Well, THAT was brutal!

Finally home — after SIXTY-SEVEN HOURS of travel! We left our wonderful flat, which I already miss (except for my own bed), in Dana Bay on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. SA time and got home on Saturday at about 9:00 a.m. SA time. We spent 30 1/2 hours in the air and the rest in airports. Our only rest period was overnighting at the City Lodge at OR Tambo airport in Joberg, though we got up early to meet friends for breakfast there — and how happy we were to see them! The Doha airport has quiet rooms, but ours was anything but — one man having a very loud cell phone argument (we suppose; it wasn’t in English); the woman next to me chattering away, seemingly to herself; and the man behind us snoring very loudly. Laird got some sleep there, plus he can sleep on planes; however, I seem incapable of sleeping when traveling — though by the time we were in Dallas, waiting for about 9 hours, and on the flight to ABQ, I was poleaxed by fatigue, but only for seconds or minutes at a time. Oh, the good old days when we could fly directly to OR Tambo from DC, Atlanta or NY at an affordable price — actually cheaper than what we paid for this one. It must be because South African air is no longer competing. Bummer!

Galaxy met us at the ABQ Sunport . Timing was perfect. We deplaned, J got a wheelchair and took the two backpacks, so I ran down the escalators to the baggage claim and then went outside. With at most a 15 seconds wait, I saw an Audi  driving by just as the driver saw me. It was Galaxy. I suggested she take another loop, which she did, and by the time she came around, we were on the curb with baggage. Previous blog we mentioned that we’d posted two largish boxes from Mossel Baai, but we still had three bags — mostly pressies and electronics (some clothes). International, you’re allowed 20 Kg, and the baggage tags indicated that the three bags totaled 59 kilos. We were overweight by 14 kilos on the Mango leg from George to Joberg, but fortunately, they didn’t weigh the backpacks. We had a wheelchair at each airport, although in Joberg, we had to walk from the City Lodge to the check in counter. The  woman at the check in counter managed to change our seat assignments to the back of the bus from Joberg to Doha and from Doha to Dallas. I was in a window seat and Jonelle was in the aisle seat in the same row. For both legs, we had the middle seat empty which was an unanticipated boon.

I’m (Jonelle) home a month earlier than planned so I can get cataract surgery — oh, to see again! A low-vision vacation is definitely not the best kind.
But, as always, we love being with our friends and being in South Africa — everyone should put it on their bucket list and then accomplish it!
By the way, we recommend Qatar (NOT pronounced Cutter as some people think, but Ka-tar, as spelled) airline over Emirates — there’s a reason they’ve been voted Best 5 years in a row.

So we’re home till next time, when we’ll tell you all about it again. Safely home, still travellogged, jm & lg