Bulawayo arrival

It was a really nice and comfortable flight and I had a decent nights sleep to boot. For the last couple of hours there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Just a beautiful view of Africa below.

I had a short connection in Johannesburg for my Bulawayo flight so I knew it was going to get interesting and challenging. I got to the gate as they were boarding the buses to take us out to the plane. I checked on the status of my luggage making the flight and was told it would make it. I again checked when I got to the plane and once more, they said that it should be there. My gut feeling told me otherwise. Well guess what ? On arrival in Bulawayo my luggage had not made the flight. So now it's hurry up and wait. The best scenario is that is gets here tomorrow. The worst case is.....................aah, never mind.

Now here is something ironic. A friend of mine from Bulawayo was robbed a while ago and basically lost all his clothing, amongst other things. I spoke to Silvi and asked if he would ask the Solomon brothers (his 3 sons) if they would put together a collection of clothing they were prepared to part with. The clothing was collected and guess who may have to temporarily use it ? Yes indeed, me. I'm sure my friend won't mind. I also plan to make a few local purchases.

Silvi picked me up from the airport and had a nice pepper steak meat pie waiting for me. The weather is stunning. For the next 8 days it will be sunny with a high of 80 f and a low of 55 f. The smells are so familiar and nothing has changed in 4 months. What did I expect? The power is actually on right now. Amazing.

We have lots planned. Watching live international field hockey and cricket. For TV viewing, World Cup Rugby starts in a few days and of course the usual array of English Premiership football games. Go Man United.

The transition to driving on the left hand side is fairly easy for me. Just have to keep a keen eye on the pedestrians, bicyclists and assorted bad drivers. Just like in Baltimore which, by the way, was voted the second worst drivers in the USA. Number one was Washington DC. I stopped in town to get a few items of clothing (t-shirt, shorts and 3 underwear) and US$50 later I had em. What the hell was I on ?

We went to Tanya Goldwasser's for dinner where Laurence made multiple great tasting pizzas with assorted toppings. There has to be a commercial demand for these.Business idea.

A couple of things I noticed on the drive around was that most of the street lights in Kumalo have been repaired and a fair amount of potholes filled in. Also, a fair amount of “robots” (traffic lights) seemed to be functioning. Some even seem to have LED lights in them. Maybe there is progress here.

Carpe Diem.