Bad Timing to Finally See a Great Thunderstorm
Johannesburg, South Africa
November 17, 2011
We started our day at the regular time & packed up. Bill settled the tab & is now painfully aware that the drinks are not included in the cost of our stay. Guess I will have to scale back on my shopping activities! Boo!
We had the last two poached eggs & I had some Wheet Bix with milk & fruit. We sat on the deck & had one last look at the lagoon, elephants, buffalo, herons, ibis, zebras & impalas.
Amy, Lisa, Tanya & Dominic gave us a great send off. It is sad to say goodbye to our new friends!
We thought we had seen the last of the animals, but as we were driving out we saw a bushbuck, & then two giraffes, one on each side of the road Delayed, My Ass. We were thinking that it was a bit suspicious because they had "Thanks for Visiting" & "Please Come Again Soon" signs around their necks... LOL!
On the way to the airport we saw a lot of activity along the road. There were a few vehicles, but many men, women & children walking or riding bikes on the road or on the side of the road. The women were carrying buckets, tubs or baskets on their heads. Other women were sweeping their yards with a bundle of palm leaves or had babies on their backs wrapped in a kikois on their backs. Men were carrying loads over their shoulders or baskets of lettuce, sheets of tin, or grain sacks on the back of their bikes. Some children were wearing uniforms & were on their way to school. I saw two young girls walking, one had her arm wrapped around her friend's shoulder. A young toddler shouted "hello" & wildly waved her chubby little hand as we zipped by.
Everyone is wearing brightly coloured fabrics. The women have tops with sarong style skirts. Some ladies have scarves on their heads, but most do not. The men wear t-shirts & pants or shorts. Children walking or riding to school are wearing white or light blue shirts & dark pants or skirts while others are wearing t-shirts & jeans, shorts or skirts.
Calvin explained that children can receive a free education up to grade 7 in Zambia. The cost for continuing education depends on what type of school the child attends (boarding school for ex.)
The villages are made up of stone buildings with thatched or tin rooftops. Along the road we can see houses clustered around clusters of shops. The stores are open & only have 3 walls. As we drive by we can see textiles, clothes, shoes, fruits & vegetables displayed in them. Each village also has at least one school. Mfuwe Lodge sponsors a school in one of the villages that we passed.
When we were getting close to the airport we stopped at a textile factory & shop that employees local people. We were not able to see the factory as it was too early, but we looked around the shop at the wall hangings, pillow covers, purses, bags, placemats, table runners, wooden bowls & serving utensils, jewellery, paper & canvas prints. The prices were similar to what it would be in North America, so we made a few select purchases. While we waited for Calvin to return we took photos of some of the flowers & watched 4 young black kittens play in the shop.
The brief rain is over & it looks like we will have no delays on our hour flight to Lusaka today. We were in Lusaka for 2 hours then had a 1 1/2 hour flight to Johannesburg. Again we had another 2 hour layover in Jo'burg before heading to Kruger.
When we left Johannesburg at 5:20, the clouds on our 50 minute flight to Kruger looked like mountains! I was no longer enamoured with the clouds, as we circled the airport in Nelspruit for 20 - 30 minutes, hoping the thunderstorm would let up. We were getting low on fuel, so we had to return to Jo'burg. There is also a thunderstorm there too, but we are low on fuel & out of options. After many tense minutes & lots of prayers we were down on the ground safely again in Jo'burg.
We received the bad news when we were on the bus back to the terminal that our flight was cancelled & we will not be departing until 6:30 tomorrow morning. We are going to miss out on our first night at an amazing lodge & miss our safari in the morning. I am heart broken, & hope that by some miracle we can somehow get there tonight.
We walked over to the Intercontinental Airport & spoke with concierges, Roxy & Vanessa. They directed us to the pay phones, but the 800# did not work & our credit cards did not work. Roxy was kind enough to use her phone to call Thompson for us. Bill spoke to someone who is going to call us back shortly. Bill confirmed that they had availability here at the hotel, at a very steep price, but we do not have very many options at this point. Vanessa was an absolute angel & provided us with free internet so that Bill could try to get a hold of Moira to see if anything else could be done tonight.
After a while we determined that we were not going anywhere tonight, so we booked a room for the evening. Vanessa confirmed that we could have a room with 2 twin beds or that we could wait 45 minutes for a king room to be cleaned & ready. Vanessa also let me know that she has also applied a discount for our stay. These ladies are so incredibly empathetic right now! We decided to wait, we are fine killing time by checking email & looking at the blog.
Shortly after checking in Vanessa offered to bring us some wine "on the house" to make our unexpected time here a little more pleasant. We accepted & enjoyed our wine while waiting for the room. A short time later Roxy advised us that the rooms were ready. When we inquired about Vanessa, Roxy let us know that she was personally checking to make sure that our room had been properly prepared, what an angel!
Those of you who know us well, know that we have travelled a lot & stayed in many hotels. I think that this is one of the absolute best experiences that we have ever had. Both Vanessa & Roxy have gone way above & beyond for us this evening. They really have been the silver lining in our dark cloud today. We are both extremely overwhelmed & pleased with the service we have received & are thrilled with how the Intercontinental has empowered 2 amazing representatives for their organization. Well done ladies, you have made our night!
It was getting late (around 9 or 10 when we got up to the room), Bill headed back to the airport to grab a bite to eat while I relaxed. He brought back sushi, a kinder egg (with a rhino treat), water & ordered 2 more glasses of wine. It was nice to have a bite to eat, relax, watch some TV & sleep in a cool & comfortable room, ready for tomorrow.
