I had a bit of time at Jo'burg airport (13 hours), so this travel description may be a little long, enjoy...
START: Up 4:00 am, head to Edmonton airport, got boarding passes figured out, unfortunately had to check some bags, fortunately they made it to Jo’burg.
We got to see a few glimpses of the Denver area before landing, interesting foot hill type landscape. The city itself sits outside the mountains where the plains seem to end, similar to Calgary. We recognized a certain different social climate or mood in the U.S. especially in airports. The U.S. border security were very reasonable and we had no troubles and everyone we dealt with was courteous but the atmosphere is tighter than in other countries. We heard one typical “security warning” over the intercom in Denver stating with no real details that there had been a security breach and that “no one would be entering or leaving the airport until it was resolved” interestingly there seemed to be little reaction from the people in the airport. This was followed shortly by a few announcements of the current and changing security “color”.
On the plane we were reminded to do our part to insure security by keeping a lookout for suspicious activity and reporting it to the flight personnel. Before the flight ended it was announced that we were sharing our flight with members of the military and passengers were asked to show there appreciation. It is an interesting position to be in as Canadian to be respectful yet independent.
After a quick turnaround in Washington’s airport where we arrived at our gate just as the final boarding call was announced, we ended up waiting on the tarmack for about an hour to get the go-ahead from air trarffic control for a gap to cross the Washington/New York air traffic, then finally we were on our way across the Atlantic.
The initial flight was just over 7 hours to Dakar, Senegal. We were lucky to land in Dakar during daylight and see the interesting coastline. One highlight was a partially completed sculpture being built into a high point near the coast it seemed to be a man carrying a child (no head yet though). Senegal is the western most country on the continent and it holds both the bottom of the Sahara in the north and tropical jungle in the south. It was interesting to notice how the country of Gambia occupies the river area inside Senegal.
Unfortunately we remained on the plane for this stop and headed down to Jo’berg. We continued to sleep while we flew out past the coastline and armpit of Africa. When we awoke and lifted our window screens we found ourselves looking out over the expanse of western and southern Africa with mostly clear skies. After a brief glimpse of Angola we were able to see the dunes of Namib in Namibia transition to river and flatlands and could clearly identify the salt lake region of this country which makes up the Etosha national park.(Lonely planet guide made this interesting)
As we approached the Botswanan border the long straight roads were striking. There were a few that seemed to stretch to the horizon yet unlike there Canadian counterparts these roads seemed to not follow any specific grid but instead cut across the landscape in dead straight lines.
South Africa’s landscape had more elevation and features than the previous countries although some interesting escarpments were visible on the Namibian horizon. Valleys and plateaus surrounded the suburbs of one South African city and more were present in the approach to Jo’burg. South africa’s communities were shinier looking from the sky and as we circled Jo’burg the many large mansions, gated estates and suburbs were striking. A different atmosphere was noticeable in south Africa.
In the Jo’burg airport we had to leave security to get our checked luggage (at approx 7pm) and unfortunately we were unable to check back in until the desks opened in the morning at 430 am. We tried the nearby hotel but decided not to pay the 450 american and we instead spent most of the night playing Carcasone and entertaining ourselves at a great bakery in the airport, the flapjacks were so good that we each ordered a plate after watching heather and then Justin enjoy there’s.(and so I'm writing the above)
THE FINAL LEG:
The last flight was a treat despite our tired stated. Through the window of our small plane I peered over the African landscape with no clouds to be seen. Forests villiages, more long straight roads and winding sandy rivers.
Landing in Lusaka was amazing. We flew low over the whole city and there was so much to see. Cooking and rubbish fires billowing, old sky scrapers, huts and houses, people everywhere, bustling minibuses... it was overwhelming.
Lusaka city itself brings back memories of Oaxaca, Mexico so many stimili, and a similar aroma overload. Finally arriving at the hostel, dropping our gear and grabbing a nap felt pretty nice. But there was lots of day left and lots to do so we went out and met Heather's friend Beth who showed us around her workplace at Women for Change in Lusaka and helped us get settled.
We were happy to be landed and looking forward to our Malawian travels, more soon...
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