We've arrived in our overnight home in Johannesburg --the Airport Game Lodge. The adorable, elderly dogs who are touted by the owners as being the most spoiled dogs in the world greeted us as we pulled in. We were happy to see them. It's fun that there is so much familiar to us so far from home. The weather is at least as warm as when we were here in January (the height of summer) but far less humid. We're sitting in a thatched, open-air bungalow structure watching the ostriches and impala walk by as we wait for our vegetarian lasagna to be delivered. It is good to be back in Africa.
The journey has been fairly easy so far, though we were unlucky to have a by-the-book ticket agent when we checked in at the airport in San Francisco. Even one pound over the domestic weight limit of 50 lbs., and he was going to charge us $50 per bag. Usually they will allow you the international limit of 70lbs. when you are connecting to an international flight. But he would not be persuaded. We had to off-load a garbage bag full of school supplies, crayons and books that Scott, our airport driver, took back with him to the Palo Alto Zen Center. It will have to come on the next trip.
The first miracle of the trip occurred as we went through airport security. We had been concerned that our carry-on suitcases, which were stuffed with technology--a motherboard for our Zambian IT friend, a router for the new internet system we are installing, cameras, a video camera, a laptop for our Zambian team, and our own laptops--would catch the attention of the security agents. Indeed our bags did get flagged but not for the technology, instead they confiscated our almond butter. We had forgotten that that would be considered liquid. The man who took it was a jolly sort of fellow who apologized sincerely when he heard our sob story that we are vegetarians headed to Africa where protein is a major challenge. As we repacked our bags at the end of the conveyor he walked over to us, knelt down and held out to each of us our jars of almond butter. "Put it in your bags quickly," he said. "I won't be able to sleep tonight knowing I had taken your major food source. I checked with my supervisor and we were able to make an exception." With big smiles we thanked him profusely and walked on to our gate.
We boarded the red-eye flight for Dulles along with the other passengers, including 60 eighth graders headed to D.C. for a spring trip. Much to our and our fellow adult passenger's relief the students settled right down and went to sleep as soon as we took off.
We landed in Dulles first thing in the morning and spent the day in the airport, complete with naps on the floor, last-minute Monastery business via cell-phone, and email catch-up.
Although completely full (no room to stretch out), the flight to Johannesburg was not too bad. The South African Airways flight from Dulles no longer stops in Dakkar but flies direct to Johannesburg, shaving several hours off the flight time. It makes a big difference.
We arrived in Johannesburg feeling fairly perky and were picked up by the Airport Game Lodge folks who brought us to our current location. We cross our fingers that our bodies will cooperate with the nine-hour time difference and allow us a good night's rest in preparation for hitting the ground running when we arrive at midday tomorrow in Zambia.
Our Johannesburg accommodation.