sam sanchez

Travels to Zambia

Here is something I was working on, on my way to Zambia, I have more coming up. My internet is slow so its rough trying to update in real time. This is long, not offended if you dont read it :)

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The trip started off with me trying to send out some files, from home, before catching my flight. Luckily the traffic was a surprisingly low, and we were able to make our first flight on time.  We were on time, our flight wasn’t, we ended up boarding a couple hours later than we were supposed to. We headed to the bar and met an old Aussie lady who was transferring from her connecting flight from Canada back to Australia. 

Landing in Heathrow, we immediately made our way to our connecting flight. We headed to the Tin Goose and were hosted by a friendly young lady who walked us over to the only two couches in the restaurant. The blaring television was not warm, but we looked around and realized we had the most comfortable seats in the establishment. 

Over eggs benedict, tea and bloody mary’s we caught up  with work that was still left incomplete. The whole restaurant was staring our way (since  the television was hanging over our heads) as we cracked jokes as to why we thought it was ridiculous how people were responding to the Royal Wedding. Understanding we were foreigners, we tried our best to be sensitive and not be too loud, but browsing facebook and seeing the comments online, we couldn’t help to join in on the conversation. The idea that people had “hope” in love because of the wedding was quite absurd and disturbing.  Zach passed out and I got to work.

Rich, the founder and president of Spark Ventures met us there. We wrapped up a few more details and headed to our terminal. 

I passed out on the plane, waking up 3 hours later and realizing we were still sitting  at the airport. i quickly put on my default comfort album and tried my best to ignore the fact that I was still sitting in the same place. I have a very difficult time being in the same place doing nothing for so long. I pulled out a book that a friend of mine gifted me prior to my departure. The book was an easy read and kept me happy and alive till finally we took off. 

At this point, it was understood that we were going to be spending the night in Johanesburg. Upon our arrival, after solidifying a few travel details for the following day, I texted back and forth with a friend from Joberg and made arrangements for her and her sister to pick us up and accompany us for the evening. 

Our hotel was called “Emperors Palace”, a slight replica of the Las Vegas famous “Ceasars Palace”. Flashbacks of my Las Vegas days quickly kicked in. The structure, layout and style of the resort mirrored my days of late nights hitting the craps tables and feeling sad for people who were smoking, drinking and glued to their slot machines. 

Our late lunch consisted of Nandos. A famous African favorite. Chicken drenched in your Nando sauce of choice with a side. I had the half chicken in the Peri Peri sauce (an extremely spicy sauce). 

After lunch Rich got some work done, Paul ( a member of Spark Ventures) took a nap, Zach opted out for a massage and I headed to the lobby to finish up some work  and wait for our South African friends to pick us up for the evening. 

Our SA friends pulled through. We caught up and waited for Zach to be done with his pampering.

We headed into the city. Over drinks and dinner we laughed, caught up, shared stories and talked about things that mattered to us. Zach and I were so tired and jet lagged, we called it an early night and headed back to our hotel. 

The following morning we dealt with more reservation issues. Eventually a rep from South African Airlines showed us his customer service skills and made sure we were taken care of. The one thing I must admit to is the following, though I always have issues when traveling in and through Africa, South African Airlines has great customer service. I have numerous accounts of feeling alone and stuck and having a rep hold my hand and make sure I made my flight. 

Never Again

as i mentioned, i missed my flight and was rerouted and really just totally messed with by every airline i was on. one missed flight turned into 3 delayed connections which caused me to hang out at airports longer than expected. i get i should have been on time, BUT, that doesnt change the fact that all these other flights were delayed, if they were on time, the plan would have been ok and i would have been at my destination right now. 

1st let me say that delta sucks

2ndly, i admit its my fault, but why would they make me pay penalty fees if i miss the other airline if IT WAS THEIR FAULT?!

3rdly, for now on, im just going to tell my client that i dont fly delta. i will pay the difference if it’s cheaper. its not worth the hassle. im appalled at how horrible their customer service is. my final flight was waived, not because of delta, but south african airlines lady was nice to me (maybe she saw both the stress and patience in my face?)…again, it was delta’s fault!!

does anyone know of a site that allows you to review airlines? delta has it coming….

oh, and they put my luggage on a different flight, AFTER the fact i was being transfered…it was the lady’s fault, i asked her to double check and she told me not to worry, i was like, “trick please!, thats my gear!!!!” (i didnt say that, but i thought it really loud in my head).