Sightseeing and traveling

After our plane arrived in Johannesburg, South Africa, we were met by businessman Mr. Neels, who deposited us at this guesthouse for the day.

 We were served some traditional rooibos tea, which we came to enjoy last year.

The next day, Mr. Neels' son and wife took us sightseeing. First we visited the Union Buildings, government offices in South Africa.

The Union Buildings behind us.

Flowers at the guesthouse we stayed for two nights.

Another exotic plant.

Sorry, these pictures are a bit mixed up. This is seen from the grounds of the Union Buildings.

A statue of Nelson Mandela.

The Voortrekker monument, built in honor of Dutch pioneers who migrated by covered wagon from Cape Town inland, encountering hostile tribes and winning incredible victories.

Inside the building was a museum. This is one of a series of needlework pictures depicting the journey of the voortrekkers.

We climbed a lot of steps to the top, where we could look down and see the marble block commemorating the battle of Blood River, which the voortrekkers won against incredible odds.

The four of us outside.

This statue gives tribute to the voortrekker women, who solidly supported the men, even loading their muskets during battles.

If you look closely, you can see us above the statue. The picture of us above is a close-up at the same spot.

This was the next day at the Bostwana border, where Mr. Neels discovered that he had brought an expired passport! Two people had been riding with him, but now we all had to pile into the Land Cruiser. Here, Ezra and Joe Taylor are putting some suitcases on top to make room in the back for two people to ride.

We stayed overnight in the middle of Botswana in a hotel. We went across to the restaurant there for supper.

The flowering trees there were beautiful.

One of the buildings with rooms we stayed in.

Loading up the next morning.

Candace and Amaris settling in the back of the Land Cruiser.

Mr. Neels' vehicle had broken down just blocks from his office, where he was headed to get his current passport. Rather than drive back to us like he had been planning, he just flew the next day to Windhoek, Namibia's capital. We met him at the airport, where he rented a car. Then we all drove to the other side of Windhoek, where a friend of Mr. Neels used to operate a lodge. We stayed in these vacated tent "chalets". We think this is where Amaris got bitten by that infamous spider.

I thought this signpost there was cute.

We got one of Joe Taylor's group to take a picture of all of us busily writing in our diaries while waiting for supper. (This was taken on someone else's camera.)

We had one more day of traveling, but I will have pictures of that in the next post.