David

__**Day 1-3 : Kenya**__
**Transportation = Plane** (Arriving from Detroit-Metropolitian, Departing for Bangui on day 4)**, Tour Bus**

**__Day 1__**
Dear diary, As we began our descent on our 12-hour flight from Detroit Metropolitan Airport to Jomo Kenyatta Airport in Kenya, I began to feel every emotion that you can ever think of... from being frightened like a coward and a chicken, to being joyful like you've just won your first basketball championship. The flight on the 747-400 aircraft was quite a smooth, safe, relaxing flight through those 12 hours. As the plane made a screeching stop on the runway, our incredible journey through the wildlife continent of Africa began. As the aircraft taxied toward the gate, I felt the most incredible emotion ever, and there's only one indescribable word that can, well, describe it: EXCITED.

As the warm, 62 degree breeze cools us at the drop-off gate, you can smell the moist, humid scent from the Lake Victoria Basin and the dry air from the barren land region in northern Kenya. As you and I know, Kenya lies all across the Equator, changing into an extreme-desert-feeling country. We were immediately accompanied to our tour bus, which was quite enormous and luxurious. It even had reclining chairs for you to lie straight back onto a 180 degree angle. Man, was it relaxing! The tour guide welcomed and asked everyone survey questions like: "Who's from America?" "Has anyone seen the Prime Minister's house before?", etc. As soon as he finished all the questions, the bus rolled off and started to accelerate.

As I read a brochure I freely took from the Information Center at the front of the baggage claim, it states that Kenya, a country lying across the Equator in eastern-central Africa, is about twice the size of the United States' state Nevada, making Kenya's total size at about 224,961 square miles huge in area. Kenya borders the Indian Ocean and Somalia to the east, Ethiopia to the north, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest.

As the excitement coursed through us and all the other tourists attending this safari, the tour guide just gave a short summary of Kenya's history: "... Paleontologists believe that 2 million, yes, 2 MILLION years ago, the first people may have first inhabited in what is today's Kenya. In the 700's, Arab seafarers established settlements along the coast of the Indian Ocean. But 800 years later, in the 1500's, the Portuguese invaded and took control over Kenya. Decades later, the Kenyans were lucky enough to free and declare independence from Portugal. However, from 1964-1992, Kenya was overpowered by the Kenyan African National Union, as known as the 'KANU.' 5 years later, even more bad luck for this African country as huge series of disasters plagued Kenya into a distressing situation. After some relieving recovery, Kenya had to sacrifice over 1,000 people in ethnic violence and bruel cruelty from December of last year to February this year. But, today, Kenya is now looking into brighter future since they think that today's situation is not tomorrow's potential.

So, hope you all enjoy the exciting world around us here in Kenya and the upcoming countries we are about to visit. Now as we are strolling through downtown Nairobi, you can see the urban environment and busy surroundings as the Kenyans rush to and fro..."

Yeah, some buildings were really rather unique in shape, color, and texture. Nairobi did contain those weird buildings and some original-looking homes and apartments, but the Kenyan people.. hoh, boy, WERE THEY BUSY! Scrambling from place to place, trying to know where their lost friend and/or relative is, or struggling a lot to rush to work... man, what an active commotion it was!

Well, I think today's visit to Nairobi was quite something to remember. I mean, there was violence last December to this past February... but Kenya managed and was able to stop all of the devastating ruckus in Nairobi; and look at it now. All the people in the city are rushing to get to work with no violence. How peaceful is that? It reminds me of the business of downtown Chicago, Illinois.

__Day 2__
Dear diary, Today we are going to take another bus tour. I wish there was air conditioning on that bus! The smells from all the animals and lack of sewers in this area make the air kind of stinky! The urban areas outside Nairobi, is different than the city and we were told by the guide that we will see some interesting sites today. Can't wait to see those difference.

After a quick breakfast, we boarded the bus and made our way to the outskirts of the city. These outside villages are filled with homeless people in rags. The buildings are made of metal sheets or partially-destroyed bricks. The huts are made out of either straw or hay. Livestock roam around everywhere in herds or just by themselves. You can see the depressed look on each of the townspeople as the tour bus rolled by. We all felt sorry for the townspeople.

