lol, i'm tracking it to learn for the future what is the best time to purchase a ticket. Clearly 8 months out was a bad move. I have heard suggestions that 4 months for international nonpeak was optimal. The issue was that I needed this exact airline/flight and could not be flexible due to work time off.
I paid $621 for the flight + $610 in taxes, and it's now $331 + $610 in taxes. Now I find it absolutely crazy that an airline would only charge $331 for 20+ hr flight to Africa and back (4 segments each 10 hours approx) so I thought what I paid was a good deal, apparently airlines give away flights for nearly free as well... I did not know that. Now I am educated.