After that incomparable day in Amsterdam and Zaanse Schans, it was time for the reality of the trek back to South Africa.
Team Beck was ready!
Well, let's be reasonable, almost.
We had checked in online the day before, shared our boarding passes with each other on our WhatsApp group in case one of us had a cellphone failure (patting ourselves on the back for being just that clever), and made our foolproof plan for leaving the Airbnb at 7:00. Our bags were (mostly) packed. Departure would be by Uber, to give us plenty of time in case of Monday morning commuter traffic, although Waze had indicated the night before (through the “Later” feature) that the drive would take under half an hour.
Our flight home was at 10:35, and those who travel internationally know that the recommended "arrive three hours before your departure time" is a minimum these days, particularly with all of Europe seeming to be on high security alert following incidents in France and Germany earlier in the year.
But we still had to get there in time
Kiligirl realised getting Team Beck to the airport was less a job for SuperKiligirl, and more a job for a specialist herder, so she mobilised another of her alter egos.
Introducing KiliBorderCollieGirl
Kiligirl goes into sheepdog mode
Kiligirl had had some bad experiences at Heathrow Airport in London the previous year, where even the Bag Drop line had taken over 45 minutes and the ensuing security check had taken another 45 minutes, leaving Kiligirl no chance to refresh herself before hightailing it to the gate.
Kiligirl did not wish to experience this again – and let’s face it, the memories of the two train journeys on this trip were also still fresh for her...no way was she going to be party to any more two-minute sliders – so she channelled her inner Border Collie and made sure there were no impediments to a departure of 7:00 latest.
Dreaming of electric sheep...?
Well, wouldn't it be a treat to arrive a bit early, thought Kiligirl. We could get there before the throngs, zip through check-in, Security and Immigration, have a nice breakfast at the airport - maybe we could even find a free lounge using Kiligirl’s lounge app!
Kiligirl likes to be at the front of the line to board, because she likes to get her overhead locker space and she has a thing about maintaining her perfect no-missed-flights record.
Kiligirl should be careful about dreaming too much of such delights.
Getting her sheep out the door
Kiligirl knew that the rest of Team Beck considered any time before 10am to be the middle of the night and getting up at 6am to be an affront to humanity, or at least to Beckdom. She got up at 5:00 to make sure she was ready and the two compact bathrooms (one a combined shower and toilet, the other a mirror/washbasin with washing machine and dryer) would be unencumbered for the other Becks to do their morning toilette and final packing as fast as possible when they got up at 6:00.
Kiligirl’s eternal optimism makes her a prize idiot, if you haven’t figured that out by now
Of course we didn't leave at 7:00. The time stamp on this photo tells me we got into our Uber at 7:23 (he came within three minutes of being called).
The drive to the airport was uneventful (Kiligirl's favourite kind), the driver pleasant, and Kiligirl and @tim-beck had sneaked the opportunity to sit in the back seat so we could hold hands with each other while chatting with the driver. Who doesn’t like chatting with Uber drivers? They’re a great bunch, and ours, Romeo, was a credit to the company.
My Uber receipt tells me we got to the airport at 7:48.
Okay, two and a half hours before the flight isn’t so bad, you say. And yes, Kiligirl was still optimistic this would work out in calmness and serenity.
We thanked Romeo and made our way into the terminal, looking up at the screens to find out our check-in counter. The airport was already really crowded, but we were still in good time.
Uh-oh....
Kiligirl realised that Emma had stopped some way back.
One tiny hitch
Emma had left her phone in the Uber.
SuperKiligirl to the rescue, again!
This was clearly beyond the powers of KiliBorderCollieGirl. Who do you call?
Geez, said SuperKiligirl to Kiligirl, I thought we were on holiday and I could chill, but you keep yanking me back from my chillplace.
No such luck, sez I to my alter ego, so SuperKiligirl whirls her cape around, this time with a bit of an audible sigh.
