Back to Africa

We are back in Jo'burg-finally!  We returned a week ago and had quite a return flight.  About an hour into the 16-hour trip, a woman about 4 rows behind us went into anaphlyactic shock and stopped breathing. Just like in the movies a call went out for a doctor on board.  Several medical professionals revived her and she seemed fine the remainder of the flight.  About half way through the flight, we hit an air pocket over the Equator which caused us to drop and rock and roll enough to injure about 10 people, including several flight attendants. Oxygen masks even dropped down over some of the seats.  There was some screaming and crying out but again, all was fine.  Later in the flight a flight attendant told us that they probably would have landed the plane to get medical aid to the injured but there was no place safe enough or airport large enough for us in West Central Africa.  Needless to say, the medical professionals on board were busy all night.  They all got free passes and extra frequent flyer points for their efforts.  We finally landed last Sunday evening, met by some ambulances.  All were "walking wounded", none were seriously injured.  My biggest concern was for our cat, Mobius, who was in the belly of the plane making his way back with us.  After we went through immigration and claimed our 2 tons of luggage, we drove to the animal quarantine/cargo area to claim Moby.  A local vet met us there after about a 30 minute wait, declared Mobius healthy, checked all our paperwork (which took weeks to prepare), and told us we were missing a certain stamp. After some explanation, crying, begging, and as a last resort, the consideration of offering a bribe (which we didn't have to do), he let us go with the cat.  Moby had been in his cage for over 24 hours and had a little scrape on his nose, possibly from the bumpy plane ride.  It has taken him a few days to adjust to his new surroundings.  He would cry if I left the room (fear of abandonment?) and followed me everywhere I went.  But now he is "chillin'" as always and seems content.  Big thanks go out to our foster parents, Pam and Adam, who did a spectacular job of loving him for a month until we could bring him here.