Charles Apple

Very shortly, I’ll be on my way to South Africa. Again.

As usual, I’ll start out at Norfolk International. From there, I’ll fly to Dulles in Washington, D.C. And then I’ll be on my way to Johannesburg, via a refueling stop in Senagal.

Last month, I left for Cape Town for a two-week teaching and consulting mission that was extended to a third week. This time, I’ve been hired for two months.

During my nearly two-and-a-half weeks at home, I’ve spent some quality time with my wife and daughter, I’ve had some dental work done and I finally saw a specialist about the persistent cough and loss of voice I experienced earlier this year.

I also made time to get a battery of preventive immunizations. Africa in the summer can be hot and full of mosquitoes. I don’t expect any problems. But a little insurance won’t hurt.

You may recall the story about how I left my trusty iPod on the plane bringing me home. A South African Airways representative called later that day, saying they had found the iPod and would return it shortly.

However, two weeks later, it’s still not arrived. Therefore, Sharon bought me a nice gift this weekend — a replacement:

That’s a new iPod Touch. Not only does it carry all my music, but also it gives me internet access. I spent some time this weekend getting it all configured to help me cope with the next two months. I’ll even be able to make minor tweaks to my blog:

I could theoretically blog outright with it, but I’ll have to get much, much better at hitting those tiny little keys with my pudgy fingers.

To get me started, I downloaded apps to convert dollars to foreign currencies, to keep me posted of college football scores and to help manage my fantasy football team. I downloaded several news apps (but not the $1.99 CNN one Romenesko wrote about today).

I also downloaded a couple of TV episodes and five issues of a Star Trek comic book. I’m curious to see if comics can be anywhere near as satisfying on a tiny LCD screen.

And, of course, I downloaded Baaaa!, by my buddy Steve Wilson of the Ft. Worth Star-Telegram. Hey, Steve, when are you putting out your next app?

This is going to come in handy. I love it already.

The only part of my trip that turned out to be a real hassle was when I passed through passport control and customs — especially on the way back. Dehydrated and tired, I lugged around two heavy carry-on items — my computer briefcase and my trusty oversized suede SND duffel bag — which became heavier and heavier with each passing moment.

To help make my travel easier, Sharon also bought me a nifty new carry-on bag:

I hate to leave my SND bag at home, but this one rolls. Which will make my life much easier.

In addition, Sharon also bought me a new computer briefcase. This one is much more comfortable over my shoulder:

I wasn’t crazy about spending money on luggage, but I had to admit, what I had just wasn’t working. These are both Sampsonite products, so the quality is top-notch.

And they each were 50 percent off at Macy’s! WooHOO!

We began packing Sunday afternoon… which proved impossible when we couldn’t get our laundry done after the dryer broke. But the repair guy came Monday morning, fixed us up in no time and, as I write this, I’m all set to go:

Hopefully, I won’t have any overweight bags this time around to complicate matters. Just an overweight visual journalist.

Here’s my flight schedule:

Not reflected here is a stop for fuel, food and a new crew in Dakar, Senegal. It’s supposed to be a one-hour pause, but on both the leg out and the leg in last time, the stop was closer to two hours.

The trip was very comfy, though, no doubt about that. I’m counting on relaxing this time, as well:

There’s a man! A man on the wing of this plane!

Thanks to my old Des Moines Register pal Aric West for the Photoshop.

My stay for the first 15 nights will be the Garden Court Milpark hotel near Wits University, just north of downtown Johannesburg:

View Johannesburg, South Africa in a larger map

It looks like a very nice place:

The best part about it: I’ll be less than a mile from where I’ll be teaching, consulting and meeting with journalists. Even this right-side-of-the-road drivin’, American should be able to make it that far in a rental car.

This is going to be terrific!

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 29th, 2009 at 8:33 am and is filed under Charles Apple, Travelogue, Trip to South Africa. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.