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Saved: November 30th 2021
We managed to get all our belongings out of Gatwick Airport and onto a National Express Bus with relative ease. We had pre-booked our tickets on the bus and gave ourselves plenty of time to clear customs and pick up our luggage. It turns out that we were out on the street in less than an hour. We managed to change our bus tickets for an earlier bus and were able to alert Peter's Auntie Cecilia that we would arrive in Cirencester 2 hours earlier. The bus took us to Heathrow Airport where we had to change and then onto Cirencester, in the beautiful Cotswolds area of England. In fact, Cirencester is known as "The Capital of the Cotswolds". Peter's aunt and uncle live a short distance away in a small village called Kemble. The area is strikingly beautiful and I'm sure it helps to be there in the Spring when the grass is green (this is England, I guess the grass is green all the time!) and the flowers are blooming. Peter was reaquainted with his aunt and uncle whom he hadn't seen for 21 years. They were so welcoming to us both and very quickly made us feel at
home. Of course, this is not necessarily a good thing ... we didn't want to leave!!
We enjoyed a day of wandering around the old market town of Cirencester - apparently it was founded in 1036. The streets are narrow and full of wonderful architecture exuding the kind of history that Western Canada can't even fathom!
We were also able to spend a day in Bath - the historic Roman town has changed a little since the last time I visited with my mum in 1993. A little more commercial and definitely more tour buses, but still has charm and is enjoyable to walk around.
Auntie Cecilia and Uncle Gerald took us on a lovely drive to Bibury and the famous Arlington Row - a row of houses built in 1380 originally as a wool store. They were converted in weaver's cottages in the 17th century. We continued on our journey to briefly visit Oxford on our way to see Peter's cousin who lives near there. The more places we went, the more time we wanted to spend in each one.
I have a cousin who happened to be living about 4 miles down the road
Cirencester
part of the parkfrom Peter's aunt and uncle at the time we visited (her and her husband have since moved, so it was great timing for us!). Dasha and Simon came to pick us up and took us to a little village called Bourton-on-the-Water. Apparently it is also known as "Little Venice" or "Venice of the Cotswolds" because of the lovely little stone bridges that straddle the Windrush river which cuts right through the village. Another positively beautiful place, to use a cliche "it is so quaint!". It was wonderful to visit with Dasha and Simon and to meet their little boy Francis. We had a great time with them and hope they settle into their new home and surroundings near Oxford.
Our week in Kemble with Cecilia and Gerald went far too quickly and the next thing we knew we were on a bus to London to visit with a friend we had met in Malawi. Mary was travelling with two friends in Malawi, and we met them on the Lake Malawi ferry. You may remember us commenting on the Irish girls - Mary was one of those famous gals! Mary and her fabulous roommate, Eadaoin, took us in for 3
Cirencester
The narrow winding streets of England that we love. nights. While our time in London was far too short, we had an amazing time and thoroughly enjoyed our time with Mary and Eadoain. One evening we went to see the taping of a late night talk show, similar to David Letterman I suppose. It was a great evening, and seeing the taping of a show was awesome. We had great seats and apparently, we were all on TV at one point! We had to leave before the show aired, and Mary was unable to watch, but a trusted friend assured her that our foursome was seen on the Justin Lee Collins Show! Looks like we had our 15 minutes of fame and didn't even know it!
We also spent one day in London with a friend of mine, Maggie. Maggie is living in Vancouver and I know her from there, but she was in England visiting family and our London stays just happened to coincide. We managed to spend her birthday together, seeing the London sights on a beautiful, sunny April day.
In the blink of an eye, our trip to England was over and we were setting off to the airport for home. Mary and Eadoain
Arlington Row, Bibury
The original houses date back to the 17th century. were wonderful in helping us to find the fastest and cheapest mode of transport to the airport. In the end it was the tube to one of the train stations and then a train right out to Gatwick. It was easy (not many transfers) and we made it in plenty of time.
One thing I had been stressing about since we arrived in England was the weight of our luggage and flying with a charter airline. I had checked Air Transat's website and determined that the cost of our excess luggage was going to be, well, excessive. We decided to try to get seats in first class. The upgrade to first class for one passenger was the same as our excess luggage charge would be, so we thought we would treat ourselves. More leg room, better meals (is there really a "better" when it comes to airline food?) and of course the extra baggage allowance. It turns out, because we booked our flight online with a budget website, it was like having a tooth pulled trying to upgrade. I spoke to people in the UK Air Transat office, who told me that I should speak to the Head Office
Laini's Cousin
From left to right: Simon, Francis and Dasha. in Montreal. When I called the head office, I was told I had to call the company I booked with. When I called the company I booked with in Atlanta, Georgia, they told me that the airline handles upgrades, it has nothing to do with them. When I spoke to my friend (HA! NOT!) in Montreal again, she put me on hold to talk to Atlanta and then told me to call them back and they would do it. Once I finally got a hold of the person I was supposed to speak to in Atlanta, she told me that she was wrong, she can't do it, and I had to go back to the airline. As you can well imagine, by this time I am a fuming mess, and I do not have any kind words for Air Transat. When I finally talked to my good pal in Montreal again and gave her a large piece of my mind about the treatment I was getting from her company, she finally relented and said she would go against the rules to upgrade me. When she finally got all the information she needed I asked her how much (even though I
had been quoted a price from the UK office when I first called, almost a week ago). The price she quoted me was 3 times the original amount. I almost dropped the phone (all of these long distance phone calls were placed on our cell phone, so not just time, but money wasted!). She then proceeded to tell me in her snootiest voice that price goes up each day closer to the flight departure. You can well imagine my anger and frustration and that we declined the upgrade after all that and decided to take our chances.
