Even More Getting Out

To Jane

Because you asked about the blog

As I reread it, which I have many times I see it brings back for me trip details but it definitely does not paint an accurate picture of events as they unfolded. 

It was both traumatic and scary. At the time it was really hard to get a grip on what was going on. It has also been difficult to hear hostility towards travellers (ourselves included) on how we (as in travellers) were the problem. People are not themselves these days. It seems everyone is stressed. In BC we are advised to be kind. I think this has helped.

The travel industry in 2019 was huge. Flights were in and out all the time. Massive websites offered mountains of travel advice. Travel was big business. Many who we talked to on other trips recommended South Africa as a destination. Travel agents and tour packages were everywhere. We were really proud of the way we organized our own travel experience. We researched for a year and ended up with a cobbled together blend of bookings we made ourselves. At the end of our 5 week trip, based on advice from friends we tacked on a final 7 day tour package. The final piece was to see on an excursion to Botswana and onto Zambia before we flew home. We had a tourist agent, a tour operator and we registered with the Canadian government. All this we thought would help ensure things went smoothly. We were careful.

As we were preparing to leave we watched as news of deaths in Wuhan, China were being reported. Someone had managed to get pictures to the press of dead bodies piling up. Upsetting as this was in January, it was still far away. The WHO was not yet in front of the press issuing cautions. Indeed covid never did appear in South Africa until we had left. The day we departed Canada the first case of Covid 19 was reported in Canada. At the time several flights from China were still coming into Canada each day. 

As travellers in South Africa we were not watching world events unfold. News channels focused on Trump, bad weather, economic reports etc. We wanted to close our ears to this. South Africa has severe water, electricity, crime and race issues. Immediate concerns for our safety occupied our focus. Crime in the big cities in South Africa was rampant. We were on high alert for the ever present dangers. At the end of our tour of “civilized” South Africa we went into the bush. We both felt much safer amidst baboons, elephants and lions etc.. In the bush we had no tv, and mostly no internet (and therefore no news) for days on end.

We had no idea in the bush a pandemic was about to be declared. We left Kruger National Park and flew to Johannesburg. From there we were to take the next part of our trip, the tacked on tour. We were starting to get cryptic messages from our son and daughter urging us to come home. They were insistent. That day Trump announced only Americans could fly from Europe into the US. This was a stunning turn of events. We could see this would have major impact on all world travel. We phoned the Canadian Embassy in South Africa and asked them what we should do. They told us to carry on with our trip. We had tickets home 7 days hence with British Airways through Heathrow, London. By now all non American European travellers wanting to get to North America had to come through London. What’s more Trump could just as easily slam the door shut on London. (In fact he did this a short while later). We tried that night to rebook our flight to return a week sooner. British Airways was overwhelmed with phone calls and web traffic. We could not reach them by phone or internet. The staff at the airport could not help us. We could not change our tickets to get home sooner. Uneasily we decided to carry on with our trip. My gut told me to go home. My son phoned us in our hotel and pleaded with us to get home. We proceeded with our trip and flew into the bush in Botswana. We were worried sick. Our time there was weighed down with world events and worry. At the end of our second day we decided to try and get home. Suddenly the possibility of getting stuck in South Africa was real. We flew back to Johannesburg airport. Things were changing quickly. Finding help was not easy. No one could reach British Airways. Even the gate agents couldn’t get through to their head office. We watched helplessly as a flight left South Africa for London that had room on it. We tried to reach our travel agent and tour operator. We finally got through but they would not help us. They told us to go back to Botswana and carry on with the trip. They also told us that demand for our tickets to North America had gone up and we would have to send them a lot of money to hold the tickets we already had. To us it felt like extortion. We decided to try to find another way home. The ocean separating the America’s from the rest of the world started to look impenetrable. We wandered the airport seeking help. Nothing. We had dinner in the Johannesburg airport hotel that just days earlier had been filled. We sat virtually alone. That night in our airport hotel room we googled for help. A suggestion appeared. It was to fly to Dubai on Emirates airline the next night, then onto Seattle and finally to Vancouver Canada. We hit the buy button. Nothing. We were stunned. We didn’t know what to do. We started to search again. Suddenly at 3 am confirmation came through we were on the Emirates flights. I started to cry. My stomach stopped hurting for the first time in days. We got up and started printing flight confirmations. We were to fly out the next night. Our son and daughter were elated. Now how to spend the next 15 hours in an airport without getting exposed. We decided to book and stay in our hotel room until it was time to leave. Getting into our seat on the flight was a huge relief. The flight was completely booked. Relief on the entire flight was palpable. We exchanged brief stories on how lucky we all felt. Still concerned we might be exposed to the flu we wore masks on the flight used our hand sanitizer every time we touched something and tried to keep our distance from everyone. We were in the air for 30 hours. When we arrived in Vancouver our son and daughter each driving one car pulled up. Our son got out of our car and jumped in with our daughter. Keeping large distance from them we got into our car and drove home. They had stocked us up on food. Quarantined for 14 days felt like a nothing. Every time I lay in my bed I was and still am overjoyed to be back in Canada. I am just so happy to be here.

