So, it begins...

Hi Everyone! Let me introduce our cast of characters before we begin!

From the left we have: Claire & Ben Stephenson (my brother & his wife), John (Granddad) Stephenson, Jeremy & Kendra Stephenson (my oldest brother & his wife), Alan & Lynda Stephenson (Dad & Mum) & your intrepid authors Aimee & Dan Packer.

Well, here we are... IN AFRICA! Vanilla Beans in a Cocoa Bean World!

We arrived safe and sound on the afternoon of Sunday the 19th of July, to a balmy 26 degrees Celsius and 43% humidity - man, the cool season sucks! ;-)

Looking back on the 40 hours of travel with Ben, Claire and their baby, beginning at 4:30 am on Saturday morning from Auckland, it was, all in all, an uneventful journey, although traveling with my 3 1/2 month old niece, Nia, was a learning experience... And despite being significantly overweight (the baggage, I mean) we were charged no extra - yet another little miracle to remind us we are definitely on the right track!

We have since spent a lovely couple of days hanging out with family, just relaxing and recovering from the trip. I am still a tad jet-lagged, but Dan is doing awesome! I must admit we were both feeling a little trepidation on the way over - "What to expect?", "Are we doing the right thing?", "Will it work out?", "We're not going back this time! Eek!" - but we both felt such a significant feeling of arriving home when we walked into my parents house... It's good to be back.


This is the inside of Mum and Dad's lounge - note the banana-bark ceiling and curved walls... Mum designed the houses after true African style, round and thatched! This keeps the houses cool in the hot season and temperate in the cold...

Tomorrow we are going into town to visit Trish - my prospective employer - to see how she likes me! So please be praying - I really want this job! Trish is currently running a little salon with a reputation for doing the best cuts in town, which is right where I want to be! It would also be a great opportunity to establish connections for when we start up our Bed & Breakfast...

Speaking of which, we will pop up to Lengijave on Thursday to have a look around and see what we need before we move on up. Lengijave is the area where Dan and I are going to be living, in a beautiful, rustic house, owned by family friends, who are happy for us to convert it into our dream boutique B & B - such an awesome set-up, totally a God-thing!

These are just a couple of images from the outside of Lengijave house, we will upload more after our visit for your viewing pleasure :-)

So, until then, kwaherini wote!