The adventure begins 5 September 2010



 Here we are standing in a circle at Auckland International Airport, wiping the sleep from our eyes and eyeing each other up, warily. 4.30am in the morning is not the time to be bright and breezy but the air of expectancy amongst us is palpable. We are a group of 13 New Zealanders, aged mid 50s to early 70s, off for a month long safari in Africa. Hilary, Gary and I know each other, the others we have met, only briefly, at a pre trip meeting. It is a first safari for all of us and although excited we are a little apprehensive, not sure what to expect. We have a long trip ahead of us, flying firstly to Sydney and then to Johannesburg, South Africa, 17 hours flying time plus airport waiting time. The long leg from Sydney is uncomfortable and tedious in an impossibly tightly packed aircraft with some obnoxious and drunken Australians on board but it is thrilling to fly over the ice flows of Antartica and to see giant icebergs in the ocean. We arrive in Johannesburg late in the day. The airport, built for the Football World Cup, is glamorous and spacious. We change our money and while waiting for some of the others I take time to admire some handsome African families with their beautiful children. A short shuttle ride and we are at our overnight accommodation, The Road House Lodge. Hilary and I share a small, cramped room with the most unusual shower arrangement I have ever seen. The shower is right in the bedroom with no privacy at all. Walking to the hotel restaurant we become aware, for the first time, of the edginess of South Africa noting the guards and gates and high fences everywhere. We are a tired and subdued lot so after a fairly quick meal all head off to bed.

Photo: Miriam, Gary and Hilary at Auckland Airport