…she whips out her Uber app…
…finds the “uh-oh, I left something in the car on my recent drive” link (it’s pretty close to that)…
…follows the instructions (because SuperKiligirl is ace at following instructions) to have Uber call her back…
…and voilà, within seconds, she’s talking to Romeo.
He finds the cell phone in the front seat and says he’ll be there as quickly as possible. With the traffic around the airport, we know that won’t be quick.
He arrived about half an hour later, so gracious and with cell phone in hand. SuperKiligirl gave him what she hoped was an enormous tip, since it turns out none of that extra driving went through the app. He spent half an hour driving around not getting other customers because of us. That’s the least SuperKiligirl could do before taking off her cape to check in.
So, yes, we checked in….
Well, by now Check-in and Bag Drop were densely crowded, but progressing smoothly, and it took us probably another half hour to get to bag drop. I chatted a bit with the KLM service agent, pointing out that her name was “Service Agent” (or something like that), and she said it was because some of her colleagues had been stalked and trolled on social media and to the company by passengers who didn’t like the way they were treated. How creepy is that?
She was extremely friendly and kindly offered us souvenir boarding passes (nothing special, just paper boarding passes instead of our mobile phone passes), but service is all in the delivery. She told us her name, was kind and fun and managed to replace the memory of what is usually one of the most unpleasant parts of flying – a long schlepp to the check-in counter dragging bags – with a memory of a cheerful and considerate person helping us along our journey. How often does that happen? But that wasn’t our only positive experience of KLM on this trip.
The liquids thing
Before we left Johannesburg, Kiligirl went through the whole “security’s pretty rigorous in Joburg, but you ain’t seen nuttin’ ‘til you get to Europe” spiel with Emma. All the liquids had to be in little (under 100ml) see-through bottles in a clear plastic bag less than 1 litre in capacity.
We did the drill in Joburg, emptying out the carry-on of foundations, moisturisers, perfumes, etc. that wouldn’t fit or were too big (and weren’t needed on an overnight flight) and made sure valuable stuff didn’t go into the luggage because it would surely get stolen. Happy with our repacking, Kiligirl emphasised that we would have to do this again but even more carefully in Amsterdam.
When we were doing our final packing to leave Amsterdam, Kiligirl saw no reason to be pedantic and bring those lessons up again.
Then went through Security....
The Security line was loooong by now, six parallel cordons of perhaps 25 people each moving at a rate of one cordon every five minutes.
Entertainment in the Security line
You'd think they'd show the Simpsons, world news or something equally diverting. Unfortunately, Schipol Security is a place to make your own fun, quietly and privately.
For most, this seemed to be optimising when to drag or push their bag forward and watching the hate glares directed at people so absorbed in their phones they don’t realise a space for ten people has opened up in front of them.
Remembering where this was, after all, there were a lot of cute little screens along the zig-zag path which remind travellers to a high level of detail exactly what is allowed in carry-on baggage - so we couldn't say they weren't making an effort to attract our attention.
Team Beck shuffled along, Emma absorbed with her phone but unlike the oblivious types was always aware when to move along. No hate glares! An odd but important measure of success in a security line.
Then it was our turn to go through Security.
PANIC!
“What about my liquids?!? I don’t know how to pack them!”
A quick glance at the potentially life-threatening liquids showed too many of them in too many bags. Happily, nothing over 100ml.
SuperKiligirl suppressed another sigh (arguably not as successfully as the mobile-in-Uber sigh), wondering how else was an airport going to get anyone’s attention other than multiple screens explaining exactly how to pack liquids, and we’d been in line how long, half an hour?
SuperKiligirl pulls off yet another amazing rescue
She whipped out her cape, as well as her liquids bag which had extra room, just in case…for SuperKiligirl had once been a Girl Guide, and the Guide’s motto is “Be Prepared”.
