On Friday, 10 April, we set off! The "we probably only need 3 or 4 bags" didn't really cut it. The Virgin Atlantic car came to pick us up and the driver said, "Madonna didn't even have this many bags!"
Once we checked in, our 6 bags were 100's of kg's over the limit and actually didn't get charged...don't know why!
We struggled through 1.5 hours at the VA Heathrow lounge with champagne, seared tuna, sushi, manicure for Lauren, and more champagne. The flight was actually quite easy with full beds, good food, huge wine selection, a full bar with bar stools, tons of movies, and our own "sleep suits."
We couldn't help but think of the different worlds that we have experienced. We have seen the poorest of the poor- villages in the deepest rainforest with no cooking oil and no matches (let alone running water and electricity), Nigerian brothels and urban sprawl, Cambodian sex workers who are HIV positive- and the richest of the rich-- 7 course meals at a Wolfgang Puck restaurant, the finest suits from a London shop, and now an upper class flight that allowed us to lay down and pick our meals of a menu--very different from the 7 hour bush taxi rides with goats and chickens and dirt and heat. After carrying our water to the house for 2 years, it is amazing to be able to experience this kind of luxury. And you can't help but think- when did I feel most alive? When did I feel that I was really living? When I was in the back of a truck speeding through the rainforest and singing or when I was enjoying champagne and choosing between a manicure, a message, or a spray tan....
But our transport was an awesome experience all together and probably enjoyed that much more after our previous transport experiences. We left Heathrow and 11 hours later we were back in Africa.
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