The day of our departure began really early in Encino, CA. We met up as a group at 4:30 a.m. We said our good-byes and left for LAX.

Our flight to Dubai was 16 hours long! Our group entertained ourselves by playing games, watching movies, and listening to music. When we arrived in Dubai we checked into our hotel which was complimentary because we flew with Emirates.

Then we took a Sun Tour of Dubai where we a saw couple of mosques and the award-winning seven-star Burj Al Arab hotel. We also stopped by the beach of the Arabian or Persian Gulf and we stepped into the water for a bit. The water was warm and the weather was very hot and humid. Then we drove through an underwater tunnel to get to the five-star hotel complex Atlantis. It was interesting to learn that the reason the tunnel had been built underwater was so that the palm tree shape of the man-made Palm Islands would be preserved. We also experienced a lovely fountain show at the Dubai Mall near the Burj Khalifa.

 Next we visited the famous Gold Souk, or market, located in the older part of Dubai. The souk was a series of gold shops and alley ways with vendors of different goods. Many of the vendors had on traditional clothing and were very persistent.  The boys had a neat experience dressing up in traditional Emirates clothing.

 Last but not least we went back to the Dubai Mall to tour the observation deck of the Burj Khalifa, which is the tallest building in the world. We went up to the observation deck in the fastest elevator in the world which reaches the 124^th floor in 60 seconds. The view from the top was incredible!

Today we flew 8 hours to Durban, S. Africa. We received a warm welcome from the Good News Center. We had a great dinner together and now we are unwinding and getting ready to begin our service project work. And just as I finished this post a friendly gecko crawled on my hand.