From Benoni to Phalaborwa

First, let us begin with the update about last night in Benoni. We were getting ready to go to bed in hopes of a wonderful night's rest before heading out this morning, when...

We emptied the local police garrison.

Isaiah found this key ring (on the table next to the bed) with one of those red light emitting diodes (see picture below). It looked like the ones we have back home. 

You know, it helps you find the keyhole when it's dark. This one was longer and rectangular.  Someone must have left it behind. Way cool, right? Great find on the kid's part! Isaiah handed it to Dax to take a look at it. Hmm...Dax pushed the button to see if the little light came on. It did! 

Then, he pushed it a few more times (and so did Isaiah) just to see if it would still light up. It did! We thought, "Well darn, someone has left this, so we'll just keep it." A few minutes later, the lodge security and about a dozen well-armed South African Police surrounded the grounds and banged on the door of our room. The policeman looked like he had mobilized for Iwo Jima. He asked us if we had summoned the police and what was the emergency. We about shit. It seems these are panic buttons and each room in every Johannesburg area lodge has one due to the high crime rate. No one had told us about the freaking panic button.

 If it wasn't so serious, it would have been so funny. 

Anyway, the police were very polite and after making sure we were safe, they left. 

These are pictures from Benoni to Phalaborwa (all taken from a moving car).

Sorry for the poor quality.

Here is what it looks like near where we are staying.

Our accommodations; however, are beautiful.

Thankfully!

We made it to our new "home" before dark. The landscape has really changed from the Johannesburg area. And, we have some clouds! The temperature doesn't seem to be as cold either and we have heat and consistent power so far! Yes! On the way here we saw a dead cow (legs up) in the middle of the road and several monkeys on the side of the road. 

Dave and Samantha are our hosts. Samantha is from South Africa and Dave is from the UK. He met his wife in the UK and he promised her that someday they would move back to South Africa. This is a beautiful place they have here. Samantha's mom lives next door. 

Oh, this morning Isaiah said his goodbyes to all four of his new friends, the Rotts. The staff helped us load our car and blew us kisses goodbye. We already miss those darn dogs. Isaiah made sure they all had enough treats this morning to last them until we get back to that home. 

Tomorrow morning, after breakfast, we will explore Kruger on our own. 

Fingers crossed for some phenomenal photos!