MONDAY AND TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 20TH AND 21ST – NASHVILLE TO JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA:
Up at 4 am today to get some work done before getting Zac and Zoe up to get ready for school. Sad that it’s my last night with them for 2 weeks and I’ll miss Thanksgiving with my family. Wondering if there will be turkey and dressing in Namibia where we’ll be on Thanksgiving Day? This is, of course a Bellamy Brothers tour and we land in Johannesburg on Tuesday and have a “press day” on Wednesday. Then we fly to Namibia on Thursday and have show there on Friday. Fly to Cape Town for a show on Saturday and then back to Johannesburg for a show on Sunday. We have the following Monday and Tuesday “off” and then drive to another area in Johannesburg for our final show in Africa. We fly to Sri Lanka on November 30th, landing on December 1st. We perform there on December 2nd and then fly home on a very late night flight just after midnight – departing on the 4th and arriving back in the USA very late night on the 4th.
We all met at the Delta counter at 10 am and check-in was really smooth. It was a short flight to Atlanta and then a 4 hour layover. We were able to get 3 of the guys into the Lounge free of charge and only had to pay $29 per person for the others. Definitely worth it for a layover of that length. Rocky and I were able to exchange some U.S. dollars for South African Rand at the Atlanta Airport. That was a shock since the last two times I’ve tried to exchange money there, they didn’t even have Euros or Norwegian Kroner.
We boarded on time and everything went well except for Dink’s seat. Before we left, he had paid to upgrade to Economy Comfort and his credit card got charged multiple times accidentally. Then, when he boarded, the gate agent made a big deal of checking his passport to see if he had enough blank pages while she “secretly” changed his seat and gave him a little slip of paper with the new seat on it. When he boarded someone was sitting in the seat he had paid for and that’s when he realized he had been moved. I told him to write Delta and complain. They probably won’t do anything other than give him a few thousand miles that will be impossible to ever use but they should also refund the amount he paid for the upgraded seat!
That same gate agent told Howard he didn’t have enough blank pages to even get back home from this trip. I checked and he has at least 6 blank pages. Sounds like the gate agent needs to relocate to another position where she can be more effective!
It was supposed to be a 15 hour flight but the pilot said we would make it in 14 hours. I was amazed to see a lot of new movies on the plane that I haven’t seen before. I watched one while the meal was being served and then decided to sleep first and answer emails after a few hours. I was pretty “caught up” from working in the Delta Lounge. I think I slept off and on for about 6 hours! That’s what happens when you get up so early.
Was pleasantly surprised to have excellent WiFi on the flight. I worked for 3 hours and then watched another movie until the meal was served. We actually landed a few minutes ahead of schedule. We got in line for Immigration and a lady told me and Howard to go down to anther line. As soon as we arrived there, that agent left! We were able to get back in our original line but it moved very slow. All our luggage and equipment made it to South Africa with us. Just as we were about to exit Customs, two Policemen came up and started talking to Howard. I didn’t know if they were quizzing him or offering to help him. Fortunately, they had been told to escort us out of Customs and then to escort us to our hotel! That turned out to be a very valuable perk as traffic was heavy.
Jason, Frans, Charl and Shaun were all waiting for us once we exited Customs. It is HOT in Africa now! And the vans didn’t have air conditioning. Fortunately, with the police escort, it was only about 30-45 minutes.
The hotel is part of a big “gated Entertainment Complex” called Carnival City. We were told not to go off the grounds as it is like any “big” city with lots of crime. Honestly, there’s “nothing” right outside the grounds anyway but lots of stuff to do within the gates.
Check in was very easy and we all agreed to meet at the Thunder Spur restaurant for dinner at 6:30 pm which is one of the 2 restaurants where our meals are covered by the promoter. I made sure the WiFi worked in my room, changed my pants and walked down to the restaurant. Jason was the only one there. I started texting everyone and found out they went to a different restaurant. The restaurants are all located across the street from the hotel in the Casino. Unfortunately, the restaurant the guys had selected was not one where meals were covered by the buyer. By the time I found them and reminded them, they had already ordered! I did find Howard and David in time and they ate with Jason and me. Tim came in just as we were finishing our meal. The restaurant is a steak house and the steak was superb…which was a shock. Steak is usually not as good overseas as it is in the USA.
