The Long Haul Home

All of us were a bit sorry and saddened to see our road-trip come to an end. We all would have entertained another few days in the wine country—for sure. Our last morning in Cape Town included a leisurely breakfast next door to Daddy Long Legs Boutique Hotel along with a trip back to Victoria Wharf. I visited the Tax Refund for Tourists in the Clock Tower Mall to get my VAT receipts in order—this time with my airline tickets in hand along with my passport. We precisely estimated travel time to the airport stopping to refuel the rental car along the way, and passing miles of the same type of poverty stricken settlements we had seen elsewhere in South Africa.

Seemed like it took forever to find the domestic car rental return for National, but was relatively easy once the Nissan was parked in the proper location. Of course our luggage had expanded with all the accumulated souvenirs/momentos not to mention all the fine wines. At the Simonsig winery we purchased a nicely padded and insulated travel bag for half a dozen bottles which served well as the transport container for the 6 bottles I carried home.

We checked our bags at Nationwide Airlines, the domestic carrier, and proceeded through security to our assigned boarding gate. Our 11:45am flight was posted as delayed until noon. Realistically with our stop in Port Elizabeth, the flight was about an hour late landing in Durban. Needless to say, I was a bit anxious landing in Durban less than two hours before my scheduled departure—with one bag to collect in Durban before heading home. Lindsay seemed cool, calm, and collected when she said, “I’m freaking out” unable to contact Zane who was to have met us at the airport with my bag. Lessons learned for future travels—pack light!

My bag was located at our B&B and safely delivered to the airport by Sho’s friend who lived near the B&B. I monitored all the luggage as Don and Lindsay picked up their rental car and Sho waited for the bag delivery. Once my bag arrived, the repacking frenzy followed. I was sweating profusely by the time I expanded my small wheelie, loaded it up with travel treasures, and filled the voids in my large suitcase with items Don purged from his bag. Locked and loaded, I bade farewell to my traveling companions and checked in with South African Airlines for my return. Kissed Don goodbye at Security as he stayed on for a few more days to SCUBA with Lindsay at choice dive-sites not far from Durban. Once through security I was nearly on my way. With a little time to spare, I took note of the amount of remaining Rands (local currency) and the shopping venues opting to spend what was left at Jo'Berg. Once in Jo'Berg, I quickly unloaded what few Rands I had left.

My return took me from Cape Town, to Port Elizabeth, to Durban, to Johannesburg—all flights in South Africa. The flight from Johannesburg to JFK stopped in Dakar, Senegal, to load/unload passengers and refuel. Breezed through immigration and customs and secured a confirmed seat on the next flight out to San Francisco. The last leg from SFO to PDX was delayed about an hour—approximately the same amount of time the first flight from Cape Town. Once the wheels touched down at PDX, I could hardly wait to get off the plane. From the time I boarded the first plane in Cape Town until the last plane touched down in Portland, nearly 40 hours had passed--definitely a LONG HAUL.