I'm back!

Hi Everyone

Many thanks for the condolences received from "my readers"

Back in sunny SA with so much news to catch up on I don't know where to start!
Egypt, UK etc but I think I'd better start with everyday life and recap when I can, otherwise I'll be stymied and never get going again!

Well, we got back on Mon 14th July after an exhausting trip - we hit the first snag at Manchester airport - all our luggage was overweight and we had too much and too heavy hand luggage - crisis! We were sitting on the floor opening suitcases, chucking stuff into the dustbin and trundling back and forth weighing, weighing and reweighing! Still too much, whatever we did!

In the end I asked Johan to go to the Emirates Customer service desk and ask whether we could leave a bag there for a friend to pick up - no problem - in fact there is a desk specifically for that where you pay 5 gbp and they keep it for someone to collect - why didn't they tell us that at checkin so that we could have avoided all this trauma!!

So, we arranegd for John to collect it the next day and then we will get it some day! So off we went - still straining at the shoulders with the hand luggage but it was allowed! The only really bad effect of the repacking was a stained glass lamp (which had been very carefully packed originally ) but got squashed in the resultant scramble and ended up very badly cracked - Emirates - you owe me!

The Emirates flights are very good - excellent entertainment channels but it just drags the whole journey out for so long - almost 8 hours to Dubai, sit around there for 5 hours and then another 8 hours to Joburg - very draining so one has to consider whether the money saving is really worth it when you end up as a limp rag at the end of it!

Good to be home but we have arrived to find a war situation in our area. There were 3 housebreakings just before we arrived home and then 2 days after we were there (Johan away again already) there were 3 break- ins in one night - and one involved the shooting of my neighbour! The night before the dogs had barked incessantly and I had phoned Fred and Clay, got the armed response people out and finally the police - who went to Plot 7 and told them to shut their dogs up! In hindsight it seems as though the baddies may have been "casing the joint"
Anyway, some men broke in to Plot 2 at 11.30 in the evening and shot L. She was shot through the liver and the bullet went out of her back. V phoned me to ask me to phone the police and an ambulance which I did - as did C at plot 1. So in the end they had 3 ambulances arrive - but better 3 than none! As I said on the same night there were 3 incidences so we really are in a state of war and the neighbourhood is mobilising patrols etc. The night after the shooting we had a 24 hour guard at Plot 2, 6 plain clothed policemen lurking in the field opposite and when C went home he was followed by a car with 2 guys with machine guns who wanted to know who he was and what he was doing - so lets hope the baddies run away (although we would rather they got caught!)!

So, its been very exciting since we got back! Will fill you in on all the rest as I get a chance!

Bye for now

Di