ETA 80 HoursETA 80 Hours
So I know I've been in South Africa a while but I wanted to let you know the joy of traveling from Europe to Africa 🙂
Monday morning December 12th at 6:45am was foggy and dreary in Draganesti, Romania (as it usually is) yet there was this excitement in the house despite the weather and hour of day. We were finally heading to Africa! We were going to see the sun again! We got in cars and took the 3 hour drive to the airport in Bucharest. Once there we rejoiced as we reunited with the rest of the squad and spent the next 7 and ½ hours hanging out in the airport. Finally it was time to board our plane!
The first leg of our trip was to Doha, Qatar (which up until a week before we left I had no idea was a country). The flight was about 5 and ½ and was awesome! We had great food and personal tv screens that had movies, tv shows and games! We arrived and had to go through customs because the airline was putting us in a hotel for the night because our next flight wasn’t until morning! By the time we got to the hotel (which was the most beautiful place I’ve ever stayed!) it was 12:30am on Tuesday morning and we’d been traveling 17 hours and 45 minutes.
We ate this delicious Middle Eastern buffet, went to our rooms to shower and rest for about an hour. Our wakeup call came at 3:30am. We piled back into the van and headed back to the airport. We sat in the airport for 4 hours because of an airline delay. But finally we were on the plane and off into the air! This flight was only 6 hours long and finally we were in AFRICA! Unfortunately we were in Johannesburg and needed to make our way to Plett (about 18 hours away). So most of us set up camp in a corner of the airport while the 3 team leaders and our logistics guy went to figure out a way to get there. And we waited. And waited. Finally after trying every mode of transportation and waiting for 6 hours in the airport we find out there is no way to get to Plett. So we find a hostel and head there for the night. We are told the earliest we will leave is Friday so we have Wednesday off and Thursday will be adventure day. We head to bed. I wake up bright and early Wednesday morning at 10:45am (please note the sarcasm on the bright and early part). We’ve now been traveling 52 hours.
I get up, shower and discover we are leaving that day. So we pack our packs back up and head to the bus station at 1:30pm for our 3:30 bus. We get on the bus at 7:22pm. Almost 6 hours at a bus station is always fun. And then we start the 18 hour bus ride. We finally arrive in a neighboring town called Knysa at 12:30pm on Thursday. And then wait for about an hour for our taxi to show up that will take us to our farm just outside of Plett. After a 30 minute drive we arrived “home” exhausted and very confused about what day it was. We had been traveling a total of 80 hours to get from Draganesti, Romania to Plett, South Africa. Oh the World Race…
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So I only have a little over a week left in South Africa which makes me super sad! When I blog next Saturday though I should have info on my next stop: Mozambique! Christmas Eve was our half way point and I can't really believe that tomorrow is 2012! Love and miss you all tons! Thanks for the comments and encouragement!
Monday morning 6:45am was foggy and dreary in Draganesti, Romania (as it usually is) yet there was this excitement in the house despite the weather and hour of day. We were finally heading to Africa! We were going to see the sun again! We got in cars and took the 3 hour drive to the airport in Bucharest. Once there we rejoiced as we reunited with the rest of the squad and spent the next 7 and ½ hours hanging out in the airport. Finally it was time to board our plane!
The first leg of our trip was to Doha, Qatar (which up until a week before we left I had no idea was a country). The flight was about 5 and ½ and was awesome! We had great food and personal tv screens that had movies, tv shows and games! We arrived and had to go through customs because the airline was putting us in a hotel for the night because our next flight wasn’t until morning! By the time we got to the hotel (which was the most beautiful place I’ve ever stayed!) it was 12:30am on Tuesday morning and we’d been traveling 17 hours and 45 minutes.
We ate this delicious Middle Eastern buffet, went to our rooms to shower and rest for about an hour. Our wakeup call came at 3:30am. We piled back into the van and headed back to the airport. We sat in the airport for 4 hours because of an airline delay. But finally we were on the place and off into the air! This flight was only 6 hours long and finally we were in AFRICA! Unfortunately we were in Johannesburg and needed to make our way to Plett (about 18 hours away). So most of us set up camp in a corner of the airport while the 3 team leaders and our logistics guy went to figure out a way to get there. And we waited. And waited. Finally after trying every mode of transportation and waiting for 6 hours in the airport we find out there is no way to get to Plett. So we find a hostel and head there for the night. We are told the earliest we will leave is Friday so we have Wednesday off and Thursday will be adventure day. We head to bed. I wake up bright and early Wednesday morning at 10:45am. We’ve now been travelling 52 hours.
I get up, shower and discover we are leaving that day. So we pack our packs back up and head to the bus station at 1:30pm for our 3:30 bus. We get on the bus at 7:22pm. Almost 6 hours at a bus station is always fun. And then we start the 18 hour bus ride. We finally arrive in a neighboring town called Knysa at 12:30pm on Thursday. And then wait for…………for our taxi to show up that will take us to our farm just outside of Plett. After a 30 minute drive we arrived “home” exhausted and very confused about what day it was. We had been travelling a total of 80 hours to get from Draganesti, Romania to Plett, South Africa. Oh the World Race…
