Our first bad news...

So when we started this project, we knew there would be bumps along the way...here's the story of our first "bump".

We are lucky enough to have nearly our entire flight itinerary on one ticket. From Fargo to Chicago to London to Johannesburg is all on United or its partner airlines. From Jo'burg, though, we need to catch a local flight to Livingstone. We found a great deal on Nationwide Airlines in South Africa that fit perfectly into our plan. Since we weren't quite sure what day we'd be heading out of Livingstone on the way home, we only booked a one-way ticket (by the way, this is foreshadowing for all your literature buffs).

The other day, I was going to book our return ticket from Livingstone to Jo'burg. I went to Nationwide's website and found a precarious message. In short, it tells customers that due to high fuel costs and low ticket sales caused by poor consumer confidence after an engine fell off during a flight last year, the airline was immediately ceasing all operations. Gulp! It failed, however, to mention anything about a refund for costumers...YIKES! So in short, it appears that Leah and I are out about $400 bucks for those tickets and need to buy new tickets. Not only are those tickets more expensive, but it will get us to Livingstone one day later than planned meaning will have to find lodging in Jo'burg for a night.

The good news in all this is plentiful, still. We thankfully only have to eat the cost of a one-way ticket, and there are still seats on the only other flight that flies into Livingstone the dates we need. Also, it was better to find this out in early May than in early July when we were stuck in South Africa.

Let's hope that this is as bad as the bumps get on this journey...

zac