Africa at Last & Lots of It
Yes. We are here. But here is not where we thought. We are in Africa but not in Zambia or even Zimbabwe. We are in South Africa, in J’burg.
We had a great flight down on Air Namibia after we finally got in the air. The crew was great and moved some people to give us to two full middle rows. So we had eight seats for four of us. They feed us two and half meals in nine hours and I had too many Namibian beers (great stuff!)
We landed at 2300. We knew we missed our flight and also knew that Air Namibia wouldn’t fly to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe until Sunday. So we were resigned to staying in Windhoek for two days. No problem. However, Air Namibia wanted to get us there so after we landed, cleared immigration, found our bags we were informed that we were flying on a special flight (just for those of us on the delayed fligth from Frankfurt) to J’burg. A connection on Saturday morning on British Airways was already arraigned. Fine. But it took us forever to get back out of immigration and get to the plane that was waiting on the tarmac for us.
We walked to the plane without tickets, without boarding passes and carrying all our bags. We gave them to the baggage man at the belly and got on. We made that one. We landed in J’burg at 0300 but immigration was asleep so we all waited for them to let us into the country. Got to the hotel (on Air Namibia’s dime) and asleep by 0430. Up by 0630, nice nap, shower, clean cloths, breakfast, back to the airport.
Airport is crazy. South African Airways is on strike and the entire country is coming to a stand still. We are on British Airways, but they are overbooked because of the strike. Crossing our fingers, and holding a flimsy piece of paper from Air Namibia we approached the BA desk at 0830. Yes the flight is oversold, but no worries we are on it! Yippee.
So here we sit. We board in 45 minutes to fly to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe. Since all of our hostels were booked for two days ago, everything on that side was in the air. However, thanks to Skype, e-mail and WiFi hotspots, we were able to secure a pickup at the airport, a night in Zimbabwe cross the border Sunday morning at 1030 with a free Visa and rooms on the Zambian side.
Sounds hectic. More so on no sleep. Reading this it sounds horrible. It isn’t. We are in Africa.
The kids have been champions. Not one issue from them. Connor is sitting here reading Harry Potter and Alexa is listening to Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens. The sky is blue, the temperature is in the high 50’s and we have not met one person so far that has been less than gracious to us. We wouldn’t trade this for anything in the world. The best part is we get to do it together.
Tags: Africa, Beer, Delay, Flight, South Africa, Travel
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All human wisdom is summed up in two words, — wait and hope. You all have had that since starting this trip and is sounds like your taking it like champs! Love Ya, God Bless, Grammy
A large part of being “lucky,” is being prepared and taking advantage of all the aids available to you. Good job! It is refreshing and a relief to hear you’re being treated well by all you’ve met.
Africa has been your primary goal and now you’re there ~ it’s way cooler than Virginia!! Looking forward to the visual tours. Hugs to all.
Hey, you’re in Africa now; no worries, mates! Can’t wait to see pictures of that glorious continent. Nothing like practicing patience to get kids to understand what it REALLY means! Give them hugs from us; Grant and Taylor will be writing soon…Peace out, Kim