Drinking from the Nile
Yesterday, I stumbled upon a piece of paper and cringed.
ACC-JNB $1068
ACC-CPT $1268
ACC-CAI $750
It was from back in May or June, when I was trying to figure out my life as well as my trip to South Africa. At this point I had not been tentatively hired by OPE and started the work-permit-waiting-game. I had since purchased a ticket from Accra to Cape Town via Johannesburg, to join my mom (her first trip abroad!!!!), brother and friend on holiday. I’d scrapped the plans for Egypt, thinking I’d have already started at OPE or would upon my return.
It pained me to see this paper and realize that the way things are working out, I have time before the job starts and that it would have been cheaper, in fact, to fly via Egypt. But now, it was too late; I already had another ticket…
I was also jealous that Jane and her family would be in Egypt in the second half of August.
I decided, on the off chance that something good could come of this tormenting find, to go back to the travel agency.
How much would I be penalized to cancel my ticket? 25%. Ouch.
Does Egypt Air fly to Cape Town? No. Uh-oh.
How expensive is it to fly something else Jo’burg to Cape Town? $533. Too much!
Could I train or bus between the two cities? No, not really.
But still, I wasn’t deterred. The thought had nestled itself into my brain and I had to be absolutely sure that it wasn’t feasible.
I went online, found 1Time, a low-budget, no-frills South African airline carrier. The flight from Jo’burg to Cape Town was cheap. After 3 pages of calculations and double checking with my roommate, I realized canceling that the South Africa Airways flight, rebooking with Egypt Air with a stopover, and getting the domestic carrier separately would cost me less than an additional $300.
I called OPE to see if they had any idea when my work permit would come and ask if I could extend my vacation plans. The woman didn’t seem bothered and I said I’d be back by the end of August.
The last thing to do was to call Tarek, my closest Egyptian friend in Cairo. I had already led him to believe, at one point, that I would visit this summer, but then had to tell him I’d try to make it at Christmas time, en route to the US. I would have assuredly started work by then and was going to squeeze it in, maybe staying a week, depending on vacation time.
Tarek confirmed he was around in August and had wanted to take a week’s vacation, but had been waiting for me!
This is the long way to say: I’M GOING TO EGYPT!!!!
Next Thursday, I’ll fly Accra to Cairo, with a forced layover for a day (they put me up in a hotel!), then to South Africa for 2 weeks with family, then back to Egypt from the 13th until September 1st.
It almost feels like I’m going home.
ACC-JNB $1068
ACC-CPT $1268
ACC-CAI $750
It was from back in May or June, when I was trying to figure out my life as well as my trip to South Africa. At this point I had not been tentatively hired by OPE and started the work-permit-waiting-game. I had since purchased a ticket from Accra to Cape Town via Johannesburg, to join my mom (her first trip abroad!!!!), brother and friend on holiday. I’d scrapped the plans for Egypt, thinking I’d have already started at OPE or would upon my return.
It pained me to see this paper and realize that the way things are working out, I have time before the job starts and that it would have been cheaper, in fact, to fly via Egypt. But now, it was too late; I already had another ticket…
I was also jealous that Jane and her family would be in Egypt in the second half of August.
I decided, on the off chance that something good could come of this tormenting find, to go back to the travel agency.
How much would I be penalized to cancel my ticket? 25%. Ouch.
Does Egypt Air fly to Cape Town? No. Uh-oh.
How expensive is it to fly something else Jo’burg to Cape Town? $533. Too much!
Could I train or bus between the two cities? No, not really.
But still, I wasn’t deterred. The thought had nestled itself into my brain and I had to be absolutely sure that it wasn’t feasible.
I went online, found 1Time, a low-budget, no-frills South African airline carrier. The flight from Jo’burg to Cape Town was cheap. After 3 pages of calculations and double checking with my roommate, I realized canceling that the South Africa Airways flight, rebooking with Egypt Air with a stopover, and getting the domestic carrier separately would cost me less than an additional $300.
I called OPE to see if they had any idea when my work permit would come and ask if I could extend my vacation plans. The woman didn’t seem bothered and I said I’d be back by the end of August.
The last thing to do was to call Tarek, my closest Egyptian friend in Cairo. I had already led him to believe, at one point, that I would visit this summer, but then had to tell him I’d try to make it at Christmas time, en route to the US. I would have assuredly started work by then and was going to squeeze it in, maybe staying a week, depending on vacation time.
Tarek confirmed he was around in August and had wanted to take a week’s vacation, but had been waiting for me!
This is the long way to say: I’M GOING TO EGYPT!!!!
Next Thursday, I’ll fly Accra to Cairo, with a forced layover for a day (they put me up in a hotel!), then to South Africa for 2 weeks with family, then back to Egypt from the 13th until September 1st.
It almost feels like I’m going home.
posted by Jill at 2:34 PM
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