Airline challenges, but we’ve made it to Joburg…Photos from our last night in Las Vegas…..

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We dined in Henderson, Nevada, at Lindo Mochaicans. a fantastic Mexican restaurant, noisy and fun. This drink is called a Coronarita. Get it? 

While on the first leg of our long journey, I wrote this, an almost five-hour flight from Las Vegas, Nevada, to Newark, New Jersey. I was hopeful. If the flight continued at this pace, we expected to arrive early in Newark, at around 7:30 pm, Eastern time.  

Our next flight to Johannesburg, the 15-hour red-eye, was scheduled to depart at 8:35 pm, giving us ample time to get to the gate where we were to board.  Our fingers were crossed for more ‘safari luck,” especially appropriate as we make our way back to Africa with wildlife in mind.

Guacamole made tableside, served with homemade tortilla chips.

Toward the end of the Newark flight, I spoke to the flight attendants. They told us the next flight would wait for us since we’d booked everything with United Airlines, except for the leg from Joburg to Nelspruit, leaving on Monday at 11:20 am and arriving less than an hour later, when we collect the rental car and make the 90-minute drive to Marloth Park.

With only 46 minutes between the two flights to make our way to a distant gate, naturally, when we deplaned, hearing the pilot telling the other passengers to make way for those with immediate connecting flights, we didn’t think we’d make it. The flight attendant noticed us walking by and said, “Barrel on through. People wouldn’t budge. Make them move!”

I giggled at her comment and pressed on through the crowd, with Tom behind me, handling the two carry-on bags. We exited gate C121 in Newark and thought we could make it in minutes to gate C125 in no time at all. Oh, no, not the case. My Fitbit clocked over 3000 steps from one gate to the next.

Once we arrived at the gate, the doors were closed with a sign reading “Boarding closed.” Fortunately, an agent stood behind the desk and checked us in, alerting the plane we’d made it. Whew! We were so relieved to have made it. I was incredibly relieved to see the two seats were empty next to me on row 45. I could stretch out to sleep. Tom only had one free heart next to him, at his seat across the aisle from me.

I was glad we hadn’t upgraded to business class, which we’d considered. But, at the cost of US $2000, ZAR 29702, we couldn’t justify it. One bad night’s sleep could be recovered in a few nights.

The almost 15-hour flight was relatively uneventful. The food was awful, nothing I could eat, and nothing Tom would eat. Before landing at 5:45 pm, 1745 hrs, they served an egg McMuffin-type thing with one cooked egg and a slice of ham. I ate the egg and the ham and left the bread. Tom ate his.

Once we arrived at Joburg airport, after over an hour of searching, the big duffle bag containing most of our new clothes and shoes was missing at the carousel. We filed a claim and hope we’ll receive it in Marloth Park by Tuesday. If not, we’ll have to file another claim for the value of its content. What a pain! But, we are grateful to be here safely with only one more leg to go.

We’re spending the night in the airport hotel in Johannesburg and will be ready to get back into the airport in the morning. Hopefully, we’ll be able to get some sleep tonight. It’s almost 10:00 pm here in South Africa, but it’s still 1:00 pm for us. I can’t imagine falling asleep anytime soon.

There it is, folks, another long journey behind us with many more to come in the future, health-providing, speaking of which, we’re grateful to return to SA fully vaccinated after a great family visit. Time well spent.

The view of Allegiant Stadium, home of the Las Vegas Raiders, is seen from the restaurant window.

We will be back tomorrow with an update on which of our animal friends are back to see us! We’ve been gone four weeks and hope they weren’t too discouraged to return to us.

Photo from one year ago today, July 25, 2020:

From the year-ago post on day #124 while in lockdown in Mumbai, India. Classic scene of three vultures on a limb in Kruger National Park. We were thrilled to get this shot from quite a distance. From this site: Vultures are, however, great ecologists, having a high sense of personal hygiene and are a manifestation of the adage of patience as a virtue. They clean the veld of carrion, thereby minimizing the impact of animal disease, and they bathe regularly in rivers after gorging themselves at a kill.” For more, please click here.

