All roads lead to home

We started on our return trek on Saturday, December 14th and YIKES!!!  The trip over and the internal travel were nothing compared to what we endured on the way home.  Let's start at the beginning.  We started our journey home via the road transfer from Sabi Sabi Bush Lodge to the airport.  Nothing to report there, we arrived with a little time to spare, no trouble with luggage, and our flight was on time.  I was already envisioning the airport shopping we would do in Jo'berg and the peaceful sleep my littles would get on the trans-Atlantic flight home.  I should have been a little leary when the woman checking us in couldn't confirm the bassinet and told me she could check my bags all the way through to San Francisco, but I decided to give Africa the benefit of the doubt and just go with it.  Well, we arrived in Jo'berg and decided to scope out our gate before shopping- good thing we did because I checked and double checked the ticket (it was in military time) and when I was 100% positive that it said board at 6 PM and depart at 6:50 PM, I panicked!  We were originally scheduled to leave at 8:50 PM and it was 5:50 when we landed...with the new departure time, we were left with 10 minutes to get through the terminal, to the international terminal, and in line to board.  Besides the fact that I was 100% confused and somewhat annoyed that I wasn't getting to souvenir shop, I became irrate when security made me throw my WHOLE unopened bottle of wine away- I didn't think anything of it as a liquid in my carry on since it hadn't even been flagged on our first flight, but it was definitlety over three ounces and we did not have time for me to check it- plus I didn't have a bag to check it in anyways....We raced, like literally ran with all our carry ons and two babies decked out in pjs, to the gate, only to be stopped by another, even more througho security check...I flagged down a staff member and was informed that South African Air runs a winter schedule and a summer schedule.  I booked the tickets during winter schedule time for a summer schedule ticket, so instead of booking me a ticket according to the schedule at the time I would be traveling, they booked our tickets according to the schedule at the time I was making the reservation...TIA- THIS IS AFRICA.  Upon learning about this scheduling debaucle, I learned that the bassinet had NOT in fact been reserved and we were sitting in seats with broken TVS....I couldn't dream up a more grueling 15 hour flight than one without any form of entertainment for a toddler boy.  Upon take off, they announced it would be eight hours until our touch down in Senegal...our what!?!?!?!  We weren't slated to have any touch downs anywhere and we're already looking at a close connection time in New York...well, we learned that, along with different schedules, they make a stop in Senegal on the summer routes and that wasn't reported when I booked the flight during the winter route times...again TIA.  We landed in Senegal after what seemed like an eternity and had to take all of our overhead luggage out and stand up while they inspected the plane- shoot me now.  We eventually took off and got a new cabin crew who were much more interested in helping us figure out our TV situation- we eventually had intermittent TV time, which I guess is better than nothing.  We FINALLY landed in JFK and were assured that we would make it through customs and immigration, through baggage claim, through the terminal, the terminal tram, and into the new terminal before our flight left, which was in 45 minutes.  I am going to spare the teary/angry/meltdown details and just say, we didn't make it and while I hate to type cast, the JFK New Yorker airport staff was none too helpful and not at all concerned that we were missing our last connecting flight....thank goodness we were able to catch a flight just two hours later.  Now, since this flight was later, we were traveling with people who had a full night sleep and weren't arriving at the airport until after breakfast, so everyone looked AND smelled showered and ready for a day of travel- we looked like we had been hit by a semi-truck and dragged to a landfill before not being allowed to shower for days on end...yeah, it was that bad.  My mom was wearing airplane socks under her flip flops and that was just the tip of disaster...after a two hour delay and a much needed Starbucks stop, we were boarded for our last leg.  About 30 minutes into the flight Gabe and I inquired what time it was, SURE we had been traveling for at least 2 if not 3 hours...heaven help us, it was going to be a long 5 hours.  The boys had managed for so long and just as Gabe was saying how amazed he was that they hadn't lost it, Mr. Wyatt Bear started to SCREAM and Little Guy chucked his sippy cup down the aisle....they were finally revolting and to be honest, who could blame them? Kindle batteries were dead, airplane games had lost their novelty, and everyone was sick of trying to sleep in the awkwardly small and uncomfortable airplane seat....I am not sure how, but we made it....we touched down in San Francisco and my dad was there to pick us up.  He had flowers and balloons and hugs for everyone.  I won't lie, the drive home seemed to last an eternity and I could barely keep my eyes open long enough to get the babies in bed, but we did, and while we LOVED every second of our African Adventure, sleep in our own beds never felt so good!