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Technically speaking, today wasn't really much of a day. We left Atlanta at 2000 on the 6th. Somewhere on the morning of the 7th, we lost 6 or 7 hours of time due to time zones. Arriving in Johannesburg in the late afternoon didn't help matters much. In any case, the day was one of the better travel days. We flew business class. For the first time in my life.
Wow. I've heard it's good, but I didn't realize it was THAT good. A bed! A freakin' bed! I could actually lie flat on the plane! What a concept! That's crazy! We had fluffy pillows, proper thick blankets, noise cancelling headphones & a menu to choose from. Oh & actual ceramic dishes with metal cutlery! What a trip!
Naturally, as we were boarding, I noticed a Mom with two young girls making quite a fuss. I thought, Nooooooo, they can't sit close to us! That's about the time I heard the Mom announce to the Attendant that their seats were RIGHT next to ours. Great. Thankfully I was about to find out that we would receive noise cancelling headphones.
The trio of them were, well, interesting. We were about to take off, as in taxiing, as in moving plane, when the Mother decided NOW would be a good time to change the little girls poopy diaper. Like the kid has never gone 10 minutes with a dirty diaper. Wow. The Attendants were NOT impressed. They had to call the Captain & well, let’s just say it was a drama getting the plane into the air! Thankfully after 10 minutes of screaming & a CLEAN diaper, the little girl settled down. The other daughter was as quiet as a church mouse!
I think I slept about 5 hours, woke up, ate, watched Black Swan – creepy but intense! – and then fell back asleep for a few more hours until we were landing in Jo’Burg.
Jaco slept a fair bit, at least it looked that way, as every time I peeked over at him, he looked asleep!
Once we were in Jo’Burg, we waited for Reuben to come off the plane & we visited with him as we went through Customs, collected our luggage & proceeded to check in. That’s where our next hurdle began.
In Atlanta, they had tagged our bags all the way through to Cape Town. When we picked up our luggage to go through South African Customs, they told us we had to go upstairs & check-in in order to get a boarding pass. I was a bit nervous, as I knew we were WAY overweight. We had been given Business Class allowance – 3 bags each at 32 kgs each bag.
Naturally, everyone in SA wants a piece of the pie, so they were wanting us to check in all over again, saying they had no record of us & since we were flying economy to Cape Town, they wanted us to pay for our overweight luggage. I was furious, as I knew we were going to pay through the teeth. In SA, they only allow you 20 kgs, regardless of how many bags you have. Everywhere else in the world, you’re allowed 2 bags at 23 kgs each. Argh! We stood in line for 40 minutes arguing with this fellow & that lady about our already tagged luggage that all we needed were boarding passes & we’d be on our way. They weren’t going to budge. We were currently 84 kgs overweight.
Finally, a compassionate gentleman threw his hands up in the air & said, ‘Just let them go! They have been standing here for 40 minutes & the plane is boarding. They are going to miss their flights! They are Sea Men & the bags are tagged.’ I love this guy! Thankfully I had my Seamen’s book with me! (You are supposed to receive extra baggage allowance as a Seaman.)
Away we ran through security & up to the gate as they were boarding the last 12 passengers. I ended up in the middle of the very back row. Jaco was in the middle of the other very back row. Funny how life works. I was sat next to a Senior Advocate who was working on a very big legal case in South Africa. There is a large case regarding firearms & weaponry in South Africa & it will go to court on 5th of May, 2011. 5/5/11. If you can remember, say a prayer that the case is won, as this country needs ALL the help it can get!
The gentleman sat next to Jaco was Colin Eglin. Who’s that you say? He was the leader of one of the political parties when Apartheid was thrown out & helped to re-write the new constitution in South Africa. Basically he’s a legend! How crazy that I was on the plane with these two incredible history making gentlemen! There was also a National Rugby coach on the plane with us, but apparently his ego is a little larger than he is… Hmpf.
When the plane landed, we had time to wait until we were able to get off, so I had a photo with the gentlemen. It made my day!
And finally we are here. The journey of a 1,000 miles. And then some. We collected our luggage minus one bag. Yes, it was missing. The nut bag was still in Jo’Burg. They are going to deliver it tomorrow. Fingers crossed! We made our way through the airport & waiting for us on the other side was Johan, Shilise, Gustav & Crystal. Jaco’s sister, brother-in-law & their son & his girlfriend. We hugged hellos & made our way to the cars. We were all a little worried about the luggage, but being short one bag actually worked well right about now!
We crammed it all into one car & with a suitcase beside me on the seat and 2 carry-ons sitting on the floor, we were headed towards Hermanus. Johan & Shilise drove home & Gustav & Crystal drove us home.
Arriving at home about 2330, Zandrie & Petro were up waiting for us. We had a little visit, but my eyelids started to get droopy. Of course, after we said goodnight, I came back to the room & checked my messages. Mom was online, so I ended up talking on skype & magicjack until 0400. Whoops. There goes jetlag!
In any case, we’re here & in one piece. What a journey. Three days later. Yeesh. I’m glad I’m here for a while.
Lekker slaap,
xxxxMaria
A little food
Comfiest flight ever!
My Baby & my bed!
Seats in Business Class
C'est moi!
Feet up!
Lotsa room!
Reuben & I by the beaded elephant in Jo'Burg Airport
Beads & wire
Colin Eglin & Sr. Advocate Hoffman
Last ones to leave the airport after our flight
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