We made it, but not all the luggage

We'll we survived the flights, but not without some difficulty.  Right now I am sitting on the konde(porch) of Heuglin's Lodge in Lilongwe, were we stayed on the last trip, relaxing and recharging(my own energy, not my computer - that will come later).  This place is a little more expensive than some, but Tammy the manager is so delightful, and the place is beautiful and very homelike in it's atmosphere.  In addition, since it is owned by Wilderness Safari's, one has the option of paying $30 per person for an airport transfer and being met and wisked through immigration and customs by one of their representatives. 

 

This came in particularly handy today when our 2 trunks(of the 5 bags that we checked) didn't show up.  Wilderness Safari's helped us file the baggage claim, and Zack their representative, talked to the airport manager and will go back tomorrow to pick up the bags(which he and Tammy assure us will be there then).  This will turn out to be well worth the money in retrospect, although we were feeling a bit guilty about spending so much, but the other place that was recommended to us was fully booked. 

The other difficulty was waking up New Year's morning with a really nasty headache(and I didn't even have a drop to drink on New Year's Eve) that lasted the better part of the first 2 days of travel.  Bad timing, but I suppose no real surprise what with the stress of the past few weeks.  It is the first time in about 8 months that I have had the kind that I can't control with Imitrex, so really bad timing.  But it's gone now, and hopefully will stay that way. 

The hotel where we had our overnight, The Birchwood Conference Center in Johannesburg SA was really lovely, and even cheaper than we thought it would be so a pleasant surprise there.  The Johannesburg airport is significantly nicer than Kenya, and of course with the troubles in Kenya right now, we were awfully happy not be be traveling through there.  The stopover was a real treat after that South African Airways 15+ hour flight from the US.  Both John and I commented that the flight was not as bad as we thought it would be, but we were still very ready to be off that plane.  A very uncomfortable seating arrangement with incredibly narrow seats, and armrests that wouldn't flip up.  2 x 2 seating on the outside so we had the row to our selves, but no room to get comfortable - the flip side was the individual video system so you could choose from movies, tv shows and games to keep you occupied when not sleeping, which was not too much of the time. 

It is so strange to be back here and have it look so totally different.  I'll try to post some photo's if the internet connection has the bandwidth.  It is completely green and lush looking so a complete contrast to the last visit and the pictures you saw here.  

We are so glad to have a couple of days here for our luggage to catch up with us, and to relax and get over the jet lag.  I'm holding positive thoughts that everything will make it OK and if it doesn't, at least it is mostly the household goods, and computer printer and not our suitcases with clothes(although we used clothes to pad some of the stuff in the trunks).  I'm believing the people at Wilderness Safari's and here at Heuglins that it will be on tomorrow's flight - and the airport on South Africa was a very well run operation.  I'll update you on my next post!