As luck would have it, we were flying with a partner airline, Thomas Cook, and the girl at the baggage counter was new. When she leaned across to ask her coworker how the baggage restrictions work, she didn't ask the question very clearly. Her coworker answered in our favour and our girl just put all our luggage through. We didn't ask any questions, and we didn't hang around to find out if she made a mistake! We were pretty happy after all the hub bub we went through trying to get an upgrade, to not have to pay for our excess luggage.
Peter's Family
From Left to right: Uncle Gerald, Myself, Shereen, Warren and Auntie Cecilia. Thanks Thomas Cook! No thanks to Air Transat ...
The flight was quick and relatively painless as far as charter flights go (smaller seats and less bathrooms).
We cleared customs in Calgary with ease and walked into the terminal to find a small crowd waiting to welcome us home! Peter's parents even flew in from Vancouver to be there to greet us!
WOW!!! HOME!! 15 months, 18 countries and 35,000 km later we arrive back in Calgary, on April 30, 2009. The lateness of these last few blogs has something to do with the culture shock we felt upon arriving home. For us, the culture shock of coming back was much worse than any we experienced while travelling. I think it is because you expect new and different things while you are travelling, and each new culture or tradition is all a part of the experience of travel. Coming home, you have no expectations except that it should be familiar to you. Having travelled through some of the poorest countries in the world though, nothing is familiar anymore. We realize how lucky we are to live in Canada, and want to remember to not take it for granted.
Bath
Cathedral in Bath We have ready access to food, clean drinking water, jobs, and have a government committed to helping us when we are down and out. We have come away with a greater appreciation for the resources our great country has, and we are more conscious of how we use these precious resources. You cannot go on a trip like this and not come back a different person. I think we are better people because of our travels in Africa. To steal and slightly modify a line from an Alanis Morrisette song: "Thank you Africa!".
Life at home has had it's ups and downs. We have now been home for almost 8 months and just moved into our own space after living with my parents while we get back on our feet. We are so lucky and thankful to have a place to stay while we adjust to life back in Canada. Thanks Mum and Dad! Peter is working a contract position with the City of Calgary at one of the Waste Water Treatment Plants. Peter got word in December that his contract was extended for the year 2010! YAY!! After doing some office temp work, I managed to find my
way back to Mount Royal College (now University) in a temporary position. The job situation is certainly different than it was when we left! Again, we are lucky that we aren't paying a mortgage or massive bills, so we can't complain if our work situation is less than optimal. There are definitely people who are worse off than us.
Some trivial facts of our trip...
Types of Transit we travelled on: horse and cart; station wagon with 9 adults and 5 children inside; shared Mercedez taxis; cargo van outfitted to seat 25; Peugot el camino (truck/car) with passenger box in back with 10 adults (plus children and cargo); back of pick-up trucks; Greyhound-style bus for 40 passengers (relatively comfy); larger commercial buses with capacity of 65+ (that doesn't include the passengers standing in the aisleway - not comfy); private vehicles when we were able to hitch a ride; mopeds and motorcycles; car ferry with only one working engine; large, new passenger ferry; dugout boats with and without motors; several dugout canoes; trains; and planes.
Books read while travelling:
Laini - 60
Peter - 50
Now that we are home, we could easily be off again if
the money was there. There is so much that we would do again and do differently. Also, I think everytime you travel to Africa you have a different experience. No matter how long you are in Africa, you can never see and do it all. The good news is if we go back, there is still plenty for us to do!
The food is fun and yet simple, and you never know what you will get. Not a big variety but enough to get by on. We ate from street vendors and in restaurants, off of proper plates and rice out of plastic bags. We ate mystery meat and the toughest chickens ever. We drank lots of Nescafe Instant coffee, apparently all the coffee beans are exported out of the coffee producing countries. Having said that we did have two memorable coffee experiences, one in Dakar, Senegal (at our hotel/brothel) and the other at the airport in Ethiopia.
In an effort to get this posted and start to work on getting our blog turned into a book, we are going to say Adieu!
Thank you to everyone who followed along and enjoyed our travels as much as
we did! Thanks for all the emails, comments, thoughts, prayers and good wishes! And yes, if we won the Lotto we would be off again! 😊
Thank you to our family in South Africa that put up with us (twice in one year!). Thank you for all your generous hospitality. We hope we can return the favour one day!
Laini and Peter
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Pam
non-member comment
Jolly olde....
Hey you!!!! Once again, a lovely entry and one that made me want to pack up and head on over to England! The photos are fabulous!!!! Thank you so much, again for sharing your travels with us! It is much appreciated! Take care.. and we will see you soon! xo P