A surreptitious check on the impatient crowd to see whether any of them had drawn fold-up pitchforks in anger at the microseconds delay (nope), a lightning fast SuperKiligirl (of course, too fast to be seen by the normal human eye) transfer into her liquids bag, and we were off to get our bits and pieces x-rayed with the serenity of the unguilty.
And passport control....
Yippee! A non-event. Fast, efficient, with a lot of yelling from a woman who could use a less stressful job demanding that people with American and EU passports go THIS WAY, somehow implying the DAMMIT in the tone, without actually saying it.
Airside, enfin
Finally, about 9:30. Our boarding passes said boarding was at 9:54. We agreed to do a little bit of shopping and meet in the central area.
Rookie mistake by Kiligirl – we didn’t set a time to regroup!
To the elder Team Beck members, it was obvious – a quick in and out was all there was time for, not even a coffee, let alone breakfast. However, Emma was not used to international travel, doesn’t wear a watch and was intent on getting critical souvenirs, an activity which could distract one from keeping a close eye on inconveniences like boarding times.
Boarding – Groundhog Day all over again?
9:50 – time to get to the gate.
Emma was nowhere to be found.
Kiligirl called herself an impressive range of names and hid from SuperKiligirl and KiliBorderCollieGirl.
Kiligirl said to @tim-beck, “I’m going to the gate. I’ll call her from there,” but thinking, “Where’s the nearest phone booth in case I need to call SuperKiligirl – again?”
I know what you were thinking
I was too.
We never needed SuperKiligirl, or even KiliBorderCollieGirl. Thank goodness, it was a total anti-climax.
I know, it would have made a better story if we hadn't found Emma, and they'd had to delay the flight, and we'd launched an airport wide search and found her chilling with a cappuccino, but this was real life and all that happened was I called her, told her we were at the gate and boarding was nearly closed. She was there in a couple of minutes.
Sometimes the anti-climax is the best outcome!
Before and after
There we were, seated three in a row, three Team Beck peas in a pod.
Here's what we looked like on our Air France trip out twelve days earlier.
Can you see the Beck Trek etched on our faces?
Shoutout to KLM
I simply have to say this.
We had the best service any of us has ever had on a plane (and there were years when Kiligirl’s frequent flyer status was much, much higher than it is these days, so let’s just say free upgrades were often enjoyed), great food, great entertainment and the chance to enjoy the one day flight offered by any airline from Europe back to southern Africa.
Our steward was professional, funny, helpful, personable and clearly revelled in making passengers happy. After hundreds of thousands of hours flying in multiple classes, including once on the Concorde (that’s a whole ‘nother tale), I have never been treated so well.
A day flight from Europe to Africa is awesome
Emma got to see the south of France, the Mediterranean, the Sahara desert and the Congolese jungle from 40,000 feet, or thereabouts.
From takeoff...
...over the green fields of the Netherlands and France...
...then the Côte d'Azur...
...and the coast of Africa - Morocco? Algeria?...
...Emma and @tim-beck were enjoying the flight...
...over North Africa, as we were saying...
...then a first glimpse of the Sahara...
...where the edge of the world is blurry...
...but surprisingly not as uniform as expected...
...then over the jungles and rivers of Central Africa...
...until a stunning airborne African sunset.
And then we were home in South Africa, late that August Monday evening. We quickly disembarked, breezed through Immigration (and the glasses-off fever check which throws the uninitiated off every time), picked up our luggage in minutes, and hailed our last Uber of the trip. Home by 11:00, with both SuperKiligirl and KiliBorderCollieGirl back in their hideaways, our last act of travel smarts was to turn the hot water geyser on before tumbling into bed and greeting the electric sheep of our dreams.
And that is the end of this Beck Trek. Woof!
Images pretty much all by Emma Beck or as otherwise credited.
