless I paid $900 and that isn't really worth it, I would rather go on safari! There were no delays in Atlana this time. I was scared because of the World Cup final that the plane would be oversold and it would be drama like last year. I arrived in Jo'burg with over 1 1/2 hours to get through the transfer terminal and get to the gate. I got to the gate and chatted with some of the people around me and the time kept passing. It said we were boarding but there was no announcement. Finally it said DELAYED! I couldn't believe it. Here we go again. It only ended up being 1 hour.

We finally boarded the plane and I sat next to a girl from Texas who was going to Gabs for the 1st time and she would only be here 4 days. I told her all the places to see, eat and shop. The flight attendent was really nice.I had 2 beers on my short flight and I hadn't eated so I was feeling no pain. We got off and went through customs. All my bads arrived! I was shocked especially since 2 were over 50 lbs. Wai Man was waiting for me at the airport which was remolded. I couldn't believe it, it looks like a modern airport now. We ended up taking Aurian to her hotel and then Wai man took me to Riverwalk so I could get som Nandos! Yum, strips and rice with chips and tapatio. I am in heaven. I have the same apartment as last year. Hopefully today I can go get my Wispers of Summer!