About two weeks ago my teammates and I began our trip to South Africa from Accra. We didn't realize at the time that we had entered an episode of the Amazing Race but apparently we did. Before I tell you the details let me just say that in spite of varying challenges all our luggage arrived at the same airport at the same time we did and we were safe in every place we went. Praise the Lord.
At the airport in Accra, I stepped up to the counter to check in only to find that I was not in the system. So Lee came up to see if he and his family were in there since all our tickets were booked together. None of the Sonius' were in there either. After a short discussion Lee and I (and TJ) are sent to the KLM office to figure out what is wrong. Michelle and Kyle stayed with the luggage. The short story is that even though we paid for the tickets somehow they had never been entered into the system and so our entire bookings for the trip had been cancelled. Not a good way to start a trip. The agent in the office had to take all five of us and rebook the whole trip. Fortunately there were still seats on the flight we were trying to get on that night. But it did change things on the back end of the trip. While the agent is taking quite a bit of time to change our tickets, Lee and I are trying to remain calm and polite as the time for take off draws closer and closer. The check in desk has called the agent at least twice to see if we are done and on our way. Finally with about 15 minutes or so to take off, we have the tickets in hand and start running for the plane. Literally running - for a few hundred meters (the office was in a building a bit removed from the actual terminal). They quickly check us in and an agent has to escort us through the rest of the process as the plane is being held for us. I believe this is the first time in my life that a plane has waited for me. We really did feel like we were on the amazing race as we were all running up the ramp and getting into our seats. It was kind of them to wait for us. And yes all our luggage made it. We were quite impressed and a bit surprised. The rest of this trip to South Africa was very smooth.
Another episode of running for transportation was at the train station in Cape Town. We took a bus from the waterfront to the train station to catch the train to St. James. The train we need leaves at 5:06 and at 5:03 we are still waiting for the cashier to give us our tickets. Again we are running through the terminal. This time though we had 11 of us and 3 were children, 7 and under. We hopped on the train - realized we were in the wrong part of it- ran to the correct part and sat down. The bell rang and the doors closed about 20 seconds after we were seated.
Our final dose of the Race was on the way home from South Africa. We flew from Johannesburg to Nairobi and had a few hours layover there. Finally we are sent out from the terminal to board our plane. For those who haven't flown in Africa, most of the time you go down stairs from the terminal, walk on the tarmac a bit and then up the stairs into the plane. Most places do not have the nice tubes between the plane and terminal. So we are down on the tarmac, following our Kenya Airway agent to the plane...or not the plane. Lee and Michelle are inside already when we all are told this is not the right plane. So we traipse across the tarmac to another plane...or not the plane. This time we are told on the ground that this plane isn't going to Accra. The agent we are following decides to go investigate so here we stand - a large crowd of people- waiting on the tarmac to find out where to go. The third time really is a charm b/c we walk to the third plane and it is the one going to Accra. Thank you! If you don't know what the tarmac is it is the part of the airport where the planes sit, luggage carts scoot about and all sorts of other vehicles run around. This is where we are walking back and forth between planes. I found it quite hysterical. Aviation officials in the US would have a coronary if they saw all these people wandering around between planes.
I found a few things different in just how people are put on the planes. In the states we are boarded by rows or groups so it is fairly organized. In African airports you board by however you get into the queue. If that means pushing or cutting in front of people - well there it is. It is important to get on early to have a place for your carry-on. And then in the US we board at one door. On the Kenya air flight we boarded at the front and at the back of the plane. In many ways it is a good thing b/c it helps people get on faster. The problem was that there wasn't anyone watching which rows were going where so people with seats at the back of the plane went in the front door and people with seats at the front went in the back door. Needless to say, it was very challenging to move around and pass each other in the tiny aisle that planes have but somehow it was done. It looked like an intersection in Accra with everyone jammed in from all sides and no one can move:)
These are just the funny traveling moments. The trip as a whole was really wonderful. Cape Town is amazingly beautiful and the time with my teammates from around the region was great. I will write more on the specifics of what we did and saw when I have some pictures ready to post with it.
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