And we return to good old blighty.

 May 17th. Going Home

Groan...why do we do it to ourselves! Many a sore head today, thank goodness for pain killers! Thankfully, Ian felt okay; there were still 20 km to drive to get to BoBo campers.

The last convoy.

  I happened to notice what I thought was a mark on the window. It was actually a crack in the screen. Blast, 5 weeks without mishap, and we now bring it back with a cracked windscreen. It must have happened several days ago, during the drive along one of the many roads with potholes and roadworks, the lorry's wheels threw up stones, and we know we were hit a few times. The main stone chip was right at the top and in the middle of the screen.

Did we have windscreen insurance? Ian was pretty sure we did include that but only once we return the motorhome will we find out. The nearer to Johannesburg we got, the quieter roads disappeared and the mayhem of the motorway took over. 5 lanes of drivers overtaking on either side, some weaving in and out barely missing the vehicles in front. I feared for our lives and we definately didnt want to be crashed into  so close to BoBo campers.

 

An accident had occurred on one of the main roads; it's no wonder, the South Africans drivers are maniacs. Taxis ignore red traffic lights; how they don't get wiped out amazes me.

 

 

Either side of the road, markets lined the route. 

 

 

I, for one, was glad to arrive at BoBo's. On arrival, we were met by one of the staff. A walkthrough to make sure everything was present and correct, and clean. We did have to tell them about the toilet cassette. For the last three days,, any liquid has bypassed the seal, making for some unpleasant smells. Ian took to emptying the cassette every day; it was the only way lifting the toilet lid became bearable. With the motorhomes all going out again in two days, we made sure they were aware of the problem. As for the windscreen, yes, we were insured... phew

Now we had a three-hour wait until the bus arrived to take us all to the airport. It was during the wait that 2 couples got news they didn't want to hear. Flying with the airline BA, they were told the flight was delayed and would now take off at 01:30 am instead of 19.25pm, also the flight had been overbooked and wanted volunteers to give up their places and leave on the 20th instead. In fact, there was no guarantee that any of them would get on the plane, and they would have to queue at the BA desk to see. The compensation that was on offer was hotel accommodation, all-inclusive, and money back to be discussed. If that had been us, we would have taken that without hesitation, but Colin, Ann, Steve and Sheila all had commitments and had to get back and needed to be on that flight. Our flight was with Virgin, so once we arrived at the airport, goodbyes were said, and we really didn't expect to see any of them again. But as luck would have it, as we sailed through passport control and were on our way to the lounge, we met Steve waiting on one of the chairs for Sheila to return from trying to get into one of the three lounges on offer. The good news was they had managed to get on the flight, but was not looking forward to the delay. We had priority passes for the Aspire Lounge, and when Sheila returned, we offered to get them in as guests. 

 

Sheila and Steve

 

Our flight was called on time, so we left them enjoying the benefits of airport lounges and headed for the gate. We paid for economy delight tickets for more leg room and priority boarding, but I wish we had gone the extra mile and paid for Premium. Only two seats per row, champagne, wider seats, the seat backs went down further, and plenty of leg room. Meals were served first and could be ordered. Andy and Karen chose this option and put their photo on the group chat.
 

 

And we also heard that Colin and Ann had secured their seats on the BA flight and as celebration took this photo in another of the lounges.

 

 Eleven hours later, after hardly any sleep, we landed at Heathrow. The time was 6.30 am, our National Express coach wasn't until 9.30 so we had a while to wait. Still, what was a few more hours wait when you're exhausted! Once on the coach, it was another 4 hours before we reached Nottingham. It stopped at Luton, Milton Keynes, and Leicester before our stop, then we had to find a taxi to get us back to FS. We eventually stepped back on board a tad before 2.30 pm.

 

This has been a holiday of a lifetime, on our bucket list for ages and seeing what we came out to see, the big five, was a highlight for me. Our team leaders, Kobus and Dedrie, made this experience perfect, and without them, I doubt if we would have had half as much fun.

 

 And Ryan, the person who got so many of us out of trouble, rescuing when some were stuck and fixing things that needed fixing, including Ian and Vanassa's cassette!

 

 

 

What's next, we ask ourselves. Nothing on the cards at the moment, we need to recoup some cash before going on another adventure. 

Next week, we will dry dock FS, blacking her bottom, and maybe take the motorhome away for a week in June. So I'm putting the blog on hold for a while and will resume at a later date.