Waking up on “Day 20” — aka Day 0 of “No More Acacia Africa” was so surreal.

Jane had a mondo headache, I had fallen asleep in my dress from the night before, and we were HUNGRY.

Classic, really.

We had already packed up our bags the day before, and most of the squad had activities to do all day, so we got washed up and were ready to walk around and we walked smack into Silia and Kitty getting ready to leave on their new truck en-route back to Joberg. After lots of hugging, we sent them off and then we wandered over to the Waterfront’s restaurant to see if we could get something to eat.

I didn’t want breakfast food, and Jane wasn’t ready for anything except water, so we were SOL since lunch didn’t start til 11 and it was…. 8:30. We turned around to head off and we saw Amberlee, Emme, Amaury, and Nathan hanging out at a table. We plopped down for basically what turned out to be THE MOST DEPRESSING MORNING on my trip so far. We were all just so down about splitting up the family (and a few people were pretty hungover…), that we all just basically bought wifi credit, Amberlee fed us biscuits, and we napped/wified for a while. Finally, Amaury had to leave and ish started to get even more real.

We all hugged and saw him off, and then the last ones out were Jane and myself… Finally around 10:20 we went to get our packs and say goodbye to Masai and Maja, which we knew would be tough. Masai was by Mara, so we found him easily and were able to say our goodbyes… but Maja was “off doing paperwork” and time was ticking down (our shuttle to the airport was at 11!) so we were worried we wouldn’t find her… but we had to go! So we trudged back towards reception and were greeted on the way by none other than Maja! We hugged and chatted for a few minutes and then we had to run because we had about 5 minutes to get to the shuttle.

Amberlee had been running around with us, and saying goodbye to her was the one that made me cry. That damn Brit! We were in the midst of hugging all around when the shuttle drove up. It was apparently just Jane and myself, so they loaded us in and we were off. Acacia, over.

Our flights were at 1 (me) and 1:30 (Jane) and the airport was about 15 minutes away, but we were reassured that these were the only outbound flights that day, so we would have plenty of time. This was 100% accurate, as we soon learned.

The airport in Livingstone is TINY. Oh, and don’t expect there to be any food — there are signs for coffee shop, cafe, and restaurant… NONE OF WHICH ARE REAL. Jane and I were starving by this point, so we ended up each picking out a soda and getting a can of pringles to share at the *only* snack shop in the entire “airport” — our epic feast cost us over $20USD. Oh, btw, they don’t take credit cards and I only *accidentally* had any cash left.

GAH

We devoured the chips, and finally, FINALLY, my flight was called! Jane and I hugged and made soft plans for how to get in contact with each other in Jo’berg airport (I remembered at the last minute to get her phone #… smart!) and then I was off!

My flight to Jo’berg was fine, and thank god they fed us a muffin or the hangry-monster might have murdered someone. Once I arrived, I popped back in my South African SIM card and hung out in the transfers lounge until Jane’s flight landed!

Once we met back up in the airport, Jane and I set off on our most typical excursion — finding food! We ended up in the “diner” in the airport, where we had burgers and milkshakes. Because, well, why not, right?

After the meal, Jane’s flight was set to board, so we wandered over to her gate. There was a HUGE queue where they checked visas and bags before letting you into the seating area, so I hung out with Jane while she waited, and I ended up successfully pissing off the girl heading up the queue because I walked up to the baggage check with Jane even though I didn’t have a visa to go to Australia. Piss off, lady! I’m saying goodbye to my friend!

Once Jane was through the queue, I was officially on my own! I had two hours before boarding my flight to Kinshasa, so I settled down by my gate and hopped on my laptop to do some work. Eventually, one of the gate agents came around to check out our visas… at which point she stared at mine, looked at me, and then proceeded to tell me that my visa was invalid.

EXCUSE ME?

I told her she was nuts and that it was valid through December 3rd.

Her response?

Well I don’t speak French so let me take it to that passenger over there who does and have him read it.

*runs off with my passport*

WHAT

I scooped up all of my things and charged after her because WHO TAKES SOMEONE’S PASSPORT AND RUNS OFF?!

However, lo and behold, this other random passenger read my visa and confirmed exactly what I said. So she gave me back my passport, without so much as an apology.

smh

We eventually boarded, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had an entire row to myself on the plane. The flight was relatively normal, the food was tasty (horray chicken curry!), and I arrived in Kinshasa pretty much on schedule. I *did* manage to lose my hoodie though, by forgetting it on the plane. NOT amused with myself.

Baggage claim was also pretty routine, and when I exited the airport, the driver Kristen sent for me was waiting right in front with a sign, clearly written by Kristen, with my name in bright, awesome lettering.

We hustled to the car, tossed my things in, but we still managed to be bugged by a few street kids chillin in the airport parking lot. My driver yelled at them in French and informed them that I was a Diplomat (score!) and they didn’t really cause much of a fuss.

Once in the car, I found a snack pouch from KT and another note, so I munched on pretzels and carrot sticks and enjoyed a coke on the most unexpected drive of my trip yet.

I didn’t know it before I got here, and that first ride back to KT’s from the airport was only a taste… but driving in Kinshasa is ABSOLUTELY INSANE. The airport drive… there are no lights on any roads at night. And by no lights I mean nothing lighting the road and also no traffic lights (there aren’t any of those during the day, either). Sooo people just essentially run across the road. All roads. At any time. My flight had landed at approximately 11:30pm so I’d say I was in the car by 12:30am… and it was just nuts even at that hour. Pitch black and people just racing across the highway, alone, with children, with wheelbarrows full of goodness knows what… SO surreal.

Luckily the driver was awesome and deposited me to KT’s without incident around 1:30am. KT let me in, we hugged and chatted for just a few minutes, and then she tucked me into bed.

Welcome. To. Kinshasa.