We had one more day in Dar Es Salaam before embarking on a rather complicated journey to Nepal. Despite booking our flight six months in advance, we managed to mess things up. Our planned route was from Dar Es Salaam to Johannesburg, then Mumbai, Delhi, and finally Kathmandu—a total of 28 hours of flying. However, we had overlooked obtaining Indian visas and were denied boarding our flight to Mumbai.
We believed, based on internet research and a call to Expedia, that since we were just passing through Indian soil for a few hours (up to 12 hours in the airport), we wouldn’t need visas. Turns out, we were wrong. Because our bags were supposed to be collected in Mumbai, we would technically enter India, making the 12-hour stipulation inapplicable to us. You can imagine our shock as the airline attendant broke the news to us. After a few choice words, we collected our bags and wondered what to do next, since the next flight to Kathmandu wasn’t for another 9 days.
We decided to spend those 9 days in Johannesburg—and it actually turned out to be a pleasant surprise. We enjoyed golfing every other day, shopping at the mall, drinking plenty of wine, cooking our meals in our backpacker’s kitchen, playing board games, and watching movies.
But the best part was walking. After spending so much time in other African countries either on long bus rides, in safari vans, or on beaches—often in areas where it wasn’t safe to walk around—being able to stroll freely in Johannesburg felt amazing. We stayed in a lovely suburb with blooming trees and flowers, and it was perfectly safe to walk around during the day.
In the end, it was a blessing in disguise. We firmly believe that everything happens for a reason. While we cherished our downtime in Johannesburg, we were still incredibly excited to finally make it to Nepal and explore the breathtaking Himalayas.