Journey Home:
So my travels home were interesting. Unfortunately my camera battery died after my first pic of the hovercraft (see below) so I don't have pics of the rest of it. :-(
Hovercraft was fit with a set of airplane seats...2 - 3 - 2. It was weird because it was dark and the craft was humming so it was sort of like we were flying. We pulled up on the beach and hopped off and onto a bus. A dutch fellow (who would later be sat next to me on the plane) turned to me on the bus and said 'Are they bringing our luggage' to which I nervously answered 'yes' and then contemplated the process or reclaiming our bags.
We got to the airport and waited on the steps for our bags which showed up 15 minutes later. A man walked off with mine as I yelled 'hello, that's mine...wait' then when I finally caught him and got my bag he asked me for a tip! Can you believe it? No way!
Nana's friend Mohammed was supposed to meet me at the airport to guide me through immigration as we had heard that people were getting hassled for having expired entry stamps (mine was in fact expired as they only give you a month and you are supposed to go to immigration to renew but no one ever mentioned that to us and by the time I heard there was nothing I could do about it) but he never showed up.
So my travels home were interesting. Unfortunately my camera battery died after my first pic of the hovercraft (see below) so I don't have pics of the rest of it. :-(
Hovercraft was fit with a set of airplane seats...2 - 3 - 2. It was weird because it was dark and the craft was humming so it was sort of like we were flying. We pulled up on the beach and hopped off and onto a bus. A dutch fellow (who would later be sat next to me on the plane) turned to me on the bus and said 'Are they bringing our luggage' to which I nervously answered 'yes' and then contemplated the process or reclaiming our bags.
We got to the airport and waited on the steps for our bags which showed up 15 minutes later. A man walked off with mine as I yelled 'hello, that's mine...wait' then when I finally caught him and got my bag he asked me for a tip! Can you believe it? No way!
Nana's friend Mohammed was supposed to meet me at the airport to guide me through immigration as we had heard that people were getting hassled for having expired entry stamps (mine was in fact expired as they only give you a month and you are supposed to go to immigration to renew but no one ever mentioned that to us and by the time I heard there was nothing I could do about it) but he never showed up.
I waited in the checkin line in the non-ac'd room and sweated my face off. Checked in and waited for my bag to go through x-ray and then they called me over so they could search it. (bag search #1) They wipped it open and went through all my stuff in front of the whole check in hall as I sweated my way through the 'what is this'? and 'where did you get that?' questions. All was find in the end and my bag went through. Then I was on to immigration. I am still a little weirded out by the idea of being checked to get OUT of a country. It just doesn't seem right that they may not let me leave. Well, this is Africa...TIA.
So, as expected the guy told me that my stamp was expired and that I would have to go to the immigration office in the morning. This of course was BS and I said, 'I am leaving tonight' and he said, 'okay then you can give me $50US.' hmmm...seems a little convenient for him. So, I asked him if I could get a reciept for the money. He gave me a strange look and that confirmed to me that the money was not for SLE but for his pocket. He told me I couldn't get a reciept and I told him I didn't have the money. We went back and forth and eventually he said that the guy who stamps the reciepts wasn't there that night and that $20 would do. I figured I would cut my losses and move on. I was quite proud of myself for negotiating as far as I did and headed to the airport bar (looked more like the basement of a church) for a beer to calm my nerves.
I had to get through a security check next that included what I am convinced was a fake metal detector, bag search #2 on my carry-on which had liquids and electronics in it but no one seemed to care and pat-down #1. Seemed a little over-kill-y but I went along with it. The beer tasted even better after that.
Eventually it was time to board. As we headed out to the bus that would drive us about 100feet to the plane I experienced bag search #3 (still full of liquids including insect repellant and electronics and food which, according to the sign at checkin wasn't allowed on board but no one said anything about any of it) and pat-down #2. Woo hoo.
On board we pilled into our seats. The plane was rather empty but they had us sitting in full rows. Apparently we were to be full from Dakar to London so we were squished in enroute to Dakar. The dutch fella beside me was more chatty than I had hoped but I gave him one of my smuggled cookies and that quieted him down quite a bit. Flight was uneventful but, after being sick for two days, the single meal over 8 hours left me super hungry. Oh and the plane actually left Freetown 15 minutes EARLY! I suppose that's what happens when your passengers have to take transport to the airport that leaves 4 hours before the flight.
Got to Heathrow and made it through immigration easily thanks to advice from Laura and knowing my address in Woking. I waited 50 minutes for my bag all the while thinking that my cab driver would have long since left and there was nothing I could do. At least my bag showed up!
