Day 24 11/04/10

Our basket was outside our door for the last time this morning! So sad to see it go! We had to be up and out very early to get to the airport for our the first leg of our flight from Cape Town to Johannesburg. When we arrived we paid to have our bags wrapped in plastic, yes you read correctly it is apparently a security measure to prevent theft! Luckily when we checked in they could check our bags all the way through to our final destination even though it was South African Airlines (SAA) transferring to Delta. I hope when I finish the long journey home my bag will be there too. Well any way back to SAA when we got to the gate they not only check the bag size but also weigh the bag, my carry on had to be gate checked. I have fragile glass animals from Swaziland in the bag, I was in a panic, but they wouldn't budge. My bag went off all wrapped in a large plastic bag and sealed with security stickers. My bag did make it but I haven’t opened the boxes, I will save that until I get home. Will thinks they will be fine as they were so carefully wrapped and padded with paper they should be fine. I hope everything is in one piece. Keep your fingers crossed. When we got to the airport we gassed up and returned the rental car, and started the long walk from the rental cars return to the terminal. Will checked a bag in stored baggage so we went to retrieve it and repack which was quite an ordeal. We keep forgetting that we are not in the US and that most places don’t take credit cards and if they do most times the dial up doesn’t connect! After repacking the bag we headed off to check the bag, surprise, Delta doesn’t open until 4 and is now 2 o’clock! Off to eat lunch but wait, we order and what, what you may ask, bam their credit card machine is down no service. Off to the ATM around the world and back to pay for lunch. Now I have Rand I don’t need because I had to take out a minimum of 50 rand increments! Ok no biggie I can find something to purchase. Delta finally opens we check the bag and head to security and passport control. That went well which is always a relief! We went to get our refund on our VAT, they would only give us a check in rand. What good is that, well they direct us to the Western Union next door, they will cash and convert they check. Then the hammer falls I had a check for ~76 rand after the fee I was left with 50 rand, I didn’t bother converting to dollars since that was an additional fee. Will was hopping mad, he didn’t cash the check he is going to wait until he gets home to cash it at Wells Fargo, I cashed mine because Redstone Federal Credit Union doesn’t cash foreign checks, so my rand went to purchase a bag of M&Ms and a Toblerone bar, so in the end chocolate made the whole thing better! I am now sitting in the Air France First Class lounge waiting to board my flight. My journey is ending and I will be home tomorrow. I have the weekend to recover and perhaps work on pictures. Until tomorrow!