By 11 o'clock this morning I'd already said goodbye to the final 7, today is the first day I'm truly on my own since that first night in Nairobi. Tears flowed after I'd read an email from Mum and Dad and sat in the lobby to wait for my lift to the airport at 12, but not until after I'd had butter beans on toast!

The driver loaded me and two other women into the car, only to find out at the end of the road that the middle-aged woman was actually waiting for a tour bus to show her around the city. Not a lift to Jo'burg airport! After a u-turn and throwing the lady onto the roadside, it's how they roll in Jo'burg, we headed off at the speed of light in search of the bus station for the other girl and then the airport for me. It seems pedestrians are dispensable in this city, or at least that's how it seemed as the driver whizzed through the red lights and swarms of people. Great.

I made the mistake of making sure all of my Shoprite raspberry cordial was used up before I stepped on that plane - considering there was only an inch left it made at least 3 litres. Probably not the best idea before you get on stuck in traffic in a lethal car.

After tasting some western food in the form of the plastic tasting Subway I wandered over to the gate where I ended up chatting to a South African lady from Stellenbosch. She gave me her details as her husband did whale tours in Hermanus. It was nice to talk to someone about my plans and trip so far. I wasn't stealing the limelight though, she'd done plenty of travelling in her time, and said she'd rather be old and looking at pictures of all the places she'd seen and experienced than a new sofa. Couldn't agree more.