Day 531 - Time Travel

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 5^th 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

Johan, Shilise & Crystal - Gustav was somewhere else at the moment

Day 177 - Barbados & My Baby!

In April of 2003 I took a red eye flight from LA to Atlanta to Grand Cayman. I remember now why I waited 7 years before I flew it again. There is nothing less satisfying than trying to sleep sitting up, then having to wake up in the wee hours of the morning, wander around aimlessly & then board another plane. I will say, however, that I thoroughly enjoyed the row of three empty seats all to myself! I slept the entire way to Barbados! There was a lady traveling alone across the aisle from me. She kept looking at me wistfully, as though she wanted to cuddle up beside me in my row of freedom. No chance Sista! I was down for the count!

As I waited for the next flight, I picked up a Mango Tango juice by Odwalla. They have become a staple in my diet. I love to have some juice in the a.m. & I enjoy the mango juice! I also bought a fruit salad to try & flush out the McD’s from the night before. Ugh. Next door to the juice shop was a bookstore. I found a very interesting book called, ‘The End of Overeating’. The author was a former head hauncho of the FDA. I’m not too heavy into it just yet, as I’m reading Be The Pack Leader by Cesar Millan (another great read!).


I sat at the gate waiting patiently for the plane to be ready. Thankfully there were some extra blankets on the desk & no one was there to ask, so I helped myself. Curled up with my book, juice, fruit cup & wi-fi connection, I passed the time quite smoothly.


To my sanity, the attendant brought me a little tag telling me that Valentina was safely onboard the plane. He didn’t comment on her status – hot, cold, terrified, content… I guess I would find out in a few short hours!


The queue for immigration was insane. I think there were about 15-20 zig-zag lines to weave through. The heat & humidity were intense. I people watched for the lack of anything else to do. There was a lovely couple behind me, they were going on their first cruise together. The couple in front of me were just bizarre. I think they were very wealthy & money hadn’t bought them great parenting skills. The twin boys were in a big stroller with bottles. I swear the kids were at least 3, if not 4 years old. Dad had slightly ‘feminine’ tendencies & Mom had a bit of a ‘vacant’ look to her. Admittedly, they may have just come off of a red eye flight as well, but even still, it was pretty interesting to people watch their antics!


I was finally allowed into the country of Barbados! Now, where was Jaco? He had told me he would meet me between 2 & 3. I thought, ‘What?! Three? Why would he make me wait an hour?’ After waiting in line for immigration, I clearly understood why.


I collected my luggage & was about to leave the terminal when I realized, ‘Wait! Where’s the cardboard box with all my prescriptions in it?!’ I couldn’t see it anywhere! Oh no! Panic! I stood in line to file a report, nervous & getting anxious about not having my supplements for 3 weeks! That was a lot of money & a lot of health in that box!! Finally it was my turn. As she was searching my flight details, I thought I would wander over & take one more look. And there it was. Wedged between 2 big suitcases. No wonder I had missed it so many times! Oh thank goodness! I was so happy to see that cardboard box!


It was then that I realized something was wet on my suitcase. Oh no. Yup. Both cases. 3 bottles of DMSO had leaked ALL over my clothes, papers & well, everything was soaked! If you remember, DMSO is the stuff that smells like all sorts of foul things! I prayed it would wash off & not stain or stink!


I passed through customs inspection (with flying colours!), although they were a little suspicious about my 15 lb box of pills! They thought I was a Doctor! :o)


I walked out into Barbados & there he was! My Man, Jaco! Oh it was so great to see him! I have missed him so much! Hugs & kisses & squeezes, we found our cab driver & made our way to the ship. We’d only been in the car 5 minutes & had our first tiff, but thankfully it didn’t last long! :o)


We waited on the pier for Valentina to arrive. She was pretty happy to see us! She still wasn’t allowed out of her carrier until we were on the ship. We stopped for a quick Em-BARK-ation photo - :o) - & then found our way to the cabin. She was pretty happy to get out of that carrier. She didn’t seem to affected by it, although she was very happy to see her Papa & her Mama! I think Mama was happiest of all!


Jaco had clinic shortly thereafter, so I took the chance to unpack & settle in. As usual I like to tidy & rearrange, much to Jaco’s dismay. Thankfully this cabin has plenty of drawers & cupboards, so there is NO excuse to have it unkempt, right Babe? :o)


As cabins go, it’s pretty posh. There is a narrow corridor, turning right leads you into the sitting area. There is a wrap around couch with a hide-a-bed, chairs, desk, china cabinet, fridge, TV, etc, etc. Turning again takes you into a hallway with 2 closets, a mirror, 4 drawers & then the bathroom. It has a tub, yes, a tub. Believe it or not, tubs are rare on ships. The medicine cabinet is HUGE. I have never seen such a big cabinet! Lastly is the bedroom. A nice queen size bed, TV, phone, desk, drawers, nightstands & great lighting for hair & make up. :o) I’m not grumbling at all! It’s plenty bigger than any room I’ve had back home or on ships!


Anyhow, I’m wiped & headed for the shower… It’s been a long day(s)… Here’s to a fun day in St. Lucia tomorrow!
xxxxx
Maria, Jaco & Valentina

This escalator reminded me of the ones in the St. Petersburg Subway - long & steep - but Russia's were much faster. I had recurring dreams about the escalators in St. Petersburg since I was a young girl. Very random.

 

Waiting for the plane to be ready & keeping warm!

 

On a wing & a prayer that Tweet Pea is okay!

 

About to safely land

 

Welcome to Barbados!