Holiday nightmare

Have you ever had a holiday that was just one disaster after another? Where you wish you could just rewind the clock, get a refund and forget the idea ever occurred to you?

Clarissa* and David* decided to make the most of their leave for 2011, saving the majority of it for a two week blow-out in Mauritius. “Oh, what fun they’ll have!” “Bliss”, we all thought. But how wrong we were!

The first sign should have been when their flight from Durban to Johannesburg was delayed, leaving them lolling at the airport.

The novelty was still there… They were able to cope.

All it meant was a bit more shopping in the airport – who doesn’t need an extra magazine for those lazy days on the beach or a shirt left over from the Soccer World Cup?

But then, what should have been a 70-minute domestic flight turned into something quite different. Throw in a good old Highveld storm with a breakdown in communication between flight crew and ground staff and you’ve got a recipe for disaster!

One hour spent circling Johannesburg, with three attempted landings, had our happy couple’s nerves frayed, but the thought of white sandy beaches and turquoise water kept them going. Only a few more hours to paradise…

The second flight gave them some respite, with reduced turbulence and only two or three stomach-lurching moments. As the pilot announced that they were nearing their destination, Clarissa looked out of the window to see… nothing but cloud. Two days of rain later, the weather broke and they finally had a glimpse of the heaven they’d dreamt about.

Unfortunately, the universe had it in for them!

Love the idea of going to a local market? Try paying the equivalent of R50 (after an intense negotiation) in a market for a bag of spices that cost R4 in the shop just a few hundred metres away! That’s one way to feel abused by your hosts.

Bad service – they got it. Poor imitation of ‘authentic’ local food – tick!

Then Mother Nature turned nasty… Sunstroke, migraines, jelly fish and (the final straw) an angry sea urchin that left 9 potentially lethal spikes in Clarissa’s foot. One R2 000 trip to the doctor and 6 injections later, she was left with a swollen, bandaged foot and no inclination to go near the sea ever again.

Needless to say, the young couple are very happily back in the Crest and planning to keep their feet firmly on terra firma for a while.

*Names have been changed

Have you had a holiday nightmare? Share your story below…