We arrived in Johannesburg South Africa after 17 hours of flying from Atlanta. It was an uneventful flight. The only real notable facet of the flight was watching movies, TV show segments and play games to you hearts content at the the self entertainment center at every seat. I watched 4 movies, 3 TV shows and ignored the game boy feature. 17 hours is long time to sit in one spot.

Flying into Jo’berg, as the locals call it, was a surprise. – The surrounding landscape is covered with small and large farms. With the exception of a few craggy ridges that thrust out of the ground you could think that you were about to land in Iowa. Jo’berg is a sprawling city of over 7 million people and is the heartbeat of South Africa. Since the collapse of apartheid the city has changed and transformed itself with a human organic chemistry that is not always of positive result. The inner core of downtown is approaching collapse. Abandoned buildings are filled with squatters and the major hotels have pullout to the suburbs and left 10 story buildings vacant. On the other hand the much-televised black township of Soweto is much different then the ramshackle city that international press portrays. It is largely built of brick or concert houses as singles, duplexes and triples and the pride of ownership is evident in every well-swept yard. There are some shack communities in Soweto, but even these have community water taps and chemical toilets. The problem of housing a large population that has a high unemployment rate is not easy.

But Jo’berg is a modern city with all the features you would expect from a North American city - not unlike the city that we flew from – Atlanta. There are shopping malls and strip malls. Good highways that connect the intermingled suburbs and a 6-lane beltway that circumscribes the city. However the single omnipresent feature of every corner of the city are the large quantities of razor wire, barbwire and electric fences that top the perimeter walls of every home, compound or business. It is if the city were at siege with itself. Though crime is not apparent – a police present is not obvious, but undercurrent of isolation and self-protection is everywhere.

Last night we met the rest of the 6 members of our expedition and we celebrated the evening over dinner. With exception of Jim, whom I worked with at Microsoft, the remainder of the crew is English. All are have a fine wit and good humor. The remaining month promises to be entertaining as well as adventurous time.

>From Africa – Kim and Kim