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Return to USApr 3, 2008
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Out of Africa April 2 and 3
Our final breakfast was at the RL with a front row table overlooking the river and mist of the Falls. I realized I didn't have an extra copy of the paper with our E-Tickets for returning to Cape Coral so had the front desk make a copy. We walked to the Falls for another view, and found a DVD of photos of the Falls in a gift shop.
The gift shop at the RL did not have photo DVD's available.
Our bags were outside the door at 10 am for an 11 am departure from the RL.
The Adventure continues: Our minibus is broken. At least a half dozen other groups are checking out for the airport plus an equal number of tours/safari's are departing. After 45 minutes our guide diverts a minibus with trailer assigned to a different group for our use. Then the chaos begins. The Zambia Airport is small - only one baggage screening machine for both checked and carry on. Three planes are departing within minutes of each other. The airport is a huge mob of pushing-shoving folks attempting to better their place in the mob. The small metal roof area is packed with no air conditioning or fans. After an hour we made it to the screening machine and then into the same mob trying to get boarding passes and clear customs. Our group was at the tail of the mob and fortunately no other flights were scheduled behind us. They finally just gave up and weighed all our bags in a group and checked them to Dulles on one ticket. In the end all the anxiety was for naught - all the planes left at the same time. Our flight left 45 minutes late and we only have a 2 hour window between flights in Jo-Burg.
But - No Worry Mate! After only a slightly less confusing arrival processing we found we had plenty of time. Our Flight has a maintenance hold and is scheduled to depart 5 hours late. Most, if not all, will miss connecting flights at Dulles. At a refueling stop in Dakar there's even more bad news. Headwinds are above 100 mph and our flight to Dulles is over 13 hours. With the strong winds the pilots kept the seat belt sign lit so walking around was not an option. We stayed in the dark, and ahead of the sun, for almost 20 hours.
At Dulles everyone grabbed bags and sprinted away to try to get new flights. We had missed our connection, but were able to schedule a later flight that would get us in at 1 am instead of our scheduled 4 pm. We felt lucky to schedule it without cost as the airlines can be difficult when rescheduling E-tickets., It was 48 hours after we set our bags out at the RL that we arrived home in Cape Coral.
Flying is the biggest challenge of this truly Grand Adventure.