Our promoter had left beautiful “welcome” baskets for us in our rooms and we had to quiz Jason on some of the contents! There were a couple of “meat products” in brown bags that we found suspect. LOL.
Tomorrow is a press conference and media interviews followed by a “Welcome Dinner” with sponsors tomorrow night. I want to walk around in the Casino and show Zac and Zoe all the “fun things” for kids to do here on Facetime. But, they leave for their Dad’s this afternoon so I’ll have to try and do this when we come back to this hotel after our shows in Namibia and Cape Town.
Been working on answering emails for hours now and it’s almost midnight. Hoping to get in bed soon so I can get up and “jog” tomorrow since there’s no health club here!
Jude
WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 22ND, 2018 – JOHANNESBURG MEDIA DAY:
Didn’t make it to bed until 1:30 am and got up at 6:30 am to jog. Now jogging was a challenge. The Carnival City Casino and Hotel is “gated” and we were told not to go outside the gates. But the area inside the gates where I can jog is very small. I found a couple of parking lots but I was the only person around except for a lot of “staff” arriving to work. I wasn’t sure if I was “safe” or not, so just kept running around and around one parking lot for 45 minutes. Boring!
Had breakfast with some of the guys. Even Howard and David were already at breakfast by the time I got there.
Showered and learned that my shower has the “fluctuating” water. It goes from freezing cold to scalding hot in seconds with no “normal” temperature between. Another challenge! The hotel is really nice and the rooms are large enough to open our suitcases which is not always the case. The pool is still under renovation which was a disappointment to the guys. In a lot of the Middle Eastern hotels where I have stayed, everything looks beautiful and modern and then nothing works. Was very relieved that this is not the case here. Would recommend this “resort” to anyone visiting Johannesburg.
The press conference was in one of the restaurants/bars in the Casino and was well-attended. The media asked good questions instead of just asking information that is already available in their bio online. Makes for a much more interesting press conference.
We had lunch at the Italian restaurant after the media event. We were really happy to find that they have gluten-free, egg-free, wheat-free pizza!
I came back to the room to work for a while. They had cleaned my room but didn’t leave any towels at all. I went into the hallway and told the maid and she said they were “waiting” on laundry and would bring to me. At 6 pm, I guess laundry had still not arrived because I had not gotten any towels. Someone knocked my door to give me my “bedtime” chocolates for my pillows and I asked them about the towels. They brought them to me but kept asking a ton of questions and trying to figure out how many towels to give me. It was fast becoming an international incident so I just told them I had to leave to go to dinner.
The sponsor dinner was really nice. I sat next to a man and his fiancé and he owns a “trucking” company. They were both delightful to talk too. Our opening act – Jason Bradley and his wife – sat across from me and they were very interesting to talk with as well. The food was really good. I had a salad and grilled calamari and grilled prawns with butternut squash with almonds and feta. Excellent! Last night when we ate dinner, 3 of us had steaks and one had a burger. The total cost in U.S. dollars was $51.00! Good food is definitely a bargain here.
One day down and everything is still running smoothly. Big Kudos to Frans, Charl, Shaun and the Lefra staff as well as Jason and the staff at the Carnival.
Going to bed soon (I hope) so I can get up early and jog again before flying to Namibia. Sure wish we had more than two nights there!
Jude
THURSDAY, NOVEMER 23RD – HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA!
What a day! Could not go to sleep until after 4 am and then had to get up by 7 am. Decided against jogging and just worked out with the “Rubber Bands” instead. I checked everyone in for the flight except Rocky and realized his ticket had been issued in the wrong name. The promoter used his first and middle name instead of his first and last name and no one caught it. When I emailed to let them know, he had realized what had happened and canceled the original booking and re-booked him.
I showered and had a quick breakfast with some of the guys again. We departed the hotel at 11:30 and arrived at the airport at noon. We were dropped off at the wrong terminal so had to hike down to the other terminal with all the luggage and gear. The first guy I went to for check in, was very rude and even though he took all our passports and scanned them, he refused to check us in even though I had already checked everyone in online. He sent us to another counter and that guy was much nicer. He kept talking to me and laughing but his accent was so heavy, I couldn’t understand everything he was saying. So, I just started laughing when he laughed!
