There are only 25 days to go before the great adventure
begins!!! My long-standing blogging-buddy - "MIMI" - is about to make her SOUTH AFRICAN DREAM come true. I can hardly believe that it is finally happening.
I first "met" Mimi in 2008. Who would have thought that two people living worlds apart would strike up such a long-standing friendship? Yet it happened. Both of us were dog-bloggers and shared similar interests. Mimi was an icon of strength (from a distance) during the writing and publication of my book MAXDOG, and became part of my support group during my struggle with depression. Over the years, I have been sharing my country on this blog in the hope that perhaps ONE of my cyber-friends might make the long journey to our country. Well, Mimi has finally decided to do this. And now the big count-down starts.
ONLY 25 DAYS TO GO!!!
I admire my friend for taking this plunge. If I was her, I'd be quite nervous - travelling to a strange country to stay with a family she's never met. In addition, she's never travelled such a great distance in
her life – even the aeroplane trip will be a novelty. She has worked hard, saved hard and trusted that I will look after her when she gets here. I feel truly blessed that she has chosen me and my family to help her achieve her dream. And I thank her family too for encouraging her to make her dream a reality.
Mimi will be spending 17
fun-filled days with us. We plan to spoil
her rotten! … And to make every effort for her ‘SOUTH AFRICAN DREAM’ to come
true.
Mimi arrives on the 12th September. It’s a LONG flight from Atlanta (USA) and she
will land at OR Tambo airport in the early evening. Being a Friday, with the typical pre-weekend traffic in a large city, I suspect that she will experience
a ‘baptism of fire’.
Johannesburg traffic is not fun at the best of times, and we will be
hitting it full on. It may take us well over an hour to get home. Nevertheless, our small welcoming party will be there to take her under our wings.
Our first destination will be HOME!
Here, Mimi will meet my
family, my furry-friends and eventually sleep off the cobwebs of the long
flight. By Saturday afternoon
(hopefully) she’ll be ready for the adventure ahead…
Amongst many outings, our adventure will include three days
in the glorious Kruger National park; one day in the scenic splendour of the
mountains of Mpumalanga and three days in the beautiful mother-city of Cape Town. In between we’ll be visiting a number of
touristy sites in Johannesburg – the Lion Park, the Elephant Sanctuary, the
Apartheid museum, the Cradle of Human-kind, etc And I will also be showing her the life of
an average South African. Not to mention SHOPPING!
Mimi… we are counting the days. We are ready for you. The world around us is priming itself for the
glory of Spring – new buds and blossoms everywhere.
The rain over the past weekend has helped
urge the buds along too. Hopefully
everything will be in full celebratory mode by the time you arrive.
I thank God for the gift of friends and for the joy of
finally meeting such a long-standing cyber-buddy.
It is thanks to the fun world of blogging that we are able to make beautiful
friends around the world. Soon, I’ll be
saying:
"WELCOME TO SOUTH AFRICA, MIMI!"
