Goodbye Africa

Today we ate an early breakfast and went to the Boiling Pot for one last look for the Falls.  They certainly are magnificent.

Then it was back on the bus to make our way to the airport. The Livingstone airport was a nightmare. I have never been to an airport so inefficient as this one. It was mass chaos from the moment we walked in and there were only 2 flights leaving. One person to check in an entire flight. Another line for exit visas, another line for security. It was hot, disorganized, and a step back in time from our American airports. We couldn't believe that the flight left almost in time after what we went through to get through the airport.

Back in Johannesburg, we had to say goodbye to most of our crew who were staying there for a few more days. It was hard to leave everyone as I feel like we were family after spending several weeks together. Amy and Maggie shared our flight back home so it was nice not to have to leave absolutely everyone. We then had a 6 hour layover in the airport so we walked around, did some shopping, and ate some food.

Finally, we boarded our flight to JFK for our 15 hour flight home. We all felt exhausted after already a day of travel, but luckily we all slept a bit on the flight and watched a few movies to pass the time. I kept dreaming of still being in Africa looking for animals in the bush...I wonder how long that will continue? Luckily, customs went quickly in JFK and we were soon on our flight home to Burlington.

Flying in it was beautiful to see the green mountains of home. We hadn't seen green in a while and it was beautiful to fly in right over the lake (and our neighborhood) to our lovely home in VT.

What a special few weeks this has been.  I am so profoundly grateful to all our traveling companions who made this trip with us. The trip was perfect in every way. Goodbye Africa for now. We'll be back.