You see, out of the entire population in Kenya, a great majority of Kenyans are into farming - most of the subsistance type. Kenya's population growth continually increases faster than the rate of economic growth This results in large budget deficits, or shortages of money to support the people with jobs. Furthermore, the country's well-developed transportation system has been abandoned and ignored in recent years as well.

What surprised me the most was when the tour guide told me that Kenya consist of more than 40 ethnic groups! That surprised me becaused just figured that they all had the same heritage. He told us that a large percentage of the population are members of the Christian religion, which also surpised me. Although you may think that Kenya 's official language is African, but it NOT! The official NATIONAL language is actually English... somewhat weird, huh?

__Day 3__
Dear diary, Today's tour takes us to one of the most popular rivers in Kenya: The Tana River. My Mom thought we should take our swimsuits just in case! The guide fills us with many facts about the river and the surrounding area. The Tana River is 47 miles long which makes it the largest river in the country of Kenya.  As the bus rolled along the road leading toward the tree-filled Tana River District Area, it started to feel hot, humid, and especially, muggy as mosquitoes, flies, and other little critters started to swarm around us and of course we forgot to pack the "Off!" As we got off the bus to get a closer look at the BIG TANA, the upclose view of the color of the water was not as we expected. It was a dirty, muddy-looking brown sludge. Would YOU want to swim in this? I would... no, I'm just kidding! In fact, most people living nearby use the water to bathe and wash dishes and clothes! Can you believe it? I can't wait to get back to my hotel with the nice big swimming pool!

We cannot stay up late because tomorrow, we fly to Bangui. So good night, and don't let the bedbugs bite...literally!

__Day 4-6 : Central African Republic__
**Transportation = Plane** (Arriving from Jomo-Kenyatta Airport, Departing for Bamako on day 7)**, Tour Bus**

__Day 4__
Dear diary, Good Morning! The excitement continues, we have just boarded our flight to Bangui, the capital of the Central African Republic, "C.A.R." We only have a short flight and will be there in time for lunch. Time to buckle up and get ready for take off. More info later. When we got in the taxi to take us to the hotel, the taxi driver was delighted to tell all about his wonderful city. He had studied history in college, but had to drive a taxi to help support his family. He was anxious to tell us Americans about how his country is a landlocked nation situated about 500 miles north of the equator and is bordered by Cameroon, Chad, Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Republic of the Congo. C.A.R. has a total land area of 243,533 square miles, which is slightly smaller than Kenya's land area. We told him that we has just visited Kenya. He asked us if realized that C.A.R. and Kenya are almost the same size!? Well, they are almost identical! He sure knew many facts about his country!

After a quick 13-minute taxi drive from the airport, we loaded our luggage under the next tour bus and took our seats. It took us to the nearby National Historic Musuem, where we learned more about this country's history.

For over 300 hundred yeard (1500's to the 1800's), the people of this region were destroyed by slave traders. The Banda, Baya, Ngbandi, and Azande were the largest ethnic groups of this area. In America's bicentennial year, 1976, the Central African Republic became the Central African Empire. The republic's leader, Marshal Jean-Bédel Bokassa, took power in 1965 and was declared Emperor Bokassa I. On September 20, 1979, Emp. Bokassa was overthrown in a revolution. Former president David Dacko returned to power and changed the country's name back to the Central African Republic... but another army revolution on Sept. 1, 1981 overthrew President Dacko for the second time.

In 1991, an attempt was made to change the government from a republic to a parliamentary democracy by President André Kolingba. However, his attempt failed and he was defeated in primary elections by Prime Minister Ange-Félix Patassé defeated Kolingba. Seven years later, an all-African peacekeeping force was sent by the United Nations to help the country. In Sept. 1999, there was anpother election amid widespread charges of massive fraud, a new leader was elected by the name of Patassé. He easily defeated Kolingba. Patassé survived an attempt to be overthown in May 2001, but two years later, in March 2003, he was ousted by Gen. François Bozizé. Presidential elections were held two year later and Bozizé was fairly elected.