On my way out I got pulled over by customs and underwent bag search #4 and a long line of questioning. I really had nothing with me so it was no biggy. Got out and called the cab company and my driver hadn't left...thank God! We headed back to Woking, picked up my other bags and made it 'home'. The driver was funny. He basically threw my bags out of the cab and drove off leaving me to lug bags up two flights of stairs. Regardless I made it back in one piece.
The apartment was a mess...I mean that as in it was obvious that my ADP friends had cleared out two weeks ago and no one had set foot inside since. Not their fault at all. I took some time to do a mad cleaning which made me quite happy, probably because I felt like I was taking care of myself again. I headed to the shop for toothpaste and some groceries, had a shower and headed into work grabbing a coffee on the way. YAY me!
Susan took me out to dinner then I headed home to do some laundry and get to bed. It was a long couple of days with very little sleep so I slept very well!
Weekend in Woking!
Saturday was a great day! Woke up early and went for a nice run. It was so good to be able to 'turn' while running (my beach run was VERY straight), to use my iPod (couldn't do that in SLE as I probably would have lost it) and not to hear 'go white girl' the whole time. The weather this weekend here has been gorgeous. Apparently I should visit more often as this is my second trip here with lovely weather!
After a big breakie with loads of dairy I grabbed a coffee and headed into London to watch the Tour de France!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know, it sounds strange that the tour started this year in England but trust me, it's a normal occurance to start in another country and I was just lucky enough to be here for it. I spent the day in High Park on the bank of the Serpentine watching the first stage of the tour. It was AMAZING! There was a festival in the park with food and displays. I was so happy to be wandering around all on my own without even thinking of it.
I saw the 'caravane' which was a ridiculous parade of sponosors (includi
ng a tire car!) throwing out crap (hats, candy, body lotion) interspursed with riders warming up on the course. I stood right on the banner with a bunch of Aussies chatting about who we favoured for the race (go Kloden go!). It was so much fun. We were 2km from the end of the 9km individual time trial (the riders went off about 1 minute after each other) so I saw a lot of angry, gritted and spent faces on the riders. The PA systems on the team cars were booming cheering and screaming GO! in various languages right behind the riders. Man do they ever yell at their riders during a time trial. Their bikes were AMAZING and man is there ever not an ounce of fat on them and QUADS...my GOD! There was a couple of giant screens so you could hear Phil (the long-time tour announcer) and his cliches which are always worth a laugh. Too funny! 
I have a LOAD of photos of nothing as I couldn't take pictures fast enough. Here is one of Zabriske (a Canadian) during the race and I have a couple of Hincapie (the only guy to have been a teammate of Lance Armstrong on all of the Tours he won...a legend!) warming up. Wish I had a better, faster camera. It was wicked to say the least.
Around 6 or so I realized I was EXHAUSTEd and decided to beat the crowd and head home. Grabbed a baguette at Waterloo station and rode the train back. On the way from the train I got more groceries and spoke to my parent's on the phone (yay) and then hung out while finishing my laundry. An amazing day!
Sunday I watched more tour and Wimbledon (while eating strawberries and creme of course), went for another great run and did a bit of work. Another beautiful day here in England which made for another nice one. Cooked myself some chicken and peppers and got to bed early.
So, as expected the guy told me that my stamp was expired and that I would have to go to the immigration office in the morning. This of course was BS and I said, 'I am leaving tonight' and he said, 'okay then you can give me $50US.' hmmm...seems a little convenient for him. So, I asked him if I could get a reciept for the money. He gave me a strange look and that confirmed to me that the money was not for SLE but for his pocket. He told me I couldn't get a reciept and I told him I didn't have the money. We went back and forth and eventually he said that the guy who stamps the reciepts wasn't there that night and that $20 would do. I figured I would cut my losses and move on. I was quite proud of myself for negotiating as far as I did and headed to the airport bar (looked more like the basement of a church) for a beer to calm my nerves.
I had to get through a security check next that included what I am convinced was a fake metal detector, bag search #2 on my carry-on which had liquids and electronics in it but no one seemed to care and pat-down #1. Seemed a little over-kill-y but I went along with it. The beer tasted even better after that.
Eventually it was time to board. As we headed out to the bus that would drive us about 100feet to the plane I experienced bag search #3 (still full of liquids including insect repellant and electronics and food which, according to the sign at checkin wasn't allowed on board but no one said anything about any of it) and pat-down #2. Woo hoo.
