Transit Days are Tough

 Thursday, September 22, 2022

The Ladies' Fabric Shopping Club!

It's the last day that our Road Scholar gang will be together, so that's sad!  And it's the first day that Marilyn and I will be on our own, so that's exciting!  Then there's the challenge of trying to rectify the slight problem of Marilyn having booked the wrong flight for us from Johannesburg to Cape Town. It said that it left at 6:05 and she thouight it was P.M.  It wasn't.  We're approaching our problem one step at a time.  But first there's the last breakfast together and the gathering of the suitcases as we will all be flying from Livingstone to Joburg together. And we get to say good-bye to Precious who took such good care of us - washing our laundry, making our beds beautiful with fresh flowers and original designs every morning, and always being a ray of sunshine!

Our beautiful door to the Edward Room

Most of the country is Christian.

You can tranfer money, get cash, and pay bills at these little kiosks.  When asked why there are so many side by side, Sisa says "We aren't very creative!  If one person is making money doing something, everyone else will try it, too!"

There are lots of big, modern buildings in Livingstone.  You might not have guessed that by the photos I've been posting!

Sisa has made some suggestions and we start out following his plan as far as we are able.

At the Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International Airport we try to book a direct flight to Cape Town, like Lotus and Andrew have, but there aren't any more seats.  The attendant at the check-in counter suggests going to the AirLink office to see of another carrier might have one.  Sisa goes with us but even he can't pull that rabbit out of the hat.  He does give us the password to the real airport wifi, though, and puts his number in my WhatsApp so we can call him if we need him at any time!

So - we have a flight booked to Cape Town with a 12 hour layover in Port Elizabeth, which the locals call PE.  Our plan is to spend the night there and rent a car to drive down to Cape Town, where we already have a car reserved.  After nearly fifty minutes on the phone with the rental car agency, we think that we have changed our pick up date in Cape Town to the next day. But we're not really sure.  And we still don't have a car in PE.  We thought we'd do that on-line but it becomes too problematic.  And there's the question of where we'll sleep tonight and will our hotel is Cape Town hold our room if we're a day late.  We've written them but haven't heard back.

Onward and upward!  We cross the tarmac, climb the steps, and settle into our seats for the two-hour flight.  Now that she's calmer, Marilyn has the bright idea to just spend the night in PE and continue on the flight the next morning!  That's so much easier than renting a car and driving eight hours to Cape Town!  

Glad I brought something to read, as there isn't a screen to watch.  But the lunch is amazing!! First there are beverages, including wine!  Then we both choose the lime chicken cubes with orange, walnuts and coriander fusilli pasta! And there are crackers and a dessert with thick cherry sauce covered with a thick white meringue-like substance!  The chicken and pasta are both outstanding!

The black beads are actually giraffe poop that'w been dried and polished.  Don't get it wet!!

Such a lovely lunch box!

And such a lovely meal inside it!

This kid was fascinating.  He ddidn't fasten his seat belt or fold up his tray table before take off, although his mom was beside him and his dad was across the aisle.  Then he at his lunch and his father's!  But at least he's a reader!!

Really?  No standing?

Somebody gets it!  This was in the airport restroom.

Now we're in Johannesburg ready to fly to Port Elizabeth.  The wifi here "doesn't connect to the internet" which seems like a very strange thing;  but it means we can't go any further with our planning.  so we sit and wait for our flight, busying ourselves with exchanging photos and what not.

This is a short flight, also, but they serve a meal!  The choices are the same as the first flight.  Marilyn gets the chicken again and, while I really enjoyed it, too, I think I'll try the roast beef with bulgar wheat.  And it's really good, too!

Happy airport pigeon!

I guess they change the formula depending on what's in season!

Love the name!

We deplane at Chief Dawid Stuurman International Airport in Port Elizabeth walk across the tarmac and enter the terminal to claim our luggage.  It's now after dark and we still don't have a hotel.  And the tourist information booth is closed.  In fact, I think ours was the last flight of the day as the only people we see are the cleaning staff and the drivers with their name signs.  There is someone cleaning the Western Union kiosk and Marilyn asks if there is anyone to help travelers.  She asks what we need and when she finds out we need a hotel she recommends one, calls to make sure they have a room available, and asks us to wait five minutes.  When she's through working she actually walks us to the City Lodge Hotel, across the parking lot, and even drags my suitcase!

They have a room on the first floor and Marlene asks if we can see it first!  We would have just taken it sight unseen;  but she is taking such good care of us!!  We are so relieved to have a bed for the night!  It is clean with white sheets and towels, wifi that works, and an a/c.  And they take charge cards!!  When Marilyn does the math, she figures that the room is costing us $36.00!!

It certainly isn't the River Lodge!!

We do the bare minimum and get ready for bed.  Our flight is at 8:15 in the morning and we figure we can leave here and walk to the departures side of the airport in less than ten minutes.  The lady at the desk thought we could leave at 7:30 and be okay;  but that's not our style.  We don't have boarding passes and who knows what other fun awaits us!  So we'll be there when they open the ticket counter.  We should be able to just show our passports and have our tickets show up.  There's no wifi there, so we'll just be winging it when we land in Cape Town and hope that the hotel got our email and that the rental car company hasn't given away our car, and will let us have it early.  We've been so lucky thus far, I trust that our luck will hold out.

And now to bed.