My parents and I talked about how it must have been to be living here during all that fighting and the evil govenrments. We are really blessed to live in Grand Ledge, that is for sure!

Last May, 2007, the country was investigated by the International Criminal Court. They were investigating them for war crimes that might have been committed in 2002 and 2003 during Patassé coup attemp. Just as the investigation was about to bring a motion against him, the current Prime Minister Elie Dote and his government resigned. Faustin Archange Touadéra was named as his successor. My Dad told me that because they all resigned, it meant they were probably guilty of some pretty bad stuff during that war. I hope this country has better luck with their leaders from now on.

The majority of the people of C.A.R. are farmers who farm to feed their families. The main crops are manioc, yams, millet, corn, and bananas. However, they also export cash crops which include cotton, tobacco, and coffee.

Once out of the museum, we loaded back on to the bus. We were about to tour the busy city of Bangui. As we moved slowly along the narrow streets, the tour guide informed us that: ".....French is the official language and mostly Banyans live in the Central African Republic. 35% of the civilians practice indigenous beliefs... however, Protestant and Roman Catholic are also practiced (25% each), with Islam, too (15%). The Baya (33%), Banda (27%), Mandjia (13%), Sara (10%), Mboum (7%), M'Baka (4%), Yakoma (4%), and other (2%) ethnic groups make up the approximate 4,369,038 people living in the C.A.R......" Wow!, over 4 million people in this small area. It's really crowded here, and the people are very poor. Again, I was really sad for these people.

As the big tour bus, (even bigger than Kenya's) rolled along through in Bangui, I saw a city that looked rugged, lonely, but, somehow, peaceful. There wasn't ANY commotion like in Nairobi. It was so quiet. I hear a bit of ringing in my ear from a few cars zooming by on the highways around and inside Bangui. The civilians still looked sad, wanting help... just like the townspeople outside of Nairobi. I am not used to seeing such sadness. Today was just a quick stop to these two settlements in the C.A.R. We only spent 3 hours in Bangui.

Before we took our next trip west toward Nola, a more modern-looking town. We stopped for lunch before we left Banguii (What! No McDonalds??) We were treated to a feast of fresh fruits, vegetables and and coffee. My Mom said the coffe was better than Biggby's! Nola had some buildings and homes that looked like it was made out of adobe, ( uh-doh-bee)   a type of brick made out of dry clay and straw. Many buildings were under construction. It was a peaceful town similar to Bangui. After we finished seeing the sights of Nola, from the seats of our bus, the tour guide told us to settle back and relax and that it will take us an approximately 12 hours to get from Nola to Bossangoa, our next destination...my Mom was not happy about that...

__Day 5__
Dear diary, We woke up feeling quite tired and cranky, since we did not get to our hotel until 3:00 in the morning! The tour guide told us to sleep in and that we would start the tour after lunch. Bossangoa was only one mile away from our luxury hotel, so as soon as we got into our seats it was "quick get-your-camera-and-snap" some great pictures as Bossangoa's city limits was right in front of us. The city looked so empty EXCEPT for plain reddish-gray painted brick houses with wooden roofs. It was WAY too quiet... in fact, the only visible or invisible **thing** you can hear is the wind. Yep, quite scary. Probably Bossangoa is one of the most least populated cities or towns in the Central African Republic. My Dad is wondering why we left the hotel AT ALL! My Mom needs some Excedrin!

Again, we had little time, so we enjoyed ourselves to a fast 4-hour route to the valley-resting settlement of N'Délé. This time, just like the urban towns outside Nairobi, people were JUST walking beside, in front of, or behind the tour bus as it rolled along the dirt path. The civilians looked more joyful and less-worryied. Actually, there were even tribal dances heard in the background... it sounded serious and a bit loud. The tour guide reminded us of, yet, another long trip to our last destination (before leaving for Bamako), Sibiu. So, once again, another swift tour of northern C.A.R., but it was kind of weird seeing in Bossangoa that it was just WAY TOO quiet. But in N'Délé, the atmosphere - drums, dancing and the music there just keeps you moving. But tomorrow... wait until you see Sibiu!

