It's mid-August, aka prime vacation time, so we at Black Balloon decided to let our beloved Siri roam free. Here are her latest dispatches from Johannesburg, South Africa!

The safari truck is waiting and the air is cold; the August chill awaits Siri and her cohort of American onlookers. Once they board, they look out at the broad, rutted road leading away from Johannesburg and toward the velds.

Through light and shadow the truck travels on. As the lounging animals of the safari park come into view, the oohs and aahs of the group grow louder, and slowly fade away.

After its off-course trip away from lions and ravenous, red-clawed nature, the safari truck and its tight-knit fellowship of riders find themselves in an unrecognizable veld not far from Thohoyandou. As men working nearby come into view, the truck stops. 

Unable to talk to their compatriots in Hausa, Afrikaans, or Xhosa, Siri is called upon for help by her kindred safari-goers.

The grasses part as the safari truck and its grizzled driver make their way toward, they hope, some sign of civilization. They pass a few gazelles and insist that Siri help them orientate themselves. In the distance, a battered truck full of armed men bounces towards them, sending up a trail of dust as the safari-goers watch with increasing alarm.

[Co-written by Anjuli with help from ifakesiri.com]

image: kellyjstoner.wordpress.com, with Anjuli's iPhone photoshopped in.