Day 20: "When Suddenly Happens"

We’re going on hour 50 since we pulled out of Olipa’s driveway in Lilongwe, Malawi. It’s certainly been an adventure!

I read a sign the next day in South Africa that said “we are always there when suddenly happens” I think it was for accident insurance but I laughed thinking about how we’d boarded a bus to taxi out to our flight in Lilongwe and “suddenly” we had to get off again and go back into the airport. The plane had a problem and eventually we were all escorted up to a private space, given food and drink and then started our eleven hour wait for a plane, without a problem. While waiting we saw a special plane come in with the President of Malawi aboard. The marching military was there dressed in red uniforms and lots of women in long skirts were assembled to sing for the man. Red carpets were all over the place as though no one could really tell where he’d disembark and a small stand for him to speak from was put in place. It gave us some entertainment and I especially giggled when the band played “when the saints go marching in”. It made me think of my NOLA, hurricane Katrina rebuilding days and I couldn’t imagine why it was appropriate for an African President. My son suggested maybe he’s a jazz fan. Could be!

We talked to many of the other passengers, several times pulled out a MoonCatcher kit to show “how it works” and found out lots about each other.

We got to South Africa around 10:00 pm and were settled in our hotel rooms by 11:00 or so. Actually, it was a gift to have a bed, room service and hot water. Our flight to London wasn’t leaving until the following day at 7:30 pm so we could even sleep in a bit.

Breakfast was everything you can imagine. Pancakes, eggs, oatmeal, lots of pastries, etc. We ate leisurely while planning our day. The obvious thing was to see the Apartheid Museum. When would we get this chance again?

It was amazing and we could have used another 3-4 hours there but 2+ was all we felt comfortable with. We weren’t about to miss a flight at this point.

We made it to London where we are now, having boarded and are ready for takeoff to JFK. In another 7.5 hours we’ll be back in the US. Zak will meet us for the last leg of the trip to Schenectady and our own beds.