Are we there yet?

---

So we finally made it to Jo'burg. Here's what you've missed so far.

Flight over

At 4PM CST on Thursday, June 21 we stepped into Chicago's O'Hare Airport. At 8AM GMT +1 (1AM CST) on Saturday, June 23, we stepped off of our third plane in our fourth airport. Finally, at 9:30 GMT +1 that same morning, we left the airport. We had traveled for nearly 35 hours, and had come away with many lessons. For instance:


Never take a 757 for a transatlantic flight. They were not built for 7+ hours of travel. Just trust us.
If you see six kids within two rows of your seats on a transatlantic flight, calmly and quietly stand up and remove yourself from the plane.
Always have at least one aisle seat on a long flight.
Ireland is absolutely gorgeous (from the air, at least)
Heathrow is the O'Hare of Europe
Iced latte in the US DOES NOT EQUAL iced latte in the UK
If you ever need to find someone at an airport by way of a sign, please hold the sign up from time to time so that person may see what is written on the sign
In general, people are very nice.


We met two great people on the flight from London to Jo'burg. One was an older woman coming to travel Botswana on her own. The other was a business school administrator on his way home (plus he knew what Kellogg is). Thanks to those people for starting us off right.

Day One
Our arrival in Jo'burg was a very welcome relief. We were very tired, and it took us an hour or so to find our driver at the airport. The drive to the hotel in Sandton was a nice mix of old and new, and from our brief drive we were both impressed with Jo'burg. One interesting note is the weather here. If you are in the shade (or in the halls of our hotel), it is positively freezing. However, if you find the sun (and it is plentiful here), the temperature feels a good 25 degrees (F, of course) warmer. That's right, break out the tank tops and muscle shirts.

Fighting our fatigue, we headed over around noon to the Sandton City Mall, but not before two much needed showers. The mall itself is deceptively massive, with four floors of shops in what looks like a building that couldn't possibly house it all. Outside is Nelson Mandela's Square, with a giant statue of the man as the centerpiece. Who knew he was so tall? We found a great muffin to pass some time at the Mugg & Bean, then took a delicious parma ham sandwich home for lunch. Within seconds of downing the sandwich, we both fell asleep for a multi-hour "nap". We returned to Nelson Mandela's Square for dinner, found dessert in the form of hazelnut and toblerone gelatos, then headed back to fall asleep to Scary Movie 4. We were knackered.

Day Two
After 10+ hours of sleep (at least for one of us), we started our day off rather late. We have designated today as our "get acclimated to the time difference" day, so we can be ready when our tour starts tomorrow. We don't want to miss anything due to fatigue.

We came back to the mall (did we mention it's close) for another parma ham sandwich, saw a South African celebrity called DJ Fresh, then tracked down an internet cafe, where you have now found us. The rest of today looks to be relaxing, then it's up at 6 tomorrow to leave for tour #1. We'll save those details for the next post. In the meantime, our primary goal is to return Danika to health, as she still sounds like a 60 year old who has been smoking her whole life.

Cheers,

D&B

---

Photos

Before the whirlwind
D and B set to depart Chicago (thanks, Beth)

Quick stop in Shannon
B proves that we really did pass through Ireland

D and Mandela
Danika meets a South African legend

Comments

[aunt dee dee]

awesome!!
Glad you made it Love this spot!!!!

[MeMoMa]

You go kids!
See a White Rhino for us!