Skukuza to Durban - June 14

In the morning we again had the wonderful breakfast buffet at the Selati train station, then packed up and headed for the airport.  We decided to get there in plenty of time for our 12:05 flight to Johannesburg and then the 15:00 flight to Durban.  I was very excited after realizing that we would be picking up our race numbers this day.

At the airport, we were chagrined to learn that our flight had been cancelled, although there was nothing we could do but wait three hours.  The day before we had stopped at the airport on the way back to Skukuza to see if there was an earlier flight so that we could spend more time in Durban, but our flight was the first.  I happened to have two cold beers in my pack, which we drank while we wrote post cards in the garden at the air strip.  We realized we would get to Durban too late to go to the expo, but there was nothing to be done about it.  I decided not to try the biltong on the plane.

We connected in Johannesburg with a jam-packed flight.   My entire bag was crammed under the seat in front of me and the one under me, but as long as everyone was seated, we took off.  I was in the middle, Tom on the window, and a guy named Dennis with a running club from Harare on my left.  He was a big guy, running his 9th race, very friendly.  I felt bad for him in the cramped plane because his knees were touching the seat in front of him.  He was hoping for a Rowan medal, since he had discovered that he gets motion sickness after about 6 hours and it had vastly improved his time in last year's race.

We got to Durban after dark, and rode a minivan bus to the hotel.  The Balmoral hotel was excellent, very comfortable.  After cleaning up and unpacking, we had dinner on the front balcony, facing the Indian Ocean. I tried a fish that was new to me - I think it was called King Clip.  It was very good, and we had wine with dinner.  It having been a long day, we walked across the street for a few minutes to see the ocean up close, then retired for the night.  I was hoping for a good night’s sleep, as I figured I wouldn’t sleep much the next night.