We went through security, then Immigration (flying from Johannesburg to Namibia is an “International” flight!), and then walked a really long way through a ton of shops on the way to our gate. We didn’t think we had time to do any real shopping as our flight was supposed to board in 30 minutes. I stopped at a shop to buy water and some macadamia nuts. The clerk scanned the nuts and said, “No Way. That is too expensive”! I know how expensive things are in airports so I told her it was okay. She said “No!” and reached behind her and pulled out a bag of Mango slices and scanned it. So, I only paid 115 NB instead of 215 NB for the nuts! THAT would never have happened in the USA!
We all sat at the gate waiting to board but when that time came, we were advised that the incoming aircraft was late and boarding would delayed by 20 minutes. Over an hour later, we boarded the flight.
We are flying South African Airways for the first time and it was a really nice plane. Also, there were a lot of empty seats on the flight. The flight attendant came on shorty after take-off and announced that The Bellamy Brothers were on the flight and gave information on their performance in Namibia. Think our promoter arranged that little bit of “free publicity”. Lunch was served and it was very good as well.
There was a lot of turbulence – taking off and landing but not so much during the flight. We landed in Windhoek and it was a very small airport. The flight attendants did not have any of the Visa Forms that we were required to fill out, so we all had to share pens and fill those out after we arrived. Then it took forever to go through Immigration because there was only one copy of our Visas and we all had to go through the same line. We finally made it out and then the “fight” began with our equipment. Jason was handling that as they kept asking for a “carnet” which is not required when only personal instruments are brought with the group. We had registered the equipment with Customs before departing, so we gave them a copy of that and “pacified” them enough to release us. But, before we could leave, we were called BACK to Immigration and had to go to another lady who stamped each passport and wrote in a lot of information.
We FINALLY departed the airport and it was about a 45 minute drive to the hotel. It’s a very nice hotel but is currently under renovation. I fought hard to get us changed to another hotel before we ever left Nashville but there just wasn’t another one available for a “last minute booking”. All the recent TripAdvisor Comments gave it 1 Star because only 1 elevator was working and there was 24 hour noise from renovation. Sure hope neither of those things are still true.
Had several challenges at check in. I had requested that Howard, David and I all be on the same floor. The front desk clerk said that was impossible. They had put Howard and David together in the Presidential Suite. I wasn’t sure if they would like it since we didn’t know if it had two separate bedrooms and bathrooms. We got a room on a different floor, just in case.
I was supposed to meet Howard, David and Tim in the lobby to walk with them to film a short “bit” for RFD TV. But, it took so long for me to get an elevator that they had already left when I finally got downstairs.
The hotel manager said that Howard, David and I were supposed to eat all our meals in the suite. That’s definitely not feasible since we all eat at different times. They did order their dinner to be eaten in the suite tonight but I ate in the restaurant. Four different men came up to me and quizzed me about what time Howard, David and I wanted breakfast delivered tomorrow morning. I kept telling them we would all eat at different times and either call room service or come eat in the restaurant. One of them even asked me what time Howard and David would like to “shower”!
I have had NO cell phone service since we landed. Everyone else does and I cannot figure it out. My device just won’t let me connect to the networks that are available! I tried calling T-Mobile but it’s “Thanksgiving” and the “hold time was 3 hours. I left a number to call me back and someone did but after placing me on hold for over 30 minutes the Wifi dropped the call. I gave up and have been using WiFi. Will deal with this tomorrow when it’s NOT Thanksgiving.
I called Chris, Lindsey, Zac, Zoe and Haley and wished them Happy Thanksgiving. Very hard to be away from them on holidays! It definitely doesn’t “feel” like Thanksgiving in Africa. No mention of it at all and we certainly didn’t have any turkey and dressing for dinner.
