So far, my time being back in Africa has been full of adventure... doing things that I can't otherwise do in Europe. I'm going to write about only a few points because I don't have the time to write about everything that's happened. So I'll write a couple of things now and then write about the rest at a later date.
So... my parents took me into Kruger National Park for three nights... and we ended up seeing all of the Big Five (Lion, Leopard, Buffalo, Rhino and Elephant). We saw four of the the Big Five on the day we arrived, partly because we spent several hours in the car driving across the park. The only one we didn't see the leopard, because the leopard is so hard to spot and we almost missed seeing the leopard on our last day, and only saw it because of all the cars parked on either side of road looking into the bush. The cars were parked almost so thickly that if an elephant had stampeded us we wouldn't have been able to get away. Thankfully the elephants nearby weren't bothered at all with what we were doing as long as we weren't bothering their babies by getting too close, which we weren't. Elephants are extremely protective of their young, and they've been known to flip cars over a number of times because the drivers got too close to their babies. So next time you're in a national park, and you see elephant, give them PLENTY of space, because you just might have your car flipped and your windows broken by a mother elephant who felt you were too close to her young. To be honest, I'm more apprehensive of elephant than I am of lions; elephants are more powerful than lions are. Lions might puncture your tyres if they so desire, or attempt to open your car door (yes, lions are EXTREMELY clever), but lions aren't strong enough to throw your car over a number of times if they so please. I'm not making this up. I know people who have had this happen to them and I really don't want you to be the next casualty of an angry elephant.
When I flew down here, ten days ago, I was extremely fortunate to have made my connection. My parents booked me onto British Airways (which I'm extremely grateful for), but the connection time was only an hour, which is how long it take to get from my arrival gate to my departure gate, both of which were in London Heathrow, Terminal 5... for those of you who have travelled through Terminal 5, you'll understand why you need sixty minutes connecting time. However, my flight from Amsterdam Schipol Airport was delayed by about twenty five minutes. When I got to Heathrow, I think we had about forty minutes to get across the terminal. There were a number of people on my first flight who were also connecting to the flight to Johannesburg. We ran through customs and security... in the process of putting my laptop back in my laptop bag, I managed to rip the laptop pouch. By some miracle we made it to the gate with minutes to spare. I guess when you've got about eight hundred people to board onto a plane it takes longer than it would for a smaller plane. Yes the Airbus A380 (the plane I flew to Johannesburg on) carries over eight hundred passengers. Then the Airbus was delayed by about an hour due to a problem with the paperwork. I have a British sim card so I was able to send the flight details (the plane's number and expected arrival time) to my mum, who was collecting me in Johannesburg together with my papa. Once I got to South Africa, it took the normal hour to get through customs. Then on to the luggage collection, where my bag didn't appear. I waited, and waited. It still didn't turn up with the last of the bags that were put onto the conveyer belt. So I went to the British Airways Baggage Desk and as you might have guessed, my suitcase hadn't made it onto the Airbus, so had been put onto the next flight down to South Africa two hours later. So we waited that amount of time before heading to the lost baggage office to collect it...
So... my parents took me into Kruger National Park for three nights... and we ended up seeing all of the Big Five (Lion, Leopard, Buffalo, Rhino and Elephant). We saw four of the the Big Five on the day we arrived, partly because we spent several hours in the car driving across the park. The only one we didn't see the leopard, because the leopard is so hard to spot and we almost missed seeing the leopard on our last day, and only saw it because of all the cars parked on either side of road looking into the bush. The cars were parked almost so thickly that if an elephant had stampeded us we wouldn't have been able to get away. Thankfully the elephants nearby weren't bothered at all with what we were doing as long as we weren't bothering their babies by getting too close, which we weren't. Elephants are extremely protective of their young, and they've been known to flip cars over a number of times because the drivers got too close to their babies. So next time you're in a national park, and you see elephant, give them PLENTY of space, because you just might have your car flipped and your windows broken by a mother elephant who felt you were too close to her young. To be honest, I'm more apprehensive of elephant than I am of lions; elephants are more powerful than lions are. Lions might puncture your tyres if they so desire, or attempt to open your car door (yes, lions are EXTREMELY clever), but lions aren't strong enough to throw your car over a number of times if they so please. I'm not making this up. I know people who have had this happen to them and I really don't want you to be the next casualty of an angry elephant.
When I flew down here, ten days ago, I was extremely fortunate to have made my connection. My parents booked me onto British Airways (which I'm extremely grateful for), but the connection time was only an hour, which is how long it take to get from my arrival gate to my departure gate, both of which were in London Heathrow, Terminal 5... for those of you who have travelled through Terminal 5, you'll understand why you need sixty minutes connecting time. However, my flight from Amsterdam Schipol Airport was delayed by about twenty five minutes. When I got to Heathrow, I think we had about forty minutes to get across the terminal. There were a number of people on my first flight who were also connecting to the flight to Johannesburg. We ran through customs and security... in the process of putting my laptop back in my laptop bag, I managed to rip the laptop pouch. By some miracle we made it to the gate with minutes to spare. I guess when you've got about eight hundred people to board onto a plane it takes longer than it would for a smaller plane. Yes the Airbus A380 (the plane I flew to Johannesburg on) carries over eight hundred passengers. Then the Airbus was delayed by about an hour due to a problem with the paperwork. I have a British sim card so I was able to send the flight details (the plane's number and expected arrival time) to my mum, who was collecting me in Johannesburg together with my papa. Once I got to South Africa, it took the normal hour to get through customs. Then on to the luggage collection, where my bag didn't appear. I waited, and waited. It still didn't turn up with the last of the bags that were put onto the conveyer belt. So I went to the British Airways Baggage Desk and as you might have guessed, my suitcase hadn't made it onto the Airbus, so had been put onto the next flight down to South Africa two hours later. So we waited that amount of time before heading to the lost baggage office to collect it...