Leaving Africa and returning home

We woke at 4:30 when a pod of hippos in the nearby Zambezi River were vocalizing. This would be the last morning that we would hear the hippos, so we didn’t mind the early wake-up call. We showered and finished packing for the drive to Jeki airstrip then to Lusaka to get a commercial flight to Johannesburg followed by a grueling 16 hour flight to Atlanta and a two-hour flight to Lexington. We organized the tips for Clement, our guide, Ashsefu, the valet ,and the other Potato Bush Camp staff. Because he had been so special on our evening of fishing, we also gave Lazarus a tip to show our appreciation.

Breakfast area at Potato Bush Camp

The valet came to our tent with tea at 7:00 and we went to the breakfast area at 7:30 putting our bags outside the tent before we left. Mary and Cindy had sunny side up eggs, while Mark and I had omelets with ham and cheese. There were also muffins and breads as well as several fruits and cereals including porridge.

We said our goodbyes to the staff as we left on our last day in Africa. Clement took us along the Zambezi River to the landing where we loaded into a Land Cruiser. The couple from Ottawa met us there since we would be on the same flights as far as Johannesburg.

Cape buffalo herd near Jeki Airstrip

The jeep trip to Jeki airstrip was only about 10 minutes, but we took a brief detour to see a herd of over 200 Cape buffalo grazing with a few zebras and impala. A few elephants browsed in the distance. The six of us boarded a six seat airplane not counting the pilot and copilot’s seats. There was no copilot on this brief 30 minute flight to Lusaka, Zambia’s capital city. Although much larger than the aircraft that we flew into Jeki on Cindy, and the female from Ottawa were still very nervous.

Our flight to Lusaka, Zambia

Representatives from Green Safaris shepherded us through the Lusaka airport and to security and passport control. We were fortunate to get through before a large group of high schoolers on a school trip arrived. We had a little over 2 hours until our flight to Jo-burg, as it is called, so we walked through the international terminal, visited the duty free shops and went with Cindy to buy a gift for her granddaughter.

The flight boarded on time at 2:30 and departed soon thereafter. We were seated across the aisle from Mark and Cindy and were pleased to have bulkhead seats with plenty of legroom. The flight to Jo-burg was easy. A nice snack was served around 3 pm which was welcome since we had breakfast at 7:30. We landed in Jo-burg around 4:30 and began making our way through the process of entering South Africa again. Going through customs was easy as was picking up our bags. We had only checked our bags to Johannesburg which we learned may have been a mistake.

While we were in line, a rumor circulated that our flight to Atlanta would be diverted to Puerto Rico to get airline staff. We later heard that the flight would be cancelled. Since we were early, the flight wasn’t posted on the departure board yet and there was nothing on the Delta app. There was an additional checkpoint at our gate involving checking our carry-on bags for powder. Everyone on our flight had to allow their bags to be hand inspected.

We met with Mark and Cindy and found a Mug and Bean restaurant that had available seating. We and had a very good meal at an affordable price, which surprised us for airport food. The service was a little slow; we think that our server was new. When we got to the gate we noticed that about a third of the passengers were wearing camouflage. We learned that June is a very popular time for big game hunting in Central Africa.

Our flight was posted to Atlanta on time and with no scheduled layover in Puerto Rico. The flight appeared full, but we boarded early with our Comfort Class seating. Mark and Cindy were one row in front of us in Premium Class. Our seat mate was a young woman who had been hunting with her father and sister in South Africa. She had killed a kudu with 50 inch horns, a large hartebeest and a huge warthog. Her father killed a zebra and giraffe and her sister killed a wildebeest. Her father said that the hunt was far less expensive than big game hunts in North America.

As expected, the flight attendants fed us dinner at midnight. We had chicken with rice which was okay, but we only ate a little of it. We read, watched movies and tried to sleep. We only got about 2 hours of sleep during the 16-hour flight.

Landing in Atlanta was smooth, but we had a 30-minute wait for a gate. We had a message from Delta that our flight to Lexington was cancelled. Once we deplaned, we went to customs only to find that the Global Entry kiosks we not functioning for passengers on our flight. The airport staff then put us at the end of the line for regular entry. This is the second time that Global Entry slowed us down in Atlanta. We later learned that TSA had learned that our flight was canceled and removed access to the Global Entry kiosks for that flight. We were concerned that TSA was getting flight information through social media. 

Once we got through customs, we had to get our flight to Lexington rescheduled before we could go through security. Mark and Cindy went through, but we waited in a lengthy line to see a Delta representative. When we got in the line there were four associates working. However, they were soon moved to another area leaving one staffer to deal with the long line. It was well over two hours by the time we were able to get to the help desk. Mary was on the Delta app the whole time waiting for assistance through the app. Once we made it to customer service we were put on a flight to Lexington that was only two hours later than our original flight. We were given standby status rather than assigned seats. Although we had paid for upgraded seats, we would be happy with any seat for the 90-minute flight.

