I have just taken a peek at Disboards and see I had some very kind remarks on my post from
@Zanzibar and
@PrincessInOz so I just wanted to reply even though I am a few weeks too late - wouldn't want you all to think of me as a typical rude South African!
@Zanzibar to answer your questions
There are two relatively easy routes to get from South Africa to USA
1. Direct Delta flight from Johannesburg (but we live in a small town about 4 hours from Johannesburg so that does add to travel time) to Atlanta - this flight is 17 hours long, one of the longest direct flights in the world. This is the flight we took
2. There is a South African Airways flight from Johannesburg to Washington or New York but this has a layover in Dakar and since we flew during the Ebola panic we thought a stop in North Africa was not prudent - not because we were concerned we would be exposed but because it might cause issues when landing in USA since they had just stopped all flight from West Africa coming in.
Botswana is a stunning country I am glad you got to experience it - I never imagined people would be interested in a South African trip report but I will post some pics and details of the trip for those interested.
Our trip will be a combination of tourist trip and looking at places to live. I was thinking of starting a thread with my musings on the immigration process but I wasn't sure if this forum would be the appropriate place for that.
Hi everyone! Occasional poster, occasional lurker, full time trip scammer 
(and yes, I do realise how unlikely this is - wishful thinking!).
That is great advice though - priorities, priorities!
