May 22, 2008 - Journal Entry 1

"It's 6:30 in the morning. I'm shaking, I'm so excited! I'm writing mostly to calm my nerves. I am in Johannesburg, about to board my last flight to Phalaborwa...I am only a one-hour flight and a however long drive away from CARE! I can't believe that it was almost a year ago that I found out about CARE when I saw the episode of 'Growing Up Baboon' on Animal Planet and tomorrow morning I will finally be there! This is so exciting! I can't remember why I was so afraid to leave home - well, yes I can actually. But it wasn't home so much that I was afraid of leaving. But he promised that he would be waiting for me when I got back.



"It's 8:30 AM now. I'm at the Phalaborwa airport. It's a beautiful sunny morning. This tiny little airport looks more like the waiting room for disney's Animal Kingdom. And the 20 people who came with me on the jet are the only ones here. It's so quiet and peaceful. There are statues of animals and the whole thing is built like a giant hut. It's actually the airport for Kruger National Park. I wish I could call home, but it's 2:30 in the morning there.