More on getting out

The last pic we took in Africa was of a puff adder snake. It is one of the most feared and dangerous snakes in Africa. It was not 30 feet from us when spotted. The bushmen on safari shared how they listen to the birds and other animals to find lions and snakes etc.. Having made the decision to get out we did not join the safari that morning. We stayed back to try to make exit arrangements.  Now the managers at this camp were the best. I knew if I asked for something they would deliver (if it was possible). Being African, in the travel industry with tentacles that reached out to agents across Africa, they could get things done. We asked them to get ahold of British Airways and help us get out sooner. As we awaited word on what could be done the serving staff listened to birds warning of the approaching snake. Keeping a safe distance we got a good pic. That morning the cheerful managers came back tense and silent. Something was wrong. They told us they would keep on trying as we worked our way back to Johannesburg.

In Johannesburg we discovered nothing had happened with our booking. Now it was hard to imagine that things could go so wrong so quickly. As I presented our case to the British Airways gate agent I opened a can of worms by saying our government was telling us to get out. Suddenly language became very important. Were they “telling”, “advising”, “ordering”.... because each phrase I found out meant something entirely different. Who knew? Advising meant that the insurance companies would not have to pony up for trip cancellation. After all if we chose to get out that was our choice. Come On!!! A global pandemic and we are talking about protecting insurance companies! I was not surprised. This was not my first rodeo. You see from so far away and when you are not plugged in to what is going on it is really hard to figure it all out. I eavesdropped on breakfast conversations. People were trying to make sense of it. With NO straight talk this was very difficult. In fact most conversations at breakfast ended with “Yeah, it was just an advisory”. 

So out come the snakes. Our agent tried to get us to pay again for a flight that from here I can see will never get off the ground. He wanted us to stick to our March 20th date. We are still bitter. Getting to North America was the trick. With flights from all Europe cancelled we needed a different entry point. We needed a point on the globe that had not been banned. Dubai 😀. I had always wanted to see it and we had a great view of it as we flew in. We could see all these cruise ships tied up, and all the mega ships of various royalty. We joined the Emirates Skyward Club sitting in our hotel room in Johannesburg 😀. It was free, entitles us to loads of spam, and puts us into their system for bookings. We were upgraded to biz class for our first booking. Of course by far, best of all, it got us to North America. Dubai’s airport was a glittering tower. Like Singapore it is very beautiful. Plus it was WAY cheaper than British Airways.

Getting to North America, I wanted to kiss the ground. YVR was shocking. There were 6 security agents to every 3 passengers coming through. Hosts of machines (looked like 100) stood empty. Ropes were still set up to control the lineups that no longer existed. No one was there. Every official we met knew we had been to hell to get there that day. They nodded to say everyone had the same story. Or at least the same ending, huge relief.

We did not get tested coming through YVR (or through Seattle). I don’t know how it would work if symptoms presented between Dubai and Seattle. I mean the US wouldn’t want us and Canada says we can’t come in. We are into day 1 of the quarantine. 

If anyone wants to leave cookies on our doorstep, just come up, leave them and ring.😀

So happy to be in Canada. I just want to stay here from now on.

Hitting the ground running in Dubai

After a pleasant 8 hour flight from Johannesburg, we had to hustle once landed to make our Seattle connection. The airport here is absolutely massive; as is Emirates airline. The number of their planes on the ground was incredible including 8 or 10 of those very large Airbus A380’s. Think how many must be airborne at any particular moment.

We wore too many clothes so were getting warm when we hit the health screening- yikes! - thermal imaging cattle chute. No escape but we got through to hear the gate agent utter the 6 sweetest words the harried traveler will ever hear: “You’ve been upgraded to business class.”

And that’s where I sit right now as I write this. Our route takes us almost directly over the North Pole then down over B.C. to Seattle. Will try to post now using their wifi. We so look forward to getting home!