Other posts to date on our trip:
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-11-part-3-team-beck-s-last-supper-in-amsterdam
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-11-part-2-team-beck-tilts-at-windmills-in-zaanse-schans
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-11-part-1-team-beck-hits-the-rijksmuseum-and-other-stunning-amsterdam-attractions
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-10-team-beck-comes-to-grips-with-amsterdam
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-10-team-beck-travels-from-hardelot-to-amsterdam-alternative-title-groundhog-day
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-9-team-beck-in-bruges-and-dunkirk-so-not-a-movie
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-8-team-beck-does-a-bit-of-rest-and-restoration-in-le-touquet-and-hardelot
https://steemit.com/family/@kiligirl/day-7-team-beck-attends-the-wedding-of-the-century
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-6-part-3-of-the-beck-trek-to-france-bruges-and-amsterdam-superkiligirl-saves-the-mother-of-the-bride
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-6-part-2-team-beck-takes-a-reflective-turn-in-delville-wood-somme-region-of-france
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-6-the-beck-trek-hits-the-north-of-france-amiens
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-5-team-beck-moves-from-paris-to-pas-de-calais-in-the-north-of-france-and-nobody-dies
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-4-in-paris-for-team-beck-notre-dame-the-musee-d-orsay-and-le-marais
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-3-in-paris-for-team-beck-hop-on-hop-off-bus-tour
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-2-in-paris-for-team-beck-boat-cruise-down-the-seine
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/day-2-in-paris-for-team-beck-a-visit-to-the-louvre
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/two-weeks-ago-yesterday-we-were-wandering-around-the-centre-pompidou-in-paris
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/paris-day-1-part-2-of-several-posts-on-our-trip-to-paris-pas-de-calais-bruges-and-amsterdam
https://steemit.com/travel/@kiligirl/whirlwind-tour-of-paris-pas-de-calais-bruges-and-amsterdam
Team South Africa banner designed by @bearone
This is great! And terrific pics and other "visual aids"! And, I can see where the two "alter egos" would come in very handy!
Thanks, @beantownboy! They are rather handy alter egos to have around 😜😜
Very funny - or sad, depending on your point of view. But nevertheless, quite true. A wonderful memoir!
Thank you, @tim-beck! ❤️️❤️️
Home Sweet Home! Like herding cats for SuperKiliborderColie! What is a girl to do? Thank goodness for the great people of KLM. The Supers got a chance to relax and enjoy their trip home. Great post my friend. You always know how to make it fun. Your friend Ellie Mae🐓🐓
Blissfully unaware cats, most of the time! Thank you so much for sharing the post journey with me and Team Beck, Ellie Mae, it's been great having you along! So glad you enjoyed it. :-) 😘😘
I am your faithful friend here on the other side Kiligirl. SuperKiligirl! Where do you hide the cape? Perhaps you are a shapeshifter. Took some photos of the cement pond for you. Will be shouting you out in that post. You are my inspiration. Forgot to tell you yes on the Butterfly Book. What is the name of it? Your friend Ellie Mae. 🐓🐓
:-)
Always asking the tough questions! I should ask where you hide yours - I'll bet it's in the same place. Since it's made of superhero costume material, it folds down to nothing, but what lady superhero doesn't carry a purse, I ask you? And don't the menfolk just always wonder what we have in there? 😉 Geez, I wish I was a shapeshifter. I'd shift some of my shape off me. This business of hitting your fifties isn't for sissies, and I'm halfway through it already! 😱 I get my fair share of inspiration from you too, seeing how you pick up every day and just do it. You're a strong woman and I admire you 😊😊
I am SO looking forward to those photos of the ce-ment pond! Black gold, Texas tea....
