6th August 2026
After being in airports and on planes for almost 30 hours Josh and I made it to Africa. Actually we had already made a pitstop on the continent when we flew into Dubai after our long flight (13+ hours). But Dubai (and the U.A.E.) is definitely more middle eastern in culture so it doesn’t feel like the parts of Africa I’m familiar with.
On our first two flights we sat in seats that had extra leg room. This also meant we sat facing the jump seats that the flight attendants sit in during takeoff and landing. In order to make the direct eye contact less awkward we struck up a conversation with the flight attendants. From NYC to Dubai we met some young ladies who currently live in Dubai, one originally from Ukraine (her mother lives near a modern war zone there), the other originally from Tunisia. On the second flight from Dubai to Johannesburg we encountered a young lady from South Africa and a young man from Poland.
The second flight was rough since we had to sit for an additional 8+ hours, trying to get some sleep, trying to stay out of the way of other passengers and flight attendants, constantly being woken up by nothing and everything. But we survived! Unfortunately our layover in Dubai was very brief, including a quick run through the security line and a bus ride to our terminal (which we almost missed because we were distracted by semi-comfortable chairs and the thought of homemade cookies from Lena). Our connection in Johannesburg felt even shorter because we had to walk seemingly across the whole length of the main terminal, pass through a passport checkpoint, and then stand in a ridiculously unorganized security line. But we made it through!
I had hoped to have a moment to introduce Josh to Mugg & Bean (South Africa’s answer to Starbucks) but with our rush to get to our gate we only had time for Illy Cafe (an Italian coffee chain). We somewhat enjoyed our flat whites while Josh took a video call with his wife and baby. As I write this we are in the air somewhere over Pretoria. We’re now caffeinated, tired, but en route to Harare finally! When we arrive the potentially long lines through security and immigration await us, after which we will go through more security, and finally try and catch a legitimate taxi to our hotel for the night. Mabasa is planning to pick us up in the morning after breakfast.
-Lewis VanAusdle
Leave a Reply