Packin' up my Game and I'ma head down South ...

Not sure I wanna be a cowboy, but I certainly am packing up my game something fierce. For anyone who has never used compression bags when travelling I can tell you they are a lifesaver!

Only a ridiculous amount of packing left to do, then I will be ready to head out. The question is not "Can I handle Africa?" but rather "Can Africa handle me?"

I love you Susan!

More to come,

Chris

I got it!

I went up to the South African Consulate today at Van Ness to pick up my 2 year extended visitor's visa! One more hurdle jumped over. Only pet permit issues left to take care of. The closing for my condo is on May 30 and I will be flying out on June 2! This has been the longest 2 months of my life.

Getting on to the good stuff

More good news...I finally found an apartment. The landlord is getting permission for Sophie to live there, and once he does, I should sign the lease later this week. I won't be able to move in until June 2nd, so it'll be right down to the wire for Chris and Sophie's arrival, but I think it'll be OK. I'm finally starting to feel a little more settled. I don't get lost every day anymore. I'm starting to have an idea of what I'm supposed to be doing at work. I feel like the very "administrative" side of all of the things I needed to do is finally wrapping up, and I'm ready to move on to the exploring and experiencing phase of this journey. Once Chris (and his camera) get here, we should have plenty of things to share with all of you (hopefully, things a little more exciting than whining about my job or my broken car ☺) There is a lion park near by where you can actually play with little lion cubs. There are world-class casinos and a mile away, tin shacks with satellite dishes. There are ladies walking down the sidewalk carrying their parcels on their heads. There are stars to be gazed at and sites to camp at and a million other things to do (and write about, and take pictures of). And I can't wait to share all of it with you.

13 days and counting...

Big huge happy exciting fantastic news

I can't believe it's already been two weeks since I last posted! Not much has changed since then. My apartment hunting has been ongoing, but very difficult due to the lack of pet-friendly accomodations, I'm not particularly thrilled with my job, I'm still having trouble meeting people and making new friends, and the owner of the cottage where I'm staying is still a huge bitch. But, FINALLY, I have some good things on the horizon. Chris has sold his condo, and he and Sophie will be arriving in South Africa on June 3rd, his birthday! I'm more excited about his impending arrival than I can ever remember being. With less than three weeks to go now, I'm under a lot of pressure to find an apartment soon, so cross your fingers for me!

All my love,

Susan