So, as many of you might know I'm not actually in Ghana, contrary to the url of this blog. But, my adventure to Cape Town did, however, begin with an unexpected emergency landing in none other than the Kotoka International Airport in Accra, Ghana. Don't worry, everything turned out ok and I am safe and sound in South Africa. But my 11 hour flight from London to Cape Town turned into a 20 hour flight, boosting the total duration of my travel time (from Seattle to Cape Town) to a whopping 51 hours, and resulted in an event that is now in the top five category of the scariest moments of Margo's life.
Now things might not have been quite so scary if anyone actually had any idea what was going on, because it turns out that there was just a small malfunction with the air conditioning system on the plane. Logically, rather than continue en route, we ironically landed a mere five inches away from the equator during prime summer weather and waited in a hot muggy airport, which, of course, had no air conditioning. Awesome.
According to my watch, we arrived in Ghana at 3 in the morning (though I'm not sure if this was London time, Ghana time, or South Africa time) and it was pitch black. About an hour later the passengers were allowed to exit the plane and take a bus from the landing strip to up to the airport, but we were told that nothing would be open and not to drink the water. That being said, I decided to just stay on the plane with the elderly while nearly everyone else went to stretch their legs. Bad choice. Of course, about five minutes after the last bus left the sun started to peak out from above the horizon and the plane began to cook. The only time I remember feeling half as sweaty as this was when I got lost trekking through the jungle in Tikaal in long-sleeves and long pants carrying a backpack and carrying gallons of water (I know some of you GV people know what I'm talking about)... or during freshman year at the Homecoming dance that was in the cafeteria, instead of the commons. Sick.
Anyways, after two hours of talking to a British senior citizen the (smart) passengers returned and we were all told to grab our belongings, exit the plane, and sent to wait in the 'airport'. This was about as exciting as the waiting room at the dentist, minus the Highlights magazines, but 1000 times more hectic as people searched every square inch of the terminal looking for electrical outlets. After trying to use my useless US phone hoping to reach anyone who could assure my parents that I was still alive, I gave up and used my emergency credit card to purchase really overpriced and extremely slow internet allowing me to write a frantic email to my parents, who upon receiving the email probably had a heart attack. Oh, they're fine now too.
Overall, besides holding my pee for 16 hours, out of fear that if I went to search for a bathroom somehow the plane would rapidly reload, take off and leave me stranded in Ghana never to be seen again, the worst part was having no idea what was going on and knowing that everyone at home was really worried since the status of my South African Airways (SAA) flight was "unknown at this time-trying to locate". Luckily, around 1:30 a new, well rested SAA crew arrived and we were able to depart on another aircraft. The worst was over. We landed in South Africa six hours later on Sunday the 10th, where the local time was 8pm. I was pleasantly surprised to find my bag and a driver waiting for me and ready to take me to my home for the next three months: Cape Town, South Africa. Oh my Ghana, what a start to my African adventure.
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