Home Again, Home Again

The good thing about jet lag is that it gives you time to create blog entries:) After what we think totals just under 30 hours travel, we are back home with our two very needy domestic cats. If you aren’t connected with us on Facebook, the journey went something like this:

• 45 minute open air Land Cruiser transfer from Mashatu Main Camp to the Bostwana / South Africa boder
• Short cable car ride across the Limpopo River (which is the border between Botswana and South Africa)
• 2 hour minivan transfer to Polokwane airport
• 45 minute flight from Polokwane to Johannesburg
• Picked up the bags and check in for international flight. Note: when they weighed our checked luggage we were using 19 kg of an allotted 98 kg! Killed three hours in the Johannesburg airport by using the wi-fi in the SAA lounge, having something to eat, and going through a very extensive security screening at the gate.
• 8 hour flight from Johannesburg to Dakkar, Senegal. Pro: getting the exit row (even if it was an aisle/middle in the center section. Con: being seated next to a boisterous delegation to the Global Young Leadership Conference in DC. To them, I will probably be forever known as “that mean American lady who told us to be quiet.”
• An hour layover in Dakkar, Senegal to refuel, switch crew, and do another security check (all unoccupied seats searched, all hand luggage matched to remaining passengers, etc.)
• Another 8 hour flight from Dakkar to Washington, DC. The initial arrival in DC was a little chaotic because to board the shuttles you needed to produce your baggage claim tickets (and no one had them handy), but once we got past that we breezed through immigration, picked up the bags, cleared customs, and dropped off the bags for the remaining flight. Another shout out to the Global Entry program – the best travel-related $100 we’ve spent.
• Two hours on the ground in DC.
• A two and a half hour flight from DC to Houston
• Reclaim the bags and take the rental car shuttle to the SWELTERING car.
• 20 minute drive home from the airport.

It was so, so, SO worth it though, and I am already bugging Andy about planning our next visit. We shot 65 gigabytes of pictures (5725 images) and another 2 gigabytes of video, so to answer the question you are all asking, it will probably be a while before we post the pictures. In the mean time, here are some random ones that jumped out at me.

Tags: africa, botswana, photography, southafrica, Travel