After we were settled comfortably in Sandton, in the north suburbs of Johannesburg, and with Peggy working long hours at the bank, I fell into a routine. I was the house husband doing the cooking and shopping, and painting on the patio until mid-afternoon. I usually went to the gym around 3:00 PM where I worked out for an hour. Then I would pick up Peggy and go home to prepare dinner. Following this routine I painted the 16 acrylics shown on this website over a period of ten months. At that time I had no ambitions of selling my works in galleries or on the Internet. I had never painted with acrylics before and was just interested in learning the medium. 

There were varying opinions about how long Peggy's work would last in South Africa. The bank's ideas of the time needed to install the software for their new credit card system changed daily. Due to the uncertainty, we wanted to plan a trip before they decided to send her home. The trip was scheduled for October.

Although Peggy had been to Victoria Falls, I hadn't. These spectacular falls are located on the Zambezi River between Zambia and Zimbabwe. It is one of the natural wonders of the world. We also wanted to ride the famed Blue Train, which originally ran from Cape Town the full length of South Africa to Victoria Falls. Since dictator Robert Mugabe became the head of the Zimbabwe  government, the South Africans, at that time, stopped  the train at Pretoria, South Africa, just 30 kilometers north of Johannesburg. They were concerned that Mugabe might try to sieze the train and either hold it for ransom or just keep it for his own personal use. The Blue Train is run by the South African Government and is said to be at least as luxurious as the famous Orient Express.

We wanted to make the trip before we went home to the United States for Thanksgiving so we scheduled the trip in October.  Our travel agent  suggested a trip to George and Knysna,  two  small towns at the southern end of the Garden Route along the shores of the Indian Ocean. At George we would rent a car and tour up to Knysna and spend an overnight at the Belvedere Manor. The Belvedere Manor is  in a beautiful area and the pictures in the brochure convinced us. Then we would fly to Cape Town from George where we would spend a night at the Mount Nelson Hotel and board the famed Blue Train the next day for Pretoria. The train doesn't stop at Johannesburg but goes to Pretoria instead. 

After a night at home in our apartment in Johannesburg, we would board a plane to fly to the town of Livingston in Zambia where Victoria Falls are located.