On board we pilled into our seats. The plane was rather empty but they had us sitting in full rows. Apparently we were to be full from Dakar to London so we were squished in enroute to Dakar. The dutch fella beside me was more chatty than I had hoped but I gave him one of my smuggled cookies and that quieted him down quite a bit. Flight was uneventful but, after being sick for two days, the single meal over 8 hours left me super hungry. Oh and the plane actually left Freetown 15 minutes EARLY! I suppose that's what happens when your passengers have to take transport to the airport that leaves 4 hours before the flight.
Got to Heathrow and made it through immigration easily thanks to advice from Laura and knowing my address in Woking. I waited 50 minutes for my bag all the while thinking that my cab driver would have long since left and there was nothing I could do. At least my bag showed up!
On my way out I got pulled over by customs and underwent bag search #4 and a long line of questioning. I really had nothing with me so it was no biggy. Got out and called the cab company and my driver hadn't left...thank God! We headed back to Woking, picked up my other bags and made it 'home'. The driver was funny. He basically threw my bags out of the cab and drove off leaving me to lug bags up two flights of stairs. Regardless I made it back in one piece.
The apartment was a mess...I mean that as in it was obvious that my ADP friends had cleared out two weeks ago and no one had set foot inside since. Not their fault at all. I took some time to do a mad cleaning which made me quite happy, probably because I felt like I was taking care of myself again. I headed to the shop for toothpaste and some groceries, had a shower and headed into work grabbing a coffee on the way. YAY me!
Susan took me out to dinner then I headed home to do some laundry and get to bed. It was a long couple of days with very little sleep so I slept very well!
Weekend in Woking!
Saturday was a great day! Woke up early and went for a nice run. It was so good to be able to 'turn' while running (my beach run was VERY straight), to use my iPod (couldn't do that in SLE as I probably would have lost it) and not to hear 'go white girl' the whole time. The weather this weekend here has been gorgeous. Apparently I should visit more often as this is my second trip here with lovely weather!
After a big breakie with loads of dairy I grabbed a coffee and headed into London to watch the Tour de France!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know, it sounds strange that the tour started this year in England but trust me, it's a normal occurance to start in another country and I was just lucky enough to be here for it. I spent the day in High Park on the bank of the Serpentine watching the first stage of the tour. It was AMAZING! There was a festival in the park with food and displays. I was so happy to be wandering around all on my own without even thinking of it.
I saw the 'caravane' which was a ridiculous parade of sponosors (includi
ng a tire car!) throwing out crap (hats, candy, body lotion) interspursed with riders warming up on the course. I stood right on the banner with a bunch of Aussies chatting about who we favoured for the race (go Kloden go!). It was so much fun. We were 2km from the end of the 9km individual time trial (the riders went off about 1 minute after each other) so I saw a lot of angry, gritted and spent faces on the riders. The PA systems on the team cars were booming cheering and screaming GO! in various languages right behind the riders. Man do they ever yell at their riders during a time trial. Their bikes were AMAZING and man is there ever not an ounce of fat on them and QUADS...my GOD! There was a couple of giant screens so you could hear Phil (the long-time tour announcer) and his cliches which are always worth a laugh. Too funny! I have a LOAD of photos of nothing as I couldn't take pictures fast enough. Here is one of Zabriske (a Canadian) during the race and I have a couple of Hincapie (the only guy to have been a teammate of Lance Armstrong on all of the Tours he won...a legend!) warming up. Wish I had a better, faster camera. It was wicked to say the least.
Around 6 or so I realized I was EXHAUSTEd and decided to beat the crowd and head home. Grabbed a baguette at Waterloo station and rode the train back. On the way from the train I got more groceries and spoke to my parent's on the phone (yay) and then hung out while finishing my laundry. An amazing day!
Sunday I watched more tour and Wimbledon (while eating strawberries and creme of course), went for another great run and did a bit of work. Another beautiful day here in England which made for another nice one. Cooked myself some chicken and peppers and got to bed early.
Now I am back in the office and right back into the swing of things. I miss our 'office' in SLE but enjoy not having to go outside to visit the toilet. :P
2 comments:
Hhhmmm... I feel like I've read this before! Haha!
Glad you had such a great return to Woking!
Woah... geez... if you didn't carry so much contraband, perhaps you wouldn't get searched so much!! Glad to hear you made it "Out of Africa" and back to England. No more dead looking but really alive roaches?
Jenn
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