__Day 6__
Dear diary, We have finally made it the following morning to our final destination in the Central African Republic... Sibiu! Yes, the name sounds weird, but wait until you hear what it looks like, man! Tall buildings and cathedrals mount in central Sibiu; side-by-side houses and apartments squeeze in and gives you a thought of New York, NY or San Francisco; and even panoramas stand outside the city, causing a ruckcus in asking, "Why is it THERE?"....

YES, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THESE structures and peaks are ALL IN SIBIU! This city reminds me of New York, NY.. with its clutched-up houses against each other. It also reminds me of San Francisco.. with its steep downhill streets that make them impossible to climb up upon. And, finally, it reminds me of China.. with its tall, enormous, and unattainable-to-climb mountains.

This trip to the C.A.R. was interesting... with the majority of its cities being quiet like Bossangoa. N'Délé and Sibiu are great examples of what the REAL C.A.R. is like...very interesting!

I hope Mali, our next country to visit, will have us some exciting things for us to see!

__Day 7-9 : Mali__
**Transportation = Plane** (Arriving from Bangui Mpoko Airport, Departing for Tripoli Intl. Airport on day 10)**, Tour Boat, Taxi**

__Day 7-9__
Dear diary,

After our smooth flight to our third destination of our grand tour of Africa, we land in the odd shaped bordered country of Mali. My parents told me that this is the country they are waiting to see! My Dad did extensive research before we left Lansing and he filled me in on some of the history and the country's statistics.

Mali, a landlocked, western African country, is bordered by Guinea, Senegal, Mauritania, Algeria, Niger, Burkina Faso, and the Côte d'Ivoire. This country, lying in the Sahara desert, has a total land area of 471,042 square miles, about four-fifths the size of Alaska. The only fertile area is in the south, where the Niger and Senegal rivers provide irrigation.

The Malinke empire ruled regions of Mali from the 1100's to 1500's, and during the 1400's the Songhai empire controlled over the Timbuktu-Gao area. Morocco invaded Timbuktu in the year 1591 and ruled over it for two centuries. The land, wanting to be free of France, finally became a colony in 1904 and in 1946 became part of the FU, the French Union. Later, Libya was luckily able to declare independence.

In June 2006, the government signed a peace treaty ending a Tuareg rebellion. The president promised anti-poverty programs for the Tuaregs. A man named Touré was reelected as president in April 2007, winning 68.3% of the vote. This past September, Prime Minister Ousmane Issoufi Maïga resigned, and Modibo Sidibé succeeded him.

The vast majority of Malians are employed in farming, herding, or fishing. Cotton and peanuts are the country's only significant cash crops, with millet, rice, corn, sorghum, and vegetables being the major food crops. Agriculture and herding have been hurt by the expanding desert. Gold, phosphate, kaolin, salt, limestone, and uranium are mined, and the country has rich minerals that are exported including bauxite, iron ore, manganese, tin, and copper.

Our first stop on today's tour was to the Manantali Dam on the Bafing River, a Senegal tributary, that produces hydroelectric power. We had seen the Hydroelectric Power while touring the SOO LOCKS! This was even bigger than that and louder! The tour guide gave us lots of information on the country as we toured the large facility. The tour guide asked us why we chose Mali as one of our places to visit? Well, "I wanted to see the desert, and hopefully visit a gold mine!" My Mom was hoping for that, too! Knowing that we had won the trip, he continued to share his knowledge of the main ethnic groups. Mali's people are made up of the Mande (Bambara, Malinke, and Soninke), who are chiefly farmers and fishermen, and the Fulani and Tuareg, who are shepherds or live in rural areas. About 90% of the population is Muslim; the other 10% follow traditional religions. French is the official language, Bambara is spoken by 80% of the population and there are many other African languages.

