Adventure Home

 

This is where things get a little complicated. Since we booked my ticket for South Africa as a package deal, I planned on flying out of Port Elizabeth on my way home.  My last two weeks took me to Cape Town where I stayed at Atlantic Point for 2 weeks, so unfortunately, Port Elizabeth & Cape Town are about 9 hours a part from each other.

The way my flight works is that I go from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town, Cape Town to Amsterdam & Amsterdam to Detroit. As you can see, I thought my dilemma would be an easy fix. Cancel the arm from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town and flight directly out of Cape Town since I was already there. No sire! My mom was on the phone for over an hour trying to figure things out and in the end the airlines refused to do this and told her if I did not show up for my arm in Port Elizabeth, my entire flight would be cancelled.

So, I decided to improvise. I ended up booking a ticket on the Intercape bus ($70 US dollars) to Port Elizabeth & was graciously offered to be fetched by Marvine and Kelly from Intercape station. Sounds like a good plan, right?

Well…when I got to the Intercape station last night, I was sure surprised. Chaotic is the best word to describe this bus system. Nichole, Leah & I all had tickets that departed at 6pm. Nichole & Leah were heading to Grahamstown, and I was off to Port Elizabeth. Logically speaking, we all thought we’d share a bus since Grahamstown is sort of inland after Port Elizabeth.

Come to find out, I was on my own bus. In the muffle of things and the lack of direction and communication from the staff at the Intercape, we hectically said our goodbyes and I was off to wait in line with many people who didn’t speak English very well. I waited in line outside in the center of Cape Town for over an hour and a half with my luggage. My bus finally departed at 7:30pm. The bus seats were extremely full & the bathroom was less then appealing. No toilet paper or anything and no way to flush or wash your hands.

To make the travel even better….the last two weeks of my trip my stomach has been pretty finicky. I thought it was due to eating habits and travel, but it has only gotten worse so I am starting on antibiotic for bacteria that I may have gotten here in the water. So without saying too much, the lack of an appropriate toilet was not exactly ideal in my situation....haha

The entire 12 hour ride to Port Elizabeth, people were listening to loud phones playing music, talking on cell phones and the television in the bus was full of static and only outlines of people’s bodies could be recognized. I couldn’t sleep. 

Once I got off the bus and Marvine and Kelly were there, I broke down! I was so happy to see them. I actually started CRYING from how uncomfortable I felt on this bus. It’s actually pretty depressing. People from the township take these busses all the time, and I do once, and I can’t even handle it. It was just so out of the ordinary for me. It definitely made me appreciate the modes of transport in Grand Rapids where I live. I can’t even imagine taking a bus like that everyday.

Once I was at Kelly’s host family’s house, I was able to shower & relax. However, I ended up getting very sick from my stomach. This is when Kelly’s mom gave me some antibiotic her travel doctor had given her for severe stomach problems while traveling. I am on my second pill and I’m hoping this wipes out my stomach cramping!!

Right now I’m sitting in Cape Town airport, I made my way from Cape Town to Port Elizabeth, Port Elizabeth to Cape Town and after 6 more hours of waiting at the airport, I will be off to Amsterdam. I’m feeling better and hopefully things will stay this way for the rest of the trip. I’m going to plan on getting a lot of sleep on the next two flights! Everything I’ve learned on this travel home has made me stronger….you must live and learn and experience things that make you feel uncomfortable once in awhile to appreciate what you have.