a series of unfortunate events...

It has taken me over a week to be able to sit down and blog about my last trip. If you were paying attention, you would know that I shouldn't be done with it yet. So, I will update you from the luxury of a couch in Denver...

On the 30th of November, I packed my bags and headed to the airport for South Africa. My friends Gerald and Rikka were getting married and some friends and I decided to make a trip out of it. I get to Heathrow, get my first class ticket (paid for by miles) for Johannesberg and make my way to the gate. My first stop, 2 hours later was in Lisbon to change flights for the long haul down south. The Lisboa airport is a trip; loads of smoking sections and stinky portugese everywhere! :) My flight down to Johannesberg was a 10 hour flight to Maputo, Mozambique then a 45 minute jaunt over to Jo-berg. All went well, I even got some sleep on the long haul. While first class was more like business class, I was happy to have the ability to lie flat.

Upon arrival into Jo-berg, I hightailed it to passport control in order to miss the crowds. I wind my way through the queue made to handle hundreds of passengers to find myself first in line! What a treat; this never happens when you have a visiting passport. I walk up to the immigration officer all smiles and anxious for my adventure to begin. She flips through my passport and asks where she should place the visa and stamp. I show her a page with two available boxes and wait patiently. She calls over her manager and after a brief discussion, I am taken to the "official" immigration office where I am stuck pacing in a hallway for about 2 hours. SA requires one completely empty page for the visa and stamp. While I don't understand this practice they were not about to budge. I honestly thought I would wait for an hour or two, then they would stamp the passport and off I would go.

Boy, was I wrong.

After spending 2 hours in a hallway, I was moved to a "holding cell" where they took away my cell phone, laptop, camera, sleeping pills (in case I decide to off myself) and all of my personal possessions. Honestly, I was a prisoner. I was doing OK until I was told that should I feel unsafe all I needed to do was close the HUGE door between the male and female wards and a supervisor would come with me should I need to use the toilet, etc. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? I did nothing wrong!! Well, after about an hour of shear panic in the holding cell, the airline contact came and got me. She moved me into the TAP lounge and apologize for the treatment. This was the first time I was able to get something to eat or drink (about 8 hours since last eating). I was put on the first return flight back to London and ended up in the same seat for all my day's journey. That is one way to spend a day!

So, I did go to SA. I did even see the airport. However, I never touched SA soil outside the airport. I was deported back to the UK.

As I no longer really lived in the UK and Nick & Penny (my friend's with the remainder of my stuff) were on holiday, I was completely and totally homeless without a place to stay. Thanks to some very good friends and wonderful people, I was able to get to Nick & Pen's and get in using the neighbors key. At which point, I proceeded to completely breakdown from the stress of the last couple of days.

After pulling myself together, I booked a ticket and headed to Denver three days later which brings me back to the beginning of this story.

I can now honestly say, the life of a world traveler is not all that glam. I think I will keep my feet on the ground in Denver for a while.