An Unexpected Journey – Chapter 8

Thursday September 6th

So, here it is, the final chapter… an unexpected journey finally coming to a close – it is truly right what your parents tell you in that, the older you get the quicker time passes….

That blasted air conditioning got the better of me one last time in that I woke up early to the sound of torrential rain only to find the sun poking it’s nose over the horizon and clear skies. I decided to get up and make the most of it. Had a coffee out on the sun desk and, again, just sat reflecting for a little while enjoying the last hours being in my favourite place in the world.

We needed to be out of the villa by 10am so got our final packing done and loaded the cases up in to the car.

Once the 10am deadline arrived we set off with a little time to kill so stopped off for breakfast at Ponda Rosa. Had a mooch in the nearby sports shop buying myself a T-shirt and a couple of new caps and then it was time to head for Sanford.

The drive up to the airport was pretty uneventful and we were there in good time. Got the car back to Alamo, got checked in and headed into departures.

The kids remembered that last time we were here we had nachos so could we do it again? Why not eh?! I even remembered the same cheerful waitress who seemed to lover her job and customers very much (announcing “YAY!” every time she brought something to the table) from our visit in June 2009.

Angela and I browed duty free and stocked up on the obligatory aftershave & perfume and before long the flight was announced and ready to board. Just then the heavens opened and it absolutely lashed down – the runway looked about an inch deep in water and it was seeping through the boarding tunnel to the plane. Time for a sharp exit I thought!

We got away on time and had to battle our way through a couple of storm clouds before things calmed down but after that it was plain sailing (flying) all the way back over the Atlantic to North East England and a chilly Newcastle….