After a very long journey getting to South Africa we have arrived, checked into our hotel, and dipped our toes into the Indian Ocean. Thursday morning I woke up at 3 am to finish packing and was picked up by Ms. Sizemore the teacher from Asheville City Schools who is also on the trip. It was so nice to be able to chat about what we packed, what we were excited about, what we were wondering about, and share in the anticipation. We arrived in Charlotte and met up with half of the group then flew on to DC to meet the other half flying from Raleigh. The gift shops were full of Hillary/Trump memorabilia. I took a photo to mark the time period we are in and actually had a very interesting conversation with an Scottish vet who lives in Australia on holiday (vacation). We discussed American politics. One thing that I love about traveling is getting different perspectives about the US and a better understanding of why we are perceived as we are as a nation. Most all of it is dictated by media... Something important to remember!
While in DC we decided to go ahead and exchange some US dollars for SA rand. The exchange rate is approx 14 rand to 1 dollar. The next step was getting on the beautiful South African Airlines plane to Johannesburg. We had one stopover in Senegal and could make out the coastline, see boats, and also saw a famous statue in the distance. The flight from DC to Johannesburg was going to be 16 hours so stopping (even if we couldn't get off) was exciting and broke up the trip.
The rand is so beautiful with the colors and sporting the kind peaceful smile of Nelson Mandela. We were served three meals on the plane and I think I slept a few hours.
http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/african-renaissance-monument