I lost all of Sunday and most of Monday to the airplanes. It wasn’t too bad though; started out nasty but improved as I settle into it. None of my planes were terribly full so we all had plenty of room to stretch and move and breath, some people even got two or more seats to lay out on. That was nice.
I was sat next to a girl from California who was going to see her extended family in South Africa for the first time. She was very pleasant to sit next to, and fortunately we were also both on the small size so until another seat came free we didn’t get in each other’s way much.
The food and drink were good, by my standards. Of course I’ve always had a thing for airline food. Also, Karen (the Californian) didn’t want her meals, so she let me have them. They gave us dinner on Sunday, and a breakfast and lunch on Monday, plus plenty of snacks and things in between. I had my share of Ginger Ale (which I first met and fell in love with over the Atlantic as a child), and plenty of water as the cabin air was very dry. I also had a red wine with one of my meals (which was a bit too dry, but went down well with the rest), several cups of tea towards the end, and a Bailey’s on the rocks just before landing which served its purpose well.
So the earliest parts of my flight were the worst; I was especially upset when I found that the USO at JFK was in another terminal, and to get to it I’d have to go through security again twice both ways. Not worth it. [Edit from the future: this is not true actually - the truth is there was and is No USA at JFK any longer. Very upsetting, and permanently biased me against this airport.]
Anyway, I'm here now. And photos!
My first glimpse of Africa was of Dakar, Senegal at about 5am.
Me on the airplane. Nearly landing time! (I look more exhausted than excited.)
Precious first glimpses of South Africa...
Interesting heart-shaped folds on this piece of land...
First glimpses of Cape Town...
And Table Mountain in the distance (look beyond the wing).
The buses ready to take us to the terminal proper.
This is Dane, I met him on the plane, he lives in... somewhere. Nice guy though.
And the blonde looking the other way is Karen (from California)
Edit: There were a LOT of people here when I landed, just masses and masses of them in the airport while I was trying to emerge into the receiving area and find AJ. They all seemed to be related too, or being received by the same family. It turns out that this is the end of the period set aside for this year's Hajj, the great pilgrimage all Muslim's who are able must undertake, and I was swept up in the chaotic energy of it!
Anywho, after all that my reception was relatively uneventful.
Me sitting in AJ's car... (SOOOO tired!)
Here comes jolly Andrew-John walking back from inside the petrol station!
Oh noes! We're driving on the wrong side of the road!!!
So we made it back to the Bethke household, and in a flurry of activity I learned about the numerous locks and securities on everything, got my things unpacked and sorted, had a delicious meal, and promptly passed out.
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