We left London late in the afternoon on Saturday (Sept. 6, 2008) and flew on Emirates Air to Dubai, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. At Dubai we changed planes and then flew on to Johannesburg, arriving there on Sunday morning. It had been a long flight and we didn't do anything except eat and go to bed early. We met all the members of our group on Sunday evening and we were all staying at the Grand Airport Hotel and Conference Center.
On Monday morning a van arrived from the lodge where we would be staying for the next several days. It was a long drive and we had one hour stop for lunch in the little Afrikaner town of Dullstroom. We arrived a the Tremisana Lodge in the late afternoon. We had no time for rest because we were scheduled to take an evening drive around the area. Dinner would come after we got back from the drive. We saw small animals and bright little eyes shining from the lights, but we really couldn't get any good pictures in the low light, so the only picture from that drive that I'm showing is one that Deanna took of a small group of impala.
The rooms at Tremisana were somewhat spartan but I guess that's appropriate when you are "on safari." Meals were served in an outdoor area surrounded by trees and a fence with a large fireplace in the center. There were a lot of vervet monkeys around but no one seems to have gotten a very good picture. The one you see below was taken by Wonnie. If you want to see a really good picture this one will show you one of the male's interesting features (sexual dimorphism is always fascinating).
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