Trouble

Took a 6 seater bush plane out of the glamping camp. We then booked a flight to Johannesburg airport (now a comparative ghost town). In theory we were to fly from Johannesburg to London and on to YVR. We wanted to leave 5 days early. Long story short, even though we paid for biz class on British Airways they couldn’t help us. Our travel agent told us to fly to Zambia (on our own) then come back to Johannesburg and then get our flight to London and then YVR.  This same agent also asked us for a lot more money because demand for our tickets had gone up. British Airways told us they could do nothing. So we were tired and frustrated. You see no one can reach British Airways right now. Their website and phones are overwhelmed. People are angry at the gate. Last night a flight left for London with room and they would not let us on. Flights from London to Canada are being sold at highly inflated prices, because it is the only way right now all of Europe can get into North America. 

Well we took matters into our own hands. At 3 am after working our fingers on our tablets, we got confirmation we are on a flight from Johannesburg to Dubai, then on to Seattle, then finally into YVR.  We leave tonight. We feel very lucky we were able to make this happen. It will be a super long 30 hour journey, but we do not overnight anywhere. 

Doug: Although the routing home will see us cross 14 time zones versus the original plan’s 10, I am actually feeling quite good about it. Total transit time is about the same 30 hours and we should be home 6:30 pm Monday. In addition, we go nowhere near the hot zone of Europe. We leave in another 11 hours so let’s see if I’m still feeling this way, say, 36 hours from now! 

Interesting to see that travel insurance companies now waffling on trip interruption claims due to the virus. We’re with Manulife - the Darth Vader of insurers. Insurance is generally very useful unless you actually are in need of it.

Going to cut the trip short

This morning we saw that the Canadian Government is advising everyone to go home from wherever they are. We are going to try to do this today. We don’t know what to expect. We are flying out of the bush in an hour.

Arrival in Okavango Delta

Yesterday, we took small Embraer jet from Johannesburg to a very small airport in Maun, Botswana. We then took an even smaller 12 seater prop plane to the airstrip that serves this 12 tent lodge in the Okavango delta. After 30 minute jeep ride, we arrived at the camp and enjoyed boisterous singing by the 15 or so staff to greet us. Camp is about 1/2 full with 7 ladies from Maine on a gals tour and a pleasant couple from Hamburg (who are our companions on safari vehicle).

After quick orientation, we hit the road looking for wildlife. Being an inland delta (floodplain), terrain is very flat - largely grasslands at this time of year with groves of trees scattered throughout. Grasslands are punctuated by many phallic-like termite mounds. 

Most of these mounds are 1-3m in height while some can top 4m in my estimation. Grass can be quite thick in spots (1m high) and this can make wildlife hard to spot. That said, we had a good outing yesterday afternoon. 

We were also treated to a dramatic thunderstorm which we don't often get at home.

Like the last place, vehicle is a modified Toyota Land Cruiser that will bulldoze through anything. 

That's our guide Comic driving sporting his lucky hat. Note hyena just beyond the hat. Birgit and Hans Peter from Hamburg up front. 

That's it for now and I'll close this post by thanking my golf buddy Art for suggesting that we visit this beautiful and unique area.

Why I am going grey

The previous 24 hours in Johannesburg were for sure the most stressful of the trip. This included fleeing from the accommodation we had booked through a desperate section of the city with maybe 10 minutes to spare before daylight disappeared. We were quite rattled. We booked into a hotel at the airport, clicked on our Wifi and discovered Trump had banned non Americans from flying into the US for 30 days. Tired and rattled we couldn’t figure out what to do. We were worried about getting stuck (in Johannesburg), and getting sick. One option we seriously considered was ending the trip and going home. We knew Europeans could still get out through Heathrow, so we reasoned it would be overrun with travellers. This makes it the definition of a hot zone. We enquired about switching tickets but found we could easily get out of South Africa. We could not so easily get out of London. If we just stuck to our original booking, we would fly through the hot zone. We land in London and then take off for Vancouver. The option we chose was to go to Botswana and carry on with the trip. We are now on in a remote tented camp on the Okavango Delta. It is hot here and far away from people. To get here we took a small plane from Johannesburg to Maun. Now came the surprise. To get to the camp we had to get into a bush plane and fly to a tiny landing strip. I am glad I didn’t know this was coming until I crawled into this inky winky plane. One more surprise. They took our temperatures as we arrived in Botswana. We came in the midday heat and I could barely stand it. We were both normal, but I couldn’t help wonder what would have happened had we had a fever.

Last night nature treated us to a huge electrical storm. It came up as we were in this little Jeep looking for wildlife. Now golfers know that lightening is attracted to moving objects on a flat surface. This is like a golf course except it is a very rough ride. You are out in the open, riding around in a little cart and an easy pick off for the fork lightening coming down everywhere. The good news is I am still writing this blog.