We have arrived in Joberg! We'll be here for 3 days. Getting here... well, let's just say that it took a while.
Meeting all the LA, DC, and Atlanta crew in the Atlanta airport was a piece of cake. No one was late or had any problems. The moment we were all together, Jeff and Laurie dropped a gift on everyone -- matching safari hats that read Grandma Gail's 75th. Africa Escape! Here's a pic of Drew and I modeling the fine chapeaus. 
Next stop was boarding the plane. But something funny happened on the way to takeoff. First, the airline said they had not loaded enough meals for everyone on the flight (the plane was full!). Then, once they got the meals on board, they told us that another plane had pulled up behind us and stalled. Well, that's a delay reason you don't hear every day. We had to wait while they towed the other plane out of the way. We took off roughly an hour and a half late...
...and thus began our 15 1/2 hour flight to Joberg.
As you can probably imagine, the flight was all about sleep. How do you get comfortable and how do you get some shuteye. Gail had really come through with the seats, We were in 2 consecutive rows with 5 seats in one row and 9 in the next. Plus, she had scored us Economy Comfort seats which meant extra leg room and a little more recline. Thank goodness because every inch counts when you are trying to sleep on a plane!
Most of us got at least a couple hours. Some got even more... and then there as Brian. He vowed that he was going to stay up the whole time. Though some folks say he may have shut his eyes for a few minutes, the way he looked upon landing sure made it seem he had stayed up the whole time. He was totally drained, practically a zombie.
Meanwhile, the other exciting thing that happened on the flight was the way Delta treated Gail like a princess. For some reason they kept on wishing her happy 75th birthday. The stewardess even made an announcement to have everyone on the plane sing happy birthday to her... even though the actual date of her birthday isn't until December. They brought snacks for us to eat in the airport and brought a big bottle of champagne for mom to drink. Great service!!
Well, tomorrow we go to Soweto and Mandela's house as we will see the history of Apartheid. Our journey really begins in earnest then!
-Jason
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