We are back from Jo'burg, and Kelsey has returned from Chongwe. She had a blast with the Rodgers Family, and we appreciate so much them helping us with her while we were away. I think she had more fun than we did, as you can see from the pictures of her and Hannah with their baby dolls strapped to their backs - just like the Zambians do.
One doctor that we had to see while in Joburg was about an hour away from the guest house. Our appointment was at 9am, so we left early Saturday morning to make our way to this appointment. We had not eaten breakfast, but had figured we would eat closer to the place where we had to go. Once we arrived at the exit, we could see a McDonald's just beside a gas station. In South Africa, the eating places off the interstates are called "oasis" so you just pull off the interstate and go on the oasis for gas or eating. Well, we didn't realize until we were on the oasis, that we could not get back on our road, we had to get back on the interstate, going back the way we came from. So, a learning experience here as we travelled back the way we came, in order to get off at the next exit to make our turn around. That being said, once we arrived at the doctor's home (a lot of doctors work out of their homes) the secretary came out to inform us the doctor had gone to a conference for the day, and would not be able to meet with us that day. What a shocker! We had planned this appointment specifically for our trip to Joburg, but there was nothing we could do. We had driven an hour to see this doctor, and now we find out that she wasn't there. Shame! But, the good news was that gave us more time for shopping, since we were behind on our shopping list and this was our last day in Joburg. We were so excited that we were getting some extra time to shop that we assumed we knew the way back to town. Wrong! We mistakenly took an exit to the south of Joburg about 30 km outside the city. We began to see open farm land and COMPOUNDS, and this clued us that we were going the wrong direction. Once we arrived at a toll booth, we stopped and asked someone how to get back, and they told us we needed to turn around and go back the way we came. After turning around and trying to make our way back, we ended up downtown Joburg, I mean amongst the skyscrapers. OMG! Finally, Ricky recognized a road that he had been on before, so we took that exit, and pulled over to call for help. The only person we had a number for was Jane (our BIMS nurse), and luckily, she was able to get us back to the guest house. Unfortunately, we wasted 3 hours of driving around Joburg for nothing. At least we got to see the compounds... we were wondering where they were since Joburg doesn't look like most of Africa. Next time, we will ask for a GPS before we go to the unknown.
All in all, we had a good time in Joburg, but we were very rushed with all the doctors appointments to do and get some shopping in as well. You would not believe how expensive Lusaka is compared to South Africa. We had to buy Kelsey a lot of clothes since she has grown so much since we arrived in October 2007. We have a Mr. Price clothing store in Lusaka, so we took Kelsey and tried on clothes in order to get her sizes. Then, we went to a Mr. Price in Joburg and purchased her a new wardrobe. The same shirts that cost $20 in Lusaka, cost only $4 in Joburg. She was so happy to see all her new clothes. The boys also got some new duds. We also buy food and medicine there too since it is less expensive.
We almost always have airline trouble going to or from Zambia. We know from experience now to wrap our luggage in shrink wrap and to lock all our bags before putting our bags through Johannesburg Airport. Theft is very common at this airport, and so we were prepared this time in leaving Joburg. Once we arrived in Lusaka, we noticed none of our luggage came on the plane, and we were not alone. There were 40 pieces of luggage that mistakenly went to Harare, Zimbabwe instead of Lusaka, Zambia. We're not sure how this happened, but we had to go back to the airport today (Monday) to get all our luggage. Thankfully, it all came in one piece, and nothing was broken into.
We are glad to be back home in Zambia!
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