Well, the day finally came. I had the amazing opportunity to dust off my passport and pass through the gate leading to my adventure. This was the first time in a while that my flight began in the early evening. However, most flights traveling across the Atlantic seem to leave later in the day to allow for a reasonable arrival time. My flight originated in Kansas City (to Atlanta then Johannesburg), so my departure began at 4:00PM.
When planning my flights, I decided to leave a longer layover between my Kansas City and Atlanta flights. While it’s often nice to hop off one flight and immediately hop on another, I didn’t want any delays to create panic in my soul! As a result, I left a three hour cushion.
***Side note: If you are a frequent flyer, having a membership into an airport lounge is golden. There are beverages, food, and comfortable seating areas. In Atlanta there is even a shower (didn’t know how much I’d appreciate this until I was on the way home). These items are all included in your membership. One of the credit cards I have comes with a yearly membership fee (around $400). You can also become a Priority Pass member outside of a credit card account. My membership allows me to go into the participating lounges…and bring friends. This year I’m allowed three friends. Next year that number decreases because, well…good things only last so long.
Anyway, before I move on, let me do the math…most entries into lounges without membership are ~$35.00. For this trip alone I went to the lounge in Kansas City, Atlanta (there and back), Johannesburg (when heading to Maun and when heading home), and Victoria Falls. I was able to take Jenny and Mark into the Johannesburg and Victoria Falls airports which rounded out to…12 visits in lounges. KC+ATL(x2)+JNB(x6)+VFA(x3). At $35 per entry, I would have spent $420 in entry fees. However, all of that was covered. I never had to buy food or drinks at the airport, and we all know how expensive that can be. Jenny and Mark said they easily spent $50 on food in NYC before the trip–and that was only snack-type foods. By moving into the lounge, they saved a lot of money. And…that was not my only trip this year…but I digress.
Okay…back to the trip. When it was finally time to board the plane to Johannesburg, I was ready. I didn’t know what to expect, but the best thing occurred. There was an empty seat between my other seat mate and me. I was in economy, so this was a dream come true. Even better, Sarah and I became fast friends and talked the night away. She was even braver than me because she was going on a trip with total strangers. Her husband didn’t love to travel, so she found a women’s travel group and took off. I really admire Sarah and hope to be brave like her one day.
Sarah and I talked at our seats, visited the flight attendants while snacking in the back of the plane, and slept on and off. Once we arrived, Sarah and I reluctantly said goodbye, and I headed through customs to start looking for Peter. Peter is brother to Brian (Hemingway Safaris) and invited us to his home for a meal before our one night stay in Johannesburg. This is not typical, but because Jenny and Brian are friends, we got the red carpet treatment.
After a short visit, we headed to the Dunvegan Execu Lodge for the night. It was quite the charming stay. There was great security (there is a locked and gated entry), and it was delightfully quaint with only eight rooms for the entire place. Once inside my room, I spent some time figuring out how to heat the room (it’s winter in July), and I used my South Africa adaptor to charge all my technology (which included a watch and phone). Then, it was lights out for me. I was exhausted.
In the morning I awoke to a warm room and great expectations. I packed up my things, texted with Jenny, and headed for breakfast. It was delightful. One thing you should know about me…I LOVE breakfast. It is likely my favorite meal, so when I arrived in their breakfast area, I was a little bit excited. They had muffins, fruit, cereal, eggs anyway you like them, juices, coffee, and my personal favorite… hot chocolate. There was so much more, so I tried to reel myself in.
Mark wasn’t feeling well that morning, so when Peter arrived to take us back to the airport, we offered him Mark’s breakfast. Peter was quite pleased.
If you remember from my earlier post, you will know that this was potentially the most stressful time in the trip because we booked our flight to Maun with the unreliable Air Botswana. This was the moment of truth. We didn’t arrive terribly early to the airport, but we were there before any worker for Air Botswana (strike one). 😬
When we finally were able to get in line, we started talking to some new friends who were both from Botswana. Neither one of them had much confidence in the airline, but they had still booked because it was the best option.
It took us about a half an hour to get to the counter. Our new friend had just been told his flight (not ours) had been cancelled, and they booked him on a flight that would depart that evening (strike two).
For us…there was no delay. Our flight was on time (home run). We just had to weigh our baggage as we were not allowed to go above 20 pounds. I made the cut. Jenny and Mark, however, had to move and shift items from bag to bag before the customer service agent would let them pass. Thankfully, we all had room in our personal item bags to get their carry-ons close to the approved weight.
The plane was small, but we were thrilled to be on it. Better than that, it took off and landed on time.
When we arrived in Botswana, customs was a bit of a hassle. I imagine things worldwide will become more streamlined in the future, but until then I suggest you make yourself a small note with the following information:
- Flight number
- Name and address of destination (we just listed the hotel for that night)
- List of places you will visit
- Length of stay
- Amount of cash you have on hand
Eventually we made it through and met our hotel transportation driver.
Something funny that occurred was there was a sign with my last name on it, but it said four customers. I went up to the sign holder and quickly realized there was another family coming in with my last name.
Of course, I exclaimed my excitement that I would finally be meeting my long lost relatives. Every few minutes I would check in with the sign holder, but my “family” hadn’t arrived. Soon, all the other sign holders heard about my excitement, and they started to look for my “family”.
Out of nowhere I heard my name. I looked up, and a lady was pointing to my “family”. It was a dad with three kids. I’m sure they thought I was crazy as I excitedly explained that they must be my long lost relatives because we shared the same last name. When I asked where they were from, they told me (I didn’t understand their accents), and I explained I was from America. They were probably thinking, “Of course you are you crazy lady.” However, they smiled sweetly, went on their way, and I returned to my friends so we could continue to wait for all passengers heading to Maun Lodge.
The rest of the day was uneventful. Mark slept because he was still not feeling well. Jenny and I explored the grounds of the hotel and ate both lunch and dinner. The following day would be the start of our long awaited Safari.
Reba Roams the World 
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