Oooo, the butterfly book - it's called Flight Behavior. It's not her best, IMHO, but I always enjoy the way she writes, weaving characters' stories together and tapping into their voices...and I always learn something from her books. My favourite is still Prodigal Summer, but I enjoyed The Lacuna as well. Everyone thinks I should love The Poisonwood Bible since it's about Africa, but the main character was so hateful I struggled with it. I guess that makes it a good challenging book. Her ability to write in (I can't remember how many) multiple voices in that book was simply extraordinary. Looking on this site, http://www.kingsolver.com/books/, I see some other titles which might interest you as well. Animal, Vegetable, Miracle sounds like Ellie Mae and the rest of the Clampetts! 😊😊
Dear Friend Kiligirl, my cape is invisible. Thank goodness it has all of the hidden devices I require i.e. GPS, speed control, sound and visual control. It is like driving a car with an adjustable seat that conforms to each driver. These days I use it more frequently than I used to. It was handed down through the Clampett family before we moved to Beverly Hills. Granny came up with the idea and her Mother delivered the product. Maybe we should sell steemit capes to go with the steemit chicken totes. Lol!
Cement Pond may show up today. Keep an eye out later on.
Looked at the books you referenced. More than one looks interesting. Right now I am back logged with plantings, steem, the van and our new little tiny house project. I actually thought you meant a picture book of butterfly's like lithographs. Thank you for your suggestion.
About getting older..... . Let's just say it is more difficult than I had anticipated. My Father used to say something like, but I still have so much left to do.
Maybe we just try to cram more into each day as time goes on.
Got a feeling your days are similar. Sometimes more goes on in my head than in person. Much Love from Ellie Mae🐓🐓
Your cape sounds like mine! Mine also has automatic mood control so I don't accidentally kill anyone if you do something blindly stupid. Love how you describe yours. Handed down through the Clampett family 🤠🤣There's a post in there, methinks, maybe with some artwork from your talented friends....
Flight Behaviour isn't too long a read - the others could take a really long time.
On getting older - let's not, and say we did.
I have a feeling our days are similar indeed, except you've got the girls to take care of and it sounds like they're really appreciating your TLC. Much love from
LD😊😊
See blog for cement pond! 🐓🐓
Hello @kiligirl
This line got me, still laughing as I type this.
Didn't know you have to arrive three hours earlier before boarding a flight, and I love the sharing of boarding passes on Whatsapp, it shows that you guys are prepared for any eventuality.
And I have experienced the drama of the waiting line but at a different locations. Going to Banks on Friday Afternoons is very stressful.
Loved the plane pictures especially that of the sahara.
@ogochukwu
Hi @ogochukwu, SuperKiligirl is highly mindful of others ;-). I'm glad that line made you laugh - it made me laugh to think of it.
On arriving for international flights - I didn't want to get into it, but even in South Africa now there are so many people flying, and security can take so long, that it's better not to take a chance and rather get there really early.
I really don't envy you going to the bank on a Friday afternoon. That could be a whole Steemit post in itself...a different world, with different rules, governed by clerks...oh dear, it sounds like a horror story....
LOL @kiligirl
It is actually a horror story, and the line is so slow and you are left wondering whether the clerks are playing Solitaire on their computers.
@ogochukwu
Oh, that is horrible...and I know exactly what you mean...may Steemit and things crypto take you out of bank queues forevermore.
Sounds like a adventurous journey back home! It is always problematic to estimate how much time one will need at the airport. lucky that Emma noticed her phone was lost before you went through the security check!
And what a gorgeous view you had at the flight, Sahara looks a lot more exciting than I thought it would too! I imagined only sand, those sand dunes must be enormous when they can be seen so clearly from a airplane.
Loved your funny writing once again! ^_^
Well, as you can tell, I milked every little detail - it was actually a pretty tame journey. I could have done without the cellphone episode, but you're right, at least she noticed quite soon! So you're a "bright side finder" too ;-).
I have only done that day flight once before and insisted on it for a couple of reasons this time.
The main one: It's the only one that lets you see the whole continent of Africa from top to bottom - Emma took good photos but it's impossible to capture how it really looks from up there; truly awe-inspiring. The Sahara is far more complex than we've been led to believe.
The second reason, more practical: you arrive in the evening, can get a night's sleep and be functional the next day. None of the night flights allow that.
I'm glad you enjoyed my writing - I appreciate being appreciated on Steemit 😊😊
But it is amazing how you can write about quite daily things and all the little details on your journey and still make it so interesting for the reader!
