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Blijf op de hoogte en volg Lisette
22 April 2015 | Nederland, Leeuwarden
I am home for about 1.5 week now and I didn't even have time yet to write about my last South African adventures. That is why I will provide you with one last summary of the end of my trip!
After having been badly ill for about 8 days I finally felt better and could luckily write my exam. That was at the same time the end of the Wildlife Module in South Africa, after which I treated myself with an afternoon at the pool in the sun. Bad choice as I lost my consciousness and was bound to the couch for a few hours. That night I felt better again and was able to join the last braai at the pub, and the goodbye party.
The next day I was on my way to Port Elizabeth where we stayed in a hostel with the group. That night we had a very nice dinner close to the beach and we went to bed somewhat early. The next day in the early morning some people left already to the airport and I went for a stroll on my own. Finally I could enjoy freedom again in South Africa, I hadn't felt that fortunate for weeks. I had a really nice English breakfast for lunch, because I could, and found myself at the beach again and again.
That night only Maartje and me were left, roommates since the 1st day and until my last night in South Africa. At 03.00 the alarm went off after which the taxi picked me up at 04.00 to drop me off at the airport, where I left at the plane at 06.10. I arrived right in time and slept straight through the landing, which therefore wasn't too bad. When I got to Johannesburg Airport I walked a bit around to check out the airport while sending about 25 guys away who wanted to help me and wanted to show me around town, while I just wanted to go for a small walk. In the end I went to the service desk and made contact with the hotel where I was staying on the day I arrived, and I spent the entire day there. That evening I went back to the airport and had my last cheap steak, with quite some stress about whether or not I would make it to my plane even though I still had 4 hours before actual take-off.
Very early I dropped off my luggage and checked in, went for some shopping and went to the gate. While I was sitting there for a while we all had to leave the "waiting room" in order to check the passports and tick off the seat numbers. I got into a conversation, no conservation (ugh, wildlife changes your mind..), with a guy from the US, who was on his way to his home in Berlin, after he also had been living in Dubai for a while, with his friend from Oslo. This friend just went to the lavatory, so I helped him carrying the luggage. We had been talking with the three of us for a while and finally I got myself on the plane.
Proper night flight with good food (yay), up until about 1.5 before landing at Amsterdam. FIRE! While flying above France the cabin started smelling like molten plastic and at row 18, I was sitting at row 20, a fire had started. The KLM staff kept us really calm and reacted very professional. With a baby fire extinguisher, the cutest one ever, they went looking for the cause and checked the luggage cabins. Luckily none of them was on fire and also the captain couldn't find anything anymore. The cause was either overheating of the movement mechanism in the chair back or a short circuit in the entertainment system. Conclusion: entertainment systems were shut off and the guys, which turned out the be the two guys I had been talking to at the gate, which made me feel very comfortable as I trusted them, were moved to other seats.
When I finally made it to Schiphol, 30 minutes too early, I had been waiting for quite a while in order to pick up my luggage. But finally I could see my parents again, Sam again and Basje again! We had been sitting and talking for quite a while at Starbucks and afterwards we drove on to Leeuwarden.
When we reached Leeuwarden my room turned out to be decorated with a home-made garland saying welcome home, with balloons and a bottle of vodka by Carmen and Chenice. That week I was lucky enough to already meet quite a lot of friends, also people of which I did not even know they were back yet. Finally I could play sports again, could eat "gevulde koeken" and could cycle around.
It has been a great experience and I really liked it over there in South Africa. But I can honestly say I am really happy to be home again, happy to enjoy my freedom again. Even today I am still cycling around with a really big smile on my face and I am enjoying all the rush The Netherlands bring along.
After having been badly ill for about 8 days I finally felt better and could luckily write my exam. That was at the same time the end of the Wildlife Module in South Africa, after which I treated myself with an afternoon at the pool in the sun. Bad choice as I lost my consciousness and was bound to the couch for a few hours. That night I felt better again and was able to join the last braai at the pub, and the goodbye party.
The next day I was on my way to Port Elizabeth where we stayed in a hostel with the group. That night we had a very nice dinner close to the beach and we went to bed somewhat early. The next day in the early morning some people left already to the airport and I went for a stroll on my own. Finally I could enjoy freedom again in South Africa, I hadn't felt that fortunate for weeks. I had a really nice English breakfast for lunch, because I could, and found myself at the beach again and again.
That night only Maartje and me were left, roommates since the 1st day and until my last night in South Africa. At 03.00 the alarm went off after which the taxi picked me up at 04.00 to drop me off at the airport, where I left at the plane at 06.10. I arrived right in time and slept straight through the landing, which therefore wasn't too bad. When I got to Johannesburg Airport I walked a bit around to check out the airport while sending about 25 guys away who wanted to help me and wanted to show me around town, while I just wanted to go for a small walk. In the end I went to the service desk and made contact with the hotel where I was staying on the day I arrived, and I spent the entire day there. That evening I went back to the airport and had my last cheap steak, with quite some stress about whether or not I would make it to my plane even though I still had 4 hours before actual take-off.
Very early I dropped off my luggage and checked in, went for some shopping and went to the gate. While I was sitting there for a while we all had to leave the "waiting room" in order to check the passports and tick off the seat numbers. I got into a conversation, no conservation (ugh, wildlife changes your mind..), with a guy from the US, who was on his way to his home in Berlin, after he also had been living in Dubai for a while, with his friend from Oslo. This friend just went to the lavatory, so I helped him carrying the luggage. We had been talking with the three of us for a while and finally I got myself on the plane.
Proper night flight with good food (yay), up until about 1.5 before landing at Amsterdam. FIRE! While flying above France the cabin started smelling like molten plastic and at row 18, I was sitting at row 20, a fire had started. The KLM staff kept us really calm and reacted very professional. With a baby fire extinguisher, the cutest one ever, they went looking for the cause and checked the luggage cabins. Luckily none of them was on fire and also the captain couldn't find anything anymore. The cause was either overheating of the movement mechanism in the chair back or a short circuit in the entertainment system. Conclusion: entertainment systems were shut off and the guys, which turned out the be the two guys I had been talking to at the gate, which made me feel very comfortable as I trusted them, were moved to other seats.
When I finally made it to Schiphol, 30 minutes too early, I had been waiting for quite a while in order to pick up my luggage. But finally I could see my parents again, Sam again and Basje again! We had been sitting and talking for quite a while at Starbucks and afterwards we drove on to Leeuwarden.
When we reached Leeuwarden my room turned out to be decorated with a home-made garland saying welcome home, with balloons and a bottle of vodka by Carmen and Chenice. That week I was lucky enough to already meet quite a lot of friends, also people of which I did not even know they were back yet. Finally I could play sports again, could eat "gevulde koeken" and could cycle around.
It has been a great experience and I really liked it over there in South Africa. But I can honestly say I am really happy to be home again, happy to enjoy my freedom again. Even today I am still cycling around with a really big smile on my face and I am enjoying all the rush The Netherlands bring along.
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Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
