We left our house in RWC at 130pm on Monday, Sept 5, and arrived at the Lewis Farm on Wednesday, Sept 7 around 7pm. Our navigation through SFO International was smooth and easy. The folks with Virgin Air were great and checking in was a breeze, despite long lines. Our 10-hour flight to London was not that bad since we each had our own TV monitor with literally 50 first-rate movies and dozens of TV shows on demand. Natalie was in heaven with her kid shows. Even though this was an evening flight, no one got much sleep and we were zombies when we arrived London. 
Natalie had gotten sick on Friday before we left and was still feverish on the flight so we decided to sleep during our 10 hour layover. After customs and transfers (that’s Natalie on the transfer bus, sitting as far away from us as possible) we got about 5 hours of sleep at the local Holiday Inn before having to head back to the airport.
Our flight out of London to Joburg was delayed an hour or so. We were dismayed to find the jet to Joburg was not as well equipped as our flight to London. This was a low point in our trip, as the rest of the passengers just turned off their lights and went to sleep (the flight departed 9pm London time). The 3 of us were restless and bored for 11 very long hours. And since we had slept in London, we were all very wide awake for the whole flight.
Then came 7 fog-filled hours at Joburg domestic airport. We had to keep our luggage with us since our layover was so long – the airline wouldn’t guarantee the safety of our luggage in the handling area for more than 2 hours. So we sat, slumped over our luggage, and waited for our last flight to Phalaborwa. Natalie and I managed to get about an hour or so of restless sleep on the airport benches.
We did not capture any photos until the last leg of our trip as our original intent was to create a video with Natalie narrating our trip. She wasn’t that interested in our idea and was feeling sick anyways, so we gave up and switched to still shots. Chris took some shots during our flight to Phalaborwa. The flight was short and smooth and we landed without incident. 
Jo Lewis and her daughter Gwen were on-hand to pick us up for the 1.5 hour drive to the Lewis Farm. Natalie rode with Jo and Chris and I rode with Gwen, watching the sun set as we barrelled along an empty 2-lane highway. Very quickly, we transferred onto dirt roads, which were passable at high speeds. Then, once on the farm, it was a very bumpy road in pitch black.
Can’t remember what we did upon arrival- I’m sure Jo fed us and then we fell into bed. See more photos of our journey…
The Next South Africa Entry: Mananga – The Lewis Farm
The Whole Trip: South Africa – The Summary