Once we finished with the tour, a taxi drove us from the Bamako Airport, all the way to the boarding pier at the Niger River. Now here's the BEST part! The rest of the three days in Mali are going to be spent on a gigantic tour boat sailing along the Niger River. We have to stop and get my Dad a seasick patch...come to think of it, I better get one, too, since I got sick in April when I went deep sea fishing in Florida! My Mom SO excited! The Niger River is the principal river of Mali...it's HUGE - 2,600 meters long and 1000-1500 yards wide. Still, it’s not as big as the Nile River…but still it’s rather big! The boat tour will last approximately 3 days, and when we land we will have made the trip across the Niger River to Gao. Hundreds of other excited and thrilled visitors were either boarding or waiting impatiently for the boat to leave the dock. Luckily, we boarded just in time before the “whooo” of the whistle blew incredibly loud, and the boat started to accelerate on its n ortheastern 3-day course to the great city of Gao. The boat wa s about the size of the Titanic, but of course, it didn’t look like it! As we looked at the //General Information// sheet on one of the boat’s walls, close to where we boarded, we learned the ship has a capacity of 10,000 passengers and holds 5,000 rooms on 9 under-deck floors. Talk about a gigantic cruise ship! As we cruised along all we could see on the banks of the Niger were green forests or wide-open ranges of farmland. Several Malian people on shore waved at us and even wished all of us a safe journey across this beautiful tributary. Luckily, there was a pool table, TV, a bunch of card games going on in the Rec Room. That room was where I stayed 90% of the time was awake! Plus, did you know that this cruise had all you can eat - 24/7! And they were serving American Food! Hanging out with my new friends from all over the world was the most fun part about the cruise to Gao. Especially this one kid named Marcus, who flew here from Switzerland. He was also 14, just like me; but of course, he wasn’t as tall as me! Anyway, Marcus claimed that he went on the cruise because he was on spring break and finally had a chance to get away and relax. I told him that I basically won an all-expense paid trip to the continent of Africa. He was very astonished! The look on his face was total shock! He and I talked to each other about our interests, hobbies, school events, and hilarious times with friends back home. It was great that he spoke and understood English.

We had to drag my Mom off her first-ever cruise. I wished it was longer, too. I was feeling seasick, excited, sad, relaxed, but a bit nervous. Besides the fact that I had to say goodbye to my new friend Marcus. I knew it was time to move on and I couldn’t wait to see what was ahead in Gao. Once we arrived at our destination, Gao, we had to take another taxi ride to Gao International. W e decided to walk around in the town, before leaving in the taxi, to do some shopping...not my favorite thing to do! We noticed that  Gao had many adobe-built houses on its streets, except for the professional workplaces made out of tin, metal, and other steel material. As we looked toward the outskirts of town, you could see the wind forming sandclouds and blowing clouds of dust off in a distance. If this wasn't the start of the desert, I would be shocked!

This was not the place to walk around in. It was TOO hot. So we got back into the taxi and headed back to the airport.

__Day 10-12 : Libya__
**Transportation = Plane** (Arriving from Bamako, Departing for Cape Town Intl. on day 13)**, Tour Boat, Tour Bus**

**__Day 10__**
Dear diary,

The bumpy 6-hour flight from Gao Airport to Tripoli International Airport FINALLY ended and not a minute too soon. It reminded me of our flight back home from California last Christmas. It was so bumpy I prayed outloud the whole entore FLIGHT! As the aircraft touched ground in Tripoli, a northern city in Libya, that borders the Meditteranean Sea to the north, our head flight attentant gave us a brief summary of Libya's geography: "......Libya is a country about 1/6 bigger than Alaska with the majority of its land lying in the Sahara Desert. Surrounding countries include Tunisia, Algeria, Egypt, Sudan, Niger, and Chad. Land that is completely easy to grow crops covers along the Mediterranean coast and way inside Libya's borders...."

We were waiting for our suitcases at the baggage claim when my Dad got a desperate call from the information center of where our Meditteranean Cruise Company was reporting that an incredible severe weather system was heading toward our boarding dock, with 60+ mph. gusty winds. The clerk told my Dad that our cruise had been delayed for one day until the storm passed by. Hopefully they will not have to repair any damage on the cruise ship from the storm

Sadly, tonight we are taking a taxi to a hotel, where we will swim, eat and watch African game shows, I hope! Then we will get some shut eye. Let's hope tomorrow will be a better, GOOD-looking day.