Still up and working at 1 am. Since I work with countries overseas who don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, the emails never really stop coming in!!! Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Jude
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 24TH – FIRST PERFORMANCE IN AFRICA AT WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA:
So, the drilling and jack-hammering started at 6:30 am! I was going to sleep until 7 am but it was impossible. Got up and showered and worked for a while and then went down for breakfast.
I had been waiting for an elevator for about 5 minutes when two of the “workers” came to the elevator. We all waited for another 5 minutes and one of them went up to the elevator doors, pulled them open a little bit, and yelled into the crack in the doors, “Let the elevator go!”. It arrived quickly thereafter. Guess I’ll have to try that!
When we were riding from the airport to the hotel yesterday, our driver was a radio DJ and he mentioned that he had worked with and been mentored by a DJ who was a huge Bellamy’s fan. I asked the name of that person and he said “Vernon Munnick”. We had been trying to think of the radio DJ’s name who emailed me for decades trying to find a way to bring the Bellamys to Namibia to perform. We actually met him once in Nashville at a Radio Seminar. He was a huge fan and played their music religiously. Unfortunately, he passed away a few years ago and didn’t live to see him dream realized by having the Bellamys perform here. They are going to dedicate tonight’s show to him. We think his family will probably be attending.
The guys had a great time at the German Beer Hall last night. Turns out it is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Namibia! But, service was very slow and they didn’t get back to the hotel until after 10 pm, so I’m glad I didn’t go with them even though I would love to see SOMETHING in Namibia while we’re here other than the hotel and airport!
We had a small press conference at 11 am at the hotel. The attendees were very knowledgeable about the Bellamy’s music so it was a good event. Jason – our opening act – was also there.
Left at 1:15 pm to go to sound check. I only needed to stay for a few minutes to check out the backstage area and “seating” out front. Came back to the hotel and walked around the shopping mall that is attached to the hotel for about 30 minutes while my room was being cleaned. Found a couple of stuffed animals for the Z’s that I know they don’t already have. Then, went back to my room to try and “chat” with T-Mobile some more about my problem.
All of the negative comments on Trip Advisor about this hotel were true. Basically everyone said it is a beautiful hotel with a really nice staff but DO NOT STAY THERE UNTIL THE RENOVATION IS COMPLETED. I agree 100%. Even on the 14th floor, construction noise can be heard throughout the day. There are supposed to be 2 elevators working but most of the time there is only one. Waiting 15 minutes for an elevator is not unusual. Howard and David said they were not having to wait for an elevator so I started walking downstairs to their floor to see if that helped. It didn’t. I still had to wait. Not looking forward to having to go downstairs at 5 am tomorrow morning instead of at 5:30 am just to make sure I can get an elevator.
I tried to call Room Service for dinner tonight as I wanted to work through dinner. I called every number on the phone – including the switchboard – and no one would answer. I finally called the number for the restaurant and someone answered. I told her what I wanted to order and every time I told her, she would ask, “and what do you want to order”? After 4 times, I asked if she could please put someone on the line who speaks English. She didn’t understand. So, I had to again attempt to take an elevator down, order from the bar and then take the elevator back up to the room….a total of 30 minutes out of my day when it should have taken about 5 minutes to order.
I got on Live Chat with T-Mobile for quite a while this afternoon. They tried everything including re-setting my network (which I had already done numerous times last night). Finally, one person did some research and said that yes, they have excellent coverage in Namibia but they don’t have any “partner providers” in Namibia. I would call that “false advertising”! I always check the coverage map before I travel and this is the first time I’ve encountered this situation!
We left for the show at 8 pm and had a quick “Meet and Greet” backstage at the venue. Vernon’s family was there we took photos with them. So very sad that he did not live to see the day the Bellamy Brothers performed in Namibia. Getting a performance scheduled here is actually fulfilling a dream for me as well since I never thought we’d be able to pull it off.
The performance was in a soccer stadium and it was fantastic. The buyer said over 1,000 people purchased tickets today! The sound was great, the band was great, the Bellamys are always great and the audience was great. They were up dancing and singing along with the songs. Bellamys performed for more than 90 minutes then we rushed back to the hotel in hopes of getting maybe 3 hours of sleep before departing for the airport. I’m thinking of sleeping in the lobby because of the elevator situation!
Jude