Travel, like life, is full of surprises

I had not planned on blogging today because it’s the day we leave and really, THERE IS NO TIME for that.  Except, have you seen the weather report?  We are scheduled to fly from Des Moines to Atlanta.  Seriously, I booked through Atlanta for 2 reasons.  1. It was a direct flight from Atlanta to Johannesburg, albeit 16 hours.  2. It was a sure bet that flights through Atlanta wouldn’t be canceled in February unlike Chicago or Detroit, Washington, DC or New York.  Who knew?  Do you remember the mess 2 weeks ago in Atlanta?  Hundreds of flights canceled?  Winter storm Pax is expected to hit Atlanta sometime Tuesday.  Our flight leaves Atlanta on Tuesday at 6:30 pm.  Fingers crossed.

So, this brings up an important travel tip.  We are scheduled to arrive at Vuyani Lodge on Saturday.  In winter, ALWAYS give yourself extra time for travel delays.  We planned to leave Des Moines on Tuesday and arrive in Johannesburg on Wednesday.  That would give us two days to recover from jet lag and see JoBurg before we leave for Vuyani on Saturday morning.  If we can’t get out of Atlanta until Wednesday or Thursday, we still can make our connection to The Safari Lodge.  We’ll miss seeing JoBurg but the major part of the trip will be preserved.