Thursday, March 15
This is where you come to buy straw for thatching your roof.
We had breakfast at Wimpy – after Jared found a warthog carving.
He had been looking for a warthog carving ever since he shot one a week-and-a-half ago.
Most of us had something to eat in our lodge – in Kruger – so we got milk shakes or fruit smoothies.
My fruit smoothie – half ice cream, half yogurt, and a blob of fruit – was delicious.
Josh needed a sandwich.
Heading to Hoedspruit Airport
This vulture pair are building a nest. She will lay two eggs, then the strongest chick will kill the weakest one – meaning they have only one to raise. (Nature is cruel sometimes.)
These monkeys have an abundance of marula fruit to eat for breakfast.
Kate brought our check-in luggage to the airport – which was stored at the farm.
We took only our carry-on bags on the trip to Kruger.
We had to do a bit of rearranging – even changing clothes before our flight.
Hoedspruit Airport
Saying goodbye to Phil and Kate.
Phil and Kate made our trip the best because of their expertise hospitality and guide service.
Kate and Jesse had a special bond.
It was difficult to say our final goodbyes.
Just after we went to our gate – there was only one – we learned that our plane had been delayed because of mechanical problems.
Departure time was supposed to be 1:55 pm.
We waited an hour or more while some of the guys went to the front desk to see what was going on. They didn’t get much information.
We could go back to the check-in area for a sandwich and drink if we took our plane ticket along.
By 4 pm most of the people knew they would miss their connections in Johannesburg. We weren’t worried yet, because we had a six-hour layover in Johannesburg.
Someone said the airline tried to get everyone in a safari lodge for the night, but nothing was available.
There are no runway lights here, so the airport closes at 6 pm.
We were all hot and tired as the temperature was just above 100 degrees – and there was no air conditioning. The continual nagging thought in our minds was, “How will we reschedule nine passengers if the plane doesn’t arrive.”
By 4:00 we heard that the plane was on the way!
It was there by 5:30.
It had barely landed when passengers began exiting the plane.
They also had a long wait on the other end.
Reading apology letters from South African airlines.
It was the fastest turnover we ever experienced in an airport.We were entering the front of the plane while the other passengers were exiting the back of the plane.
One of the airport trucks parked at the end of the runway and shown its headlights across the driveway so the pilot knew the location of the end of the runway.
We were all a bit relieved – but we still weren’t at Johannesburg – and that is a large airport.
We left the ground at 6:15 pm – instead of the scheduled 1:55 pm.
Arriving in Johannesburg at 8:03 – Departure for JFK was 9:00 pm.
We had been hoping that our arrival gate was close to our exit gate to JFK. No such luck. We all got on two busses and were delivered to a distant part of the airport. Jere asked an inside attendant, “Which direction to JFK departure.”
“Go up the stairs, then straight ahead.” We ran or walked incredibly fast for what seemed like a long time. Then we finally saw our gate. There was a very long line which puzzled us. We learned that the attendants wiere checking every piece of luggage.
That was helpful for us. 🙂
Finally we were all in our assigned seats – and eventually in the air. Relaxing felt good. Supper tasted good. Air conditioning felt good. We slept fairly well during the night flight.
Our arrival time was set for 6:40 am at JFK.
It was now March 16 in the USA.
It appeared that we would be arriving twenty-two minutes late.
The shoreline of the USA in the distance.
Safe on the ground again.
Fifteen hours and forty-minutes after leaving Africa.
Jason was there with his van to take us back to Manheim.
Burr it’s cold here! 🙂 The last time we were outside the temperature was 100 degrees now it was windy and 32 degrees.
I started with this picture way back at the end of February when we left for this fabulous-memory-making trip.
Thank you, Jere and Kristen, Josh, Jana, Ian, Jared, and Jesse for the opportunity to travel with you.
my that was an adventure…in patience and trusting in God!
Adventure for sure! We had only two issues on the entire trip – leaving JFK on Feb 28 when we discovered we needed birth certificates for the three youngest boys – and the delay in leaving Hoedspruit on March 15.
Finally a picture of an ERB truck!! Not the right color or logo, but an ERB truck, none-the-less. I’ll have to show that one to John. 🙂
What a fabulous trip you had! And the Lord worked everything out in the end, even though it does get a little tense not knowing if one is going to make connections on time. I’m so glad you were able to go on this trip – and glad you shared it with us. 🙂
I thought you would like the Erb truck. 🙂 Fabulous is a good description.
I bet you were exhausted when you finally got home. It’s hard to trust and not worry when planes are delayed and there are connecting flights. That happened to us in Geneva once. We almost missed the plane when it did take off because we didn’t hear the announcement. I remember running along the corridor to our plane with our 5 children. Nerve-wracking, but we made it. I looked up marula fruit after you mentioned it, and watched a short video of someone eating some. I think that’s the same fruit our children liked to eat in Africa. They called them donge. I tried one……boy, was it sour! Must be full of Vit. C. We didn’t have any growing near us, but would sometimes see them when we traveled. I’m so glad you were able to go. My youngest son, the one who lives in Rochester, N.Y. Is going on a short mission trip to Senegal in May, with some others from his church.
Marula fruit is mostly seed with just a layer of sweet liquid around it. The skin is very thick. They make jelly with it. It seems that it would take a lot of marulas to make a jar of jelly.
What a wonderful adventure you’ve had — too bad the flight home is so long, and too bad that it started out so badly, but it all worked out and you got home almost on time! Many thanks to Jere and Kristen for taking you along, and many thanks to you for sharing your adventures! Wow!
I’m glad you enjoyed seeing the pictures of our adventure.
Wow, I feel a little sad that the trip is over too. What a great travel log and blessing to see God’s wonderful works among people and his creation!! Thank you for sharing this with all of us, Jeff Batzer
So glad you enjoyed it.