I have to be honest, considering all the traveling I do, I have been extremely lucky with my flights. This particular one started out normal. The Lubumbashi Airport is unlike any other I have been to...I didn't get any pictures of the check in because cameras aren't allowed but it is eye opening! You have to pay $50 dollars to sit in the "lounge" which is really just chairs and a few tables. If you don't pay, you stand outside, next to the tarmac waiting. When your flight is the next to load, they put you in this room, with no air movement, until it is time to go to the plane.
We fly Airlink out of Lubumbashi...and one rule the Congo has in place, if your plane is on the ground longer than an hour, you have to pay fees. Every day there is a flight from Joburg that lands at 1:10 PM and the flight back to Joburg leaves at 1:55 PM, so that is why they have you in the building, ready to go. You walk out on the tarmac and board the plane, and it goes pretty quickly!
I stole this picture from the internet of the airport but it has been edited because the sky is never that blue!
If you look closely, you can see houses made of tarps, right next to the runway. There is no fence, people just live there!
Some views of the city.
I had a five hour layover at the Joburg Airport so I went to the Shongololo Lounge. For $27 I was able to spend 3 1/2 hours there. It included comfortable chairs, nice bathrooms, all you can eat food and drinks, GOOD wifi and some peace and quiet!
One thing Cory and I have decided on, is we will always pay the extra to fly Premium Select on the 16 1/2 flight to Atlanta. It is worth it! The seat are roomier, recline more and have foot rests. We get noise cancelling headphones, toiletry kit and good food! I had preordered the Honey and Star Anise Beef Short Ribs, and was quite honestly looking forward to it. For those who don't pre order, they come around and ask what you would like. There was a mom and son behind me and he wanted the short ribs, but there weren't anymore. Having picky eaters in my family, I am quite used to having people not wanting anything else. I offered my ribs to him, and ended up with the vegetarian option, Gnocchi. It was good but I was quite upset...the dessert with the ribs was a yummy looking cake...my dessert was dried figs!!!!
My breakfast was the Mushroom Omelet...it was delicious!
After landing in Atlanta, I found out my flight to Salt Lake was cancelled due to the fact that the plane we were to be taking was grounded in New York due to storms. I, along with a plane full of other passengers, were trying to get rebooked. At this point I had been traveling for 24 hours...19 of that in a plane! I was exhausted. They had me on stand by for a flight that left that night at 7...I was almost in tears. They could get me on a flight to Houston that left in 1 hour so they booked that...but the flights from Houston to Salt Lake were full. They then booked me on a flight to Seattle that also left in a little over an hour, then I got on a flight to Salt Lake. I ended up getting home only a couple of hours later than I originally would have.
When I went to board the plane in Seattle my ticket was flagged and they pulled me off to the side. Because of all the recent changes and places I had been (Congo, South Africa, Atlanta, Houston - booked, never went, Seattle, and it was showing my return flight to Paris) they had to verify my passport. As I was standing there, almost in tears (it has now been 31 hours of traveling) I asked them if I had a seat on the plane. They told me I did, but they just had to do some things to get me on the plane. I made it and 35 hours later I walked in my front door!!
While I was at the Seattle Airport, I was only yards away from my sister Katie, who had just landed as well. They were there for the weekend! (I'm the blue dot, she is the black dot!)
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