__**Day 11**__
==== We woke up with the sun's rays blinding our eyes... uh-huh.. a "good" wake-up call. Ugh! In order to be satisfied that our cruise was not further delayed, my Dad dialed the Cruise Company and asked if our cruise ship was ready for its voyage!? Yes! So off we went into the taxi, toward the boarding dock. I was noticing that the Libyan people didn't look different from me at all. My Mom told my Dad and I that she read last night in the brochures left in the hotel room that roughly 97% of the population of Libya are in 2 ethnic groups, the Berbers and Arabs. Also, 97% of the population are Islamic...."The whole city looked polluted like some of the cities in the U.S.; like, New York, New Jersey, and Los Angeles. That's because, according to a brochure I read, that 71% of the energy consumption was oil. The other 29% consisted of natural gas. ==== ==== The taxi screeched to a halt, and we finally saw the beauty of our cruise ship. Just like in Mali, the voyager was just HUGE! It looked like it was about the same size, too! We were relieved when they told us that we were ahead of schedule, and we were three of the first 100 to be on board. Isn't that something?! They handed us each a free t-shirt and a water bottle with the ship's logo on it. More FREE stuff! This must be my lucky year! We decided to find our room and just relax until the boat's horn blew, which should be in about 3 hours. Then we decided we should go to the ship's railing and yell "Bon Voage" with all of the others who were saling with us! That's just one of the things you do when go on a cruise! ====

**__Day 12__**
==== As I enjoyed even more swimming, arcade, billiards, playing different types of card games from around the world, and listening to tribal music; I began to feel that this whole trip was worth way more than FREE. This was the trip of a lifetime. I started to wonder how Libya had been destroyed. So, I looked up a website on my new Dell laptop and then, my questions were through one of the sites searched on good 'ol "Goodsearch!" This is what I read - "Members of the Berber tribes were the first people to set foot and live in the country of Libya. In the 600's, Phoenicians out of nowhere started to inhabit the eastern section of Libya and they named it 'Cyrenaica', while the Greeks, who also came out of nowhere, settled in the western region, called Tripolitania. Tripolitania, for a time, was ruled by the 'Carthaginians' until it became part of the Roman Empire from the years 46 to 436. After those years, the country of Tripolitania was rioted and overruled by the Vandals. Cyrenaica, too, belonged to the Roman Empire from the 100's until the empire's decline from the A.D. 100's to the A.D. 400's. In the year 642, Cyrenaica was attacked and invaded by Arab forces. Starting in the 1500's, both Tripolitania and Cyrenaica became part of the Ottoman Empire...." This one very OLD part of the world! But you could never tell it by the Tripoli today. The art, museums and city center has so much to see and do. We also went to the U.S. Army cemetery that dates back to World War II. That was my Dad's favorite part...he is a history buff, ya know! The picture above is along the river and the building is called the Roman Arch of Marcus Aurelius - built in AD 163! As you can see we had more great weather. ==== ==== 2 hours later, we were stepping on solid ground in Banghazi, another city bordering the Meditteranean Sea to the north. We only had 5 minutes to hustle to our taxi which will take us back to Tripoli International Airport where our flight to Cape Town, South Africa is awaiting us. I am hoping South Africa will be a big finish to our free, fun-filled vacation. Besides, it will be cool to visit the som of the place that our Mission Team went last year! Maybe we will go to Pastor Khumalo's church and visit the school. ====

__Day 13-15 : South Africa__
**Transportaton =** **Plane** (Arriving from Tripoli Intl., Departing for Detroit Metropolitan on day 16)**, Tour Bus, Tour Boat**

