Getting from Ghana to South Africa was chaos.
My last assignment in Ghana, at the Accra Planetarium, came to a close when I told the interviewee I had to start heading to the airport. He asked me if I've confirmed my flight beforehand and when I told him that actually my ticket already says "confirmed", he started ranting about how in Africa you always have to confirm the flight with the airline three days in advance or you'll be kicked off the flight if it's full. He went on and on about this for so long I, of course, got into a nice little last minute panic.
My heart started racing but I told this scientist it's no use calling the airline anymore, I might as well just go to the airport and check it out. But he wouldn't have it, he had to call someone. So we wasted a good half an hour trying to call numbers where nobody picked up, until he said with a smug face: "I think you should just go to the airport to check it out." So off I went - in the slowest cab in the world (the driver didn't know how to drive a car, he just learned the day before, he told me) - and eventually at the airport everything was confirmed and okay.
Buying the cheapest flight feels like the greatest idea when you surf through the options and realize you can save hundreds of euros. But if you're not careful in checking all the flight details you can end up with a flight like mine from Accra to Cape Town. The ticket said it would make a stopover at Windhoek, which made sense because the airline was Air Namibia. But what I found out at the airport in Accra was that it would first fly to Johannesburg, South Africa, then I'd need to change aircrafts for the rest of the flight to Windhoek. Then change flights again to Cape Town, that was making a stop at Walvis Bay, Namibia. I don't remember how much money I saved picking this flight but four take-offs and four landings later I thought for a moment it might not have been worth it.
Everything changed, though, when I settled in Cape Town. I fell in love. With the city, that is. It's beautiful like Barcelona or Paris and as vibrant as NYC. I never thought I'd find a city that would be able to compete with New York in my mind, but Cape Town has pros that New York can't beat. Like nature. I'm still a Finn so I miss things like forests and water. And in CPT I can have those, right along with the big city life I also love. And I'm living right by the impressive Table Mountain, how awesome is that?
Also, everyone here looks like a surfer. I don't know how that's possible. Even the business people and pensioners look like they just got off their boards. I wonder if that would work with me too? You know, I'd grow into a tall, slender blonde with a balance.
Looks like Cape Town is one of those places that has a reputation that makes people hyperventilate and not come and check out the place themselves (although now that I say this I'll probably be robbed at gunpoint tomorrow). But it's beautiful!
Sorry guys, I'll get a little cheezy for a moment now.
Walking down Kloof Street in the mornings I've stopped into small restaurants to have incredible breakfasts and had coffee in these old, New Orleans style buildings on the balcony writing articles. All the art shops and boutiques along Long Street look like the kinds even I as a non-shopper could empty easily. And having a smoothie at the beautiful V. A. Waterfront on a sunny day with +25°C and a clear view of the mountain and boats going about in the shimmering water... Takes your breath away. The other day I thought to myself do I really have to leave here, and oh joy when I realized that, well
no, I dont!
My last assignment in Ghana, at the Accra Planetarium, came to a close when I told the interviewee I had to start heading to the airport. He asked me if I've confirmed my flight beforehand and when I told him that actually my ticket already says "confirmed", he started ranting about how in Africa you always have to confirm the flight with the airline three days in advance or you'll be kicked off the flight if it's full. He went on and on about this for so long I, of course, got into a nice little last minute panic.
My heart started racing but I told this scientist it's no use calling the airline anymore, I might as well just go to the airport and check it out. But he wouldn't have it, he had to call someone. So we wasted a good half an hour trying to call numbers where nobody picked up, until he said with a smug face: "I think you should just go to the airport to check it out." So off I went - in the slowest cab in the world (the driver didn't know how to drive a car, he just learned the day before, he told me) - and eventually at the airport everything was confirmed and okay.
Buying the cheapest flight feels like the greatest idea when you surf through the options and realize you can save hundreds of euros. But if you're not careful in checking all the flight details you can end up with a flight like mine from Accra to Cape Town. The ticket said it would make a stopover at Windhoek, which made sense because the airline was Air Namibia. But what I found out at the airport in Accra was that it would first fly to Johannesburg, South Africa, then I'd need to change aircrafts for the rest of the flight to Windhoek. Then change flights again to Cape Town, that was making a stop at Walvis Bay, Namibia. I don't remember how much money I saved picking this flight but four take-offs and four landings later I thought for a moment it might not have been worth it.
Everything changed, though, when I settled in Cape Town. I fell in love. With the city, that is. It's beautiful like Barcelona or Paris and as vibrant as NYC. I never thought I'd find a city that would be able to compete with New York in my mind, but Cape Town has pros that New York can't beat. Like nature. I'm still a Finn so I miss things like forests and water. And in CPT I can have those, right along with the big city life I also love. And I'm living right by the impressive Table Mountain, how awesome is that?
Also, everyone here looks like a surfer. I don't know how that's possible. Even the business people and pensioners look like they just got off their boards. I wonder if that would work with me too? You know, I'd grow into a tall, slender blonde with a balance.
Looks like Cape Town is one of those places that has a reputation that makes people hyperventilate and not come and check out the place themselves (although now that I say this I'll probably be robbed at gunpoint tomorrow). But it's beautiful!
Sorry guys, I'll get a little cheezy for a moment now.
Walking down Kloof Street in the mornings I've stopped into small restaurants to have incredible breakfasts and had coffee in these old, New Orleans style buildings on the balcony writing articles. All the art shops and boutiques along Long Street look like the kinds even I as a non-shopper could empty easily. And having a smoothie at the beautiful V. A. Waterfront on a sunny day with +25°C and a clear view of the mountain and boats going about in the shimmering water... Takes your breath away. The other day I thought to myself do I really have to leave here, and oh joy when I realized that, well
no, I dont!
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