We got through security easily then met Mark and Cindy for lunch. The food court area was packed so there was no room in any sit-down restaurant. Mark and Cindy bought pizza slices, and we got McDonalds. The service at our McDonald’s was terrible: the young man at the register was rude to everyone, and the food was slow and cold. We joked that the staff in African airports was friendlier, and more people spoke English than in the Atlanta airport.

At our gate we saw that we were numbers 22 and 23 awaiting seat assignments for the flight to Lexington. We saw another Delta representative who said that we were highly likely to get a seat on the flight and that another flight to Lexington was scheduled later in the evening.

Once standby passengers were assigned seats, we were pleased that were were in our upgraded seats for the short flight to Lexington. The flight was only a little late for departure since a passenger was concerned that bags had been misdirected. Our seat mate on the flight was expressing his frustration with a few minutes of delay by huffing and puffing, stamping his feet and just being annoying.

Like prior flights, we read during the short hop to Lexington. Our checked bags made it quickly to the carousel, and we met Ian outside who took us home and helped us with our bags.

It was the trip of a lifetime, but it is great to be home. We have a lot of laundry to do and weeds to clear from the gardens. The neighbor, Sam, kept the yard mowed, but we needed to mow the field and around the trees. We kept the thermostat set to 80 degrees in the house while we were gone, but we took it down a few degrees now that we are home.

We will miss a lot of things about Africa. Having meals custom prepared for us was nice. Having wine and mixed drinks brought to us, tea delivered to our rooms when we woke were great. The biggest thrill was going to the places that Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom visited. We saw the African Big Five (lion, leopard, elephant. rhinoceros and Cape buffalo) and the African Ugly Five (hyena, vulture, wildebeest, marabou stork and warthog). We saw only two of the African tiny five (buffalo weaver and antlion).

Given the cost and time involved, it is unlikely that we will return to Botswana and Zambia. However, we will hold the memories of our time in Central Africa forever.

Arriving in Johannesburg

During the flight, Mary and I both read on our tablets. I finished the Longmire book, Hell and Back, which was very odd but not bad. We dozed off and on through the flight, although neither of us had much sleep. We also watched a few things on the inflight entertainment. We both enjoyed a German movie about a man who works at a bookstore delivering books called Der Buchspazierer. The audio is in German with English subtitles, although we could follow most of the dialogue without subtitles. I watched three episodes of Landman that I enjoyed although the language is rough. Mary listened to playlists by decades.

We didn’t have any crying babies near us, but we did have a loud talker who became a loud snorer. Just before we landed, we were served breakfast of cantaloupe, blueberry yogurt and a breakfast calzone.

After the 16 hour flight, we landed at Johannesburg around 8:30 pm local time. We got through immigration and customs quickly. The City Lodge was a short walk for us without even leaving the airport building. Although we didn’t need it, a porter walked us there for a tip.

Our rooms were nice, and we went straight to bed since we were all tired.

Leaving for Africa

We were up early as usual, so we ran some last-minute errands including mailing our Kentucky and Federal estimated taxes. We filled up pickup since we didn’t know what gas prices would be like by the time we returned, and we had a dollar discount in Kroger fuel points that needed to be used by the end of June. Since the pickup has a large fuel tank, it made the most sense to fill it. We checked on the garden to see if there was anything that needed to be done then returned home for some last-minute packing.

Our neighbor across the road, Larry, picked us up at noon to drive us to the Bluegrass Airport in Lexington. Checking in was easy was easy at the airport. Bluegrass Airport is small and easy to get around. Because baggage weight restrictions in Zambia are for 33 pounds total weight, including carry-on, we didn’t bring much. Each of us brought two carry-on bags, mostly camera gear. We had to pack for a variety of weather since it is midwinter in the Southern Hemisphere now. We knew that the nights and mornings would be cool but the days would warm up. We didn’t bring a lot of clothes since each camp where we would be staying offered laundry service.

Our flight to Atlanta boarded on time at 4:30, and the aircraft was full. We had good bulkhead seats for the 90-minute flight which gave us plenty of legroom.

We met Whittingtons in Atlanta when we deplaned. Everyone was hungry so we ate at Longhorn Steakhouse in ATL. Afterwards we walked around a lot until our 10:30 flight to Johannesburg that departed on time.

The flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg was full. Mary bought tickets the first day they were available and paid a little more for Comfort Plus rather than coach. The bulkhead seats gave us plenty of legroom for the 16-hour flight. Whittingtons were in a row in front of us in business class.

We were surprised that dinner was served at midnight, chipotle chicken with a roll. Neither of us was very hungry since we had eaten a good meal at the Atlanta airport.