__**Day 13**__
==== The last 3 days of my FREE vacation is under way. Our final country on our grand tour of Africa is a country that has its southern borders closest to the continent of Antarctica...South Africa. This country is the only country in the WORLD to have provinces (9) and a capital in each one. It is also the only country in Africa to border BOTH the Atlantic Ocean to the east and Indian Ocean to the west. This is by far the prettiest of all the countries we have visited so far. The weather has been fantastic and our hotel is right on the beach... however we will plan on staying there the night we get back from Pretoria, day 15. Today we will spend our time touring Cape Town, but we will be leaving for Pretoria late this afternoon. ==== ==== We decided to walk this time, instead of the tour bus. But walking along the shoreline and through the busy streets, you feel like you are in the jazzy-styled city of New Orleans, Louisiana. In fact, there were some jazz music going on in the background, but it had a little African blend in there with more congas, bongos and people sounding and looking like they're calling and dancing to their gods. How interesting!According to a free booklet I found at a market store, out of the 43,997,828 people in South Africa, 79% are Black Africans, 11% worship the Zion Christian religion, 15% with NO religion, and 23.8% speaking the IsiZulu language. As the sun began to set on the horizon, we boarded the tour bus departing for Pretoria, the capital of the Gauteng province. Pretoria is where the next AND LAST opportunity to sightsee on a boat on this grand tour. After what seemed like an eternity, we arrived in Pretoria at the coolest of all our hotels. They had everything you could wish for and then some. We all just wanted into our rooms, but we had to take some pictures. What view we had from our balcony! The city lights are amazing! ====

==== We woke up on our final Thursday morning in Africa to a cloudy day. The cool, crisp breeze felt good as we road the bus toward the border of the Gauteng province. 10 minutes after we left the hotel, we past a sign that read: "Pretoria City Limits." As the bus rolled down on a steep downhill slope 178 feet above downtown Pretoria, we were able to clearly see the buildings of the city in the distance. Pretoria reminded me of Chicago with its close suburban/rural areas and the busy city in downtown. Even dogwood trees were blooming with beautiful flowers below us. The tour guide, looking a little exhausted like all of us, handed us each a sheet about the economy of South Africa, especially here in Pretoria..."South Africa's wide mountain and hillside ranges provide abundant sources of steel for machinery & equipment and many gems, jewelry, metals, and minerals including gold and platinum. But the country buys from the U.S., U.K., Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, China, France, Saudi Arabia, and Iran other machinery & equipment, chemicals, petroleum products, scientific instruments, and foodstuffs....." Huh.. no wonder there were many construction areas out in the mountain areas we saw. The city appears to be doing very well economically. ====

==== It was 3 p.m. already and thankfully, our next cruise ship does not leave until 4 p.m., because the tour bus was stuck in a traffic jam! Frantically, we asked the driver how many minutes would it take to get us out of this. He replied that it would take approximately 45 minutes to escape the ruckus and be right at the dock. Luckily we were able to take a detour that cut time by 20 minutes. Whew! That was quite a relief! ====

==== The ship did not look any different than the rest of the ones we boarded. However, this boat was not crowded at all! Compared to 2,300 on the last voyage, this one has only about 500 guests! We had dinner on this cruise with the ship's captain. He had heard of our luck in winning this trip and was anxious to hear how we had enjoyed our vacation. He even looked like a ship's captain with the white beard and navy blue jacket. His white hat had a gold anchor on it, just like in the movies. After dinner, the captain took us on a tour and he even let me steer the ship for a minute. That was cool. The we said good night and went back and huddled in our room. It felt great just to relax for the remainder of the night. This is really a great finish to this glorious 2 week tour! ====
 * __ Day 15 __**

==== Dear diary,    I can’t believe that it’s time to leave. The time went so fast. We will make our final stop in Upington, a city located in the province of Northern Cape. The city is rural-like town and reminds of Texas! It’s also known as the “Gateway to the Kgalagadi Tansfrontier Park” where you can go see South Africa like it was hundreds of years ago. We went for a quick tour of the Augrabies Waterfall where the Orange River “falls” into the Augrabies Gorge. It was breathtaking. After that, there was just enough time to pick up a few last souvenirs before had to go to the airport. Just as we were leaving a store (my Mom HAD to stop for some of the great deals they were having on their gold and precious gems – native to this area of South Africa!), we ran into the mayor of Upington. Talk about luck! He gave us a limo ride to the airport! What a great guy. He decided we were such important guests, that he gave a key to the city! This has been a great trip and we all learned so much! Some day I hope to go back for another visit, but somehow, I know that it just woul dn’t be the same, especially since it was FREE! ====