Getting there! 5 April 2007

Well, as usual in my world, the whole day was completely frantic... I had gone to a meeting in town to do my good deed and support more accessible transport for blind people (as I would/should) and even left 20mns early to make sure I'd allow plenty of time to get to the airport but buses were horrendously slow that day... and so packed that they wouldn't even stop when they eventually got to my stop. As it was the day before the Easter break, I had visions of endless queues at Heathrow Airport and my missing my plane... I ended up having to give up on the buses and pretty much walk half of the way (make that 2 miles), with my winter coat on my arm... I turned up at home soaked with sweat, therefore HAD to make time for a shower... and got further delayed. Had a sweet call from David just before I left though (much needed 'comfort food' - beats a chocolate bar any time) and then ran to the tube station... almost broke my suitcase handle in the process.... got on the tube 40mns later than I had planned (i.e. having allowed just 2 hours before check-in instead of the 3 I intended)... and THEN half way through my journey the tube network crawled to a near standstill due to signal failure (!!!!)..... 40mns to do 5 stops... AHHHH.... If I had suffered from high blood pressure I think it'd have gone sky high by then... I figured that getting to LHR 1 hour before the gate closed, during one of the busiest week-ends of the year was sheer ... arrogance... madness... mission impossible...

BUT, lo and behold, there was NO queue ! I sailed through all the gates and even ended up with 30mns to spare to do some shopping... The Lord does work in mysterious ways ! Who ever doubted the power of prayers should be shot ! :)

I made sure I had no food to eat before I boarded the plane so that I'd be quite starved during my flight to Madrid (I figured it'd be cheaper and, most importantly, better for my waistline than having 5 meals in a day)... only to realise once I was ON the plane that NO food was going to be served anyhow... unless you paid a ridiculous amount of money for a barren sandwich.... which I reluctantly had to do to make sure my stomach was not out of synch.

I then wasted 2h30 at Madrid airport, and then boarded my connecting flight at 00:35 (Iberia, for once, was on time). However, they did insist on serving us proper meals at... 2:30am !!! I could not believe it. I mean, I know the Spanish like to eat late... but, 2:30am? Who are they kidding? No thanks. I told them I needed to sleep more than to eat by then...

I was seated next to a grumpy guy who didn't speak one word to me but at least I had an aisle seat so I didn't care. I swallowed a small sleeping pill and managed to doze off to dream land... on and off, but enough to be fairly alert in my head by the time we landed. Thankfully, there is NO time difference between Madrid & Jo'burg, so, I didn't have to adjust to *that*.

Then we had the 'carousel' incident when we were told our luggage would arrive at No 2, but it was showing as No 3 on the boards. People, after 40mns of waiting for their luggage, were completely confused... we didn't know whether to trust the *spoken* announcements or the *written* boards.. all the time I was worried my driver would leave the airport thinking I failed to turn up. I had a South African mobile with me but I had not managed to buy more credit for my SIM card YET... so could not tell her I was standing still by the carousels...

I was also worried that I'd be grilled at passport control as this was a 'working holiday', so, in effect I needed a Visa... but as it wasn't paid work, it could qualify as a holiday, etc. I was sweating, picturing myself in a jail somewhere for a long time... but the girl stamped my passport without asking me ONE question and the guy in the Green Lane area didn't even read my 'entry card' when I gave it to him. There were SO many people, he never looked at it. Oh well ! Shows it's pointless worrying till you get in trouble really, hum.... I should do as a I preach more often. I usually do, but a jail in South Africa didn't sound like a happy prospect (ask Nelson Mandela for a start !).

My driver was still there and we headed off to Pilanesberg straight away, after I'd bought some stamps and topped up my mobile phone, etc. She was very pleasant and very professional and the drive was quite scenic... especially when we got to a dam area - lots of native plants and flowers around that area. And lovely villages too.

She did say that she had taken lots of i-to-i volunteers to their projects and some had been bitterly disappointed by the lack of organisation... some were even in tears ! Oh dear... I guess I'll have to wait and see. I think the lack of personal space might suffocate me... after a few days. Whether I can last 2 weeks will remain to be seen... I guess I won't have much choice!

We reached the Golden Leopard Lodge where I was staying by 3pm and I was quite pleased with the accommotion.. lovely hot showers... but boy was the resort BUSY. People and children everywhere - from all over the world too - I soon realised I would not be using the pool !

Being not one to waste time I booked myself on the next safari that was going that day, at 5pm. It turned out to be one the best I'd been on... ever.