Rental car complications…More Kruger National Park photos…

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“This is a good place to rest my head.”

Some readers/friends have suggested we buy a car to keep in South Africa, rather than continue to rent. We appreciate the suggestion, but that doesn’t work for us. We’d have to buy the car, put out the cash, buy an insurance policy, and find a place to store it when we are away. This would cost considerably more than we’re paying for rentals now.

In reality, we don’t plan on living in South Africa long-term. We will continue to visit every few years and stay as long as we can make the visa situation work. But, we still have lots of the world left to see. Once the pandemic settles down and we all settle into a “new normal,” and when travel resumes more readily, we will be on our way.

Classic giraffe photo with blue sky in the background.

Where will we go? That remains to be seen based on the availability of travel throughout the world and, of course, coupled with our ability to get the vaccine at some point. We’re especially looking forward to cruising again once we can get the vaccine, hopefully within the following year. Everything is still up in the air.

As for rental cars, lately, we’ve noticed substantial price increases for vehicles from the Nelspruit/Mpumalanga/Kruger Airport, our closest and most convenient pickup and return location. Since the pandemic, all the rental car facilities in Nelspruit are closed on weekends, which is a challenge to ensure we pick up and return cars Monday through Friday. The contract for the car we have now will end on Sunday, yet they want to charge us for an extra day returning it on Monday. Go figure.

Giraffe munching on low-lying trees.

We’d arranged for another car from the site we often use, rentalcars.com, and received a confirmation after payment in full. Two days ago we received a notice from rentalcars.com that they are canceling our contract for the new rental period since they don’t have “that particular car” and offered us another car at a 30% increase in price. We refused that car.

Then we called Budget about our current contract to see if they could help us by extending our current until June 30th. It was impossible to speak to someone who knew what to do. We kept getting disconnected, or someone would come on the line and direct us to another phone number. We’d call the other number, and they’d direct us back to the original contact person.

Giraffe among dead trees in Kruger National Park.

After multiple tries, we finally located an affordable car at Thrifty at the Nelspruit Airport for pickup on Monday. Then we called Budget again last night to find out what they’d charge us for the extra day. No one knew. After multiple calls, we gave up. Finally, we gave up and started all over again.

We told them we’d be there by noon on Monday to drop off the car and find out at that time the fee for the extra day. They could easily gouge us, but from experience, additional days are usually prorated from the initial contract rate. If it’s more than that, you can be assured we’ll handle it. We’ve always found that kindness and patience work better than hostility. We will figure it out.

View from the bridge of the Verhami Dam.

So, at the moment, we have a car selected from Thrifty with full insurance for under US $1400 for the next 79 days, averaging at ZAR 248, US $17 a day, higher than we usually pay but still a reasonable price. The insurance includes us returning the car every 30 days since our credit cards only cover the insurance for the first 30 days of any car rental contract.

Hippo up for some air. Hippopotamuses love water, which is why the Greeks named them the “river horse.” Hippos spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in rivers and lakes to keep their massive bodies cool under the hot African sun. Hippos are graceful in the water, good swimmers, and can hold their breath underwater for up to five minutes.

Thus, we’ll make the almost three-hour round trip drive to Nelspruit on Monday, returning with the new car from Thrifty. We’d intended to grocery shop on the return drive at the fabulous Spar Market in Malelane. Still, when we ran out of food yesterday, we headed to Komatipoort and purchased enough groceries to last for at least the next ten days.

Elephants on the move on a path in Kruger National Park.

Today is sunny and a little warm with a high expected of only 87F, 31C. As always, the humidity is high, making it feel more sociable. All is quite well here. We are content as we could be.

We hope you are also. Be well.

Photo from one year ago, April 9, 2020:

Hanalei Bay on a sunny day, taken from our condo in Princeville in Kauai, Hawaii. Year-ago posts were all taken from older posts while in lockdown in Mumbai, India. Please excuse the repetition. For more photos, please click here.