Those are actually some great reasons for taking a day flight. I usually try to take night flights, and then I end up not sleeping at all and being really tired. I should try to catch a day flight next time. On my last flight the window seats were more expensive, so I ended up sitting in the middle of the middle row of seats. I decided that for a long flight it is worth it to pay more for a window seat.
Well, I'm heartened if the reader finds it interesting!
Africa is plagued by night flights and the fallacy that you can work all day, take a night flight, sit in economy, arrive, have a shower and be useful the next day. I've been doing this close to 30 years and all I can say is it's too bad there aren't day flights UP to Europe from Joburg! You'd be amazed at the circuitous routes they have us take if we want an affordable flight. We can go via Dubai, or Istanbul, or Cairo (often with Nairobi as a stop in between) so a more affordable trip can take up to two days and involve as many as four flights. We bite the bullet and fly SAA, Air France, Lufthansa, KLM...at least here they don't charge us extra for window seats! I'm such a fanatic for an aisle seat near the front that I wouldn't be a good candidate for their marketing strategies anyway. Travelling with Tim and Emma this last time, it was a no-brainer: Emma had to have the window seat so she could see for the first time the continent she comes from.
Yes, I remember that it took my friend something like 30 hours to get from South Africa to Finland. I think it is a bit silly to charge extra for window seats, but maybe that is how some airlines can keep there flight tickets more affordable. I guess it is a good thing in that case. I have to remember taking a day flight and a window seat when I fly to Africa for the first time! I would not want to miss that scenery :)
Don't worry, they don't charge extra for window seats - I think they're happy to get people coming on these routes!
Glad you all got home safe \o/ are you sure the electric sheep were sheep :P
Thanks, @coindevil :-). Now I have to figure out what to write about next. What will it be? Inequality in Africa? More flowers? In a week, I'll be able to start posting a bit about Lusaka, but that won't be for long....
Sheepdogs, sheep, electric sheep...uh-oh, there's a theme here! Maybe they were all androids 😱😱
shigdogs shigs and electric peeps \o/
You're too funny 🤣🤣
hi dear @kiligirl, wao wonderful much interesting and informative well written blog, your creative skills impressed me much. your pics with your family and during travell are awesome. thanks for sharing.
Thank you, @rabeel. I have to say, the credit for the photos in this post and the one before nearly all go to Emma. I think the camera is part of her! I appreciate your support and kind words 😊😊
This post is almost unbelievable! I can feel the joy and enthusiasm! Family time is the best! Enjoy it fully!
I have a giveaway on my last post, a Nature Art jewelry, maybe you'll like it? Chek it out 🥀
I want to visit africa!! have a good time there :)
Well, it's been 20 years so far, and I'm still enjoying it 😜
I never planned to go there, because i prefere colder climates but my girlfriend convinced me and so i read many articles about africa and now it's my next travel destination :D
Excellent! It's a very big continent, so whatever you're looking for, I'm sure you'll be able to find here. By the way, I've lived here for 20 years, but I travelled here for another 9 years before that :-). Once Africa is in your blood it's hard to let go.
In what part of africa are you living? when i go there some day i let you know ;D
you got a new follower, hope to read more about africa from you :)
Hi, @jb-design, I live in Johannesburg (we often call it Joburg or Mzansi) and I often write about it. @teamsouthafrica consists of over 100 South Africans who write quite a bit about Africa, so it's worth looking up that tag if you're curious about this amazing place we all call home.
You got my vote and a resteem :]
sounds like one heck of an adventure, good for you, my friend
Thanks, @johnnyray :-)
nice pic omg.. this post need resteen ;)
ohh man thats good photography thats amazing...
Good post! I'm going to follow you to see more post like this and for support us!
Enjoyed it! nice :)
very nice and lovely lady,keep it up..love travel..^_^
Thank you, @barca! I really appreciate your support!😊😊