We landed on time in Johannesburg. We deplaned in pouring rain to a waiting bus, then into the terminal and into the passport control line. It took us about 45 minutes to move to the head of the line, but then a quick stamp and onward to pick up our luggage. We walked up to the luggage carousel and lo and behold, there were all six suitcases off to the side and waiting for us.

    
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From there we set off to find our rifle case. It appeared a few minutes later from a back room along the wall in the baggage area. After we confirmed it was ours, a porter put it on a buggy with a bunch of other cases and wheeled it over to the SAP (South African Police) office in the terminal. Meanwhile, we tried to locate our VIP permit guy we had hired to expedite our paperwork on the South Africa side. He was supposed to meet up with us before we went over to claim our rifles.

We finally found him, or he found us I'm not sure which, and into the SAP office Harold and I went with our new best friend Ari. The place was bustling, but Ari grabbed a policeman, pointed out our case and gave him the paperwork. The officer checked the serial numbers, signed the papers and we were out of there. The whole process took about 10 minutes tops.

After we gained possession of our rifles, Harold and Wendy went to rent a phone at the Voda shop and I went and purchased some Rand from the currency exchange store. Then, with luggage in tow and following Ari we went to find our ride. After a few minutes waiting at the curb outside, our driver Maurice and his wife pulled up in a van pulling a small cargo trailer. We loaded the luggage and away we went for the fifteen minute ride to our home for the night, the Afton Guest House.

    
    
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After we unloaded our luggage and stowed the gun case in the Afton House walk-in vault, we checked into our rooms for some needed rest and relaxation. At noon however, we decided some sleep was in order so it was off to bed until 5:00. Killing time before dinner, Harold and I found a couple of Castle beers in the honesty bar and kicked back with our first South African beer.

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Dinner was a barbeque at the guest house. The steaks were grilled to perfection by Ari who turned out to be the son-in-law of the owner of the Afton House, Annalise Bekker. Along with the steaks were a Greek salad, scalloped potatoes and garlic bread. All in all this was an excellent meal.

We spent a couple of hours after dinner just wandering through the guest house complex. The ladies found a jewellery and belt merchant who had set up shop in one of the rooms and Wend made a purchase. As well, Wendy set up her Magic Jack and I phoned sister Carole back home to chat and let her know we'd arrived.

      
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I finished making my notes for the day then off to bed at 11 p.m. Long day but everything went as planned.