Say goodbye to South Africa and hello to home

I really enjoyed South Africa and Swaziland and would love to go back one day to visit again. I would totally be comfortable renting a car and driving around these 2 countries. When I was in the leisure travel business, we didn't sell South Africa due to all the travel restrictions so I really didn't know much about it. Since it opened up to tourists about 10 years ago or so I've been selling more corporate travel or travel within N.A. I was really surprised at how moutainous it is and there is just as much beautiful scenery to see inland than just along the coastal roads. The highway system is great and all the signs are in English. There's tonnes of good hotel chains, B&B, guesthouses and lodges of various prices. They have great supermarkets and modern shopping centres if that's your thing and I found it cheaper to eat out than back home. You can even find american fast food like McD and KFC if you want. Not my 2 favorite restaurants, but I did like being able to get a good pizza when I felt like it. Like any big cities around the world, you would need to have maps in advance and make sure you know which areas to avoid the high crime areas.

One big problem that S.A. needs to fix is the lack of electricity. The country doesn't have enough power for everyone. While I was there, just able every city or town has had to do power sharing to cut back on the usage. Three times a week for about 2-2 1/2 hours a day, power would be cut off. Sometimes it would be in the morning but other times I was trying to get ready to go for dinner at 7pm by candlelight in the bathroom. Most offices, hotels, restaurants now have back up generators. They say these power cuts will continue until a few years before new power plants can get built. I guess they are going to start to build a mass of windmills also like Cda is dowing. Hopefully this problem will be fixed by 2010 when they host the World Cup of soccer.

It seems like whites, mixed race and blacks got along well since the days of apartheid. I know they are now having some trouble with the poor blacks that are attacking poor black immigrants. In recent years, due to political problems in Mozambique and Zimbabwe, millions of people from those countries fled across the borders to make a better life for themselves & their families in South Africa. Now more than every, there are many poor uneducated blacks that are fighting for the menial jobs. The Zulus who have lived in S.A. for hundreds of years are saying that Moz. or Zim immigrants are taking away their jobs. Maybe the Zulus need to realize that they were once immigrants themselves many years ago coming from central Africa. I hope the S.A. gov't can fix this problem quickly before there are many more deaths and beatings. I would hate to have a country that relies heavily on tourist dollars have the news scaring away potential travelers. Kenya is a perfect example of that. Both of these countries need travelers from around the world.

Now for the journey home.....

I was really hoping that since it wasn't busy season, the plane would be half empty and I'd be able to stretch out for the long flight home. No luck in my favor. I'm on the aisle seat beside the window seat but it appears that all the inside aisle seats are full even though some of the middle seats are free so those people will have a bit of rooom.

It's about 9 hours from Jo'burg to Dakar Senegal for a refuelling stop. You are fed a dinner shortly after take off and I watched a movie before having short naps and walks around the aisles to stretch my legs. In Dakar, during the 1 hour layover, you are not allowed to get off the plane. Security does come onto the plane and you have to take all hand luggage out of the upper bins and hold it in your lap. I guess they just want to make sure that any of the approx 10 people who disembarked in Dakar didn't leave any bombs or something onboard the plane. From Dakar to Washington DC it's about another 9 hours. We are fed twice and I watch another couple of movies and again go through the have a nap, take a walk scenerio. For the most part, the plane ride was very smooth until about 1hour before landing. I guess there were thunderstorms along the eastern seaboard and mum said that Virginia had a tornado the previous evening.

The plane landed in DC around 630am and I was really hoping to get on the 8am flight to Toronto even though I had to clear U.S. customs, etc. No luck since the flight to T.O. was oversold, so I had to try to amuse myself till the next flight at 1230pm. I leisurely walked from one end of the terminal to the next and explored every shop along the way. Nowadays, airports don't want you to sleep on the seats so there are armrests between each seat so instead of sleeping I read for a while and watched CNN coverage of the tornado and called my mommy to use up the rest of my prepaid calling card.

At 1230pm, surprisingly, I don't feel tired and I'm ready to go but they haven't even called my plane yet. We finally get to board but still sit on the ground. It appears someone has checked in but didn't show up at the boarding gate so they have to look for the loser's luggage. It's just a quick flight to T.O. and I arrive safely but my luggage doesn't so I have to once again fill in lost luggage forms but also add another form for Canadian customs .

My brother Dave who was working in T.O. today was able to pick me up at the airport and drive me to his home in London. My sister Carol and my mum then met me in London to take me back to Chatham. Thanks to you both for taking the time to get me home so I didn't have to sit on the Robert Q Airbus all the way back to Chatham.

It's a long, long way from Johannesburg, South Africa to Chatham, Canada but I made it home safe and sound after being away for just over 3 months. My luggage arrived about 2 days later. The bag was ripped open and the lock had been cut off. Notes from both U.S. Security and Cdn customs noted that they inspected my bag. Here I had spent money on these new locks with special security codes that could be opened by U.S. security so a suitcase didn't have to be damaged if it had to be inspected. So, why was my bag ripped at the zipper and the lock cut off, eh! Luckily, I didn't notice anything missing from my bag.