Transiting O.R. Tambo airport, Joburg

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Geo: -26.1355, 28.2315

Unremarkable airport with plenty of non-smiling staff. Named after a deceased anti-apartheid politician. Luckily the plane was not full and we each got to spread out over three seats for the 10 hour flight. The ear phones were so small that wearing them while sleeping with our head on the side was no problem.

We have a four-hour wait for our Nelspruit flight so have had a bit of a wander around. Great variety, good and cheap food in the food hall. If this is like other airports where there is a significant premium on the cost of food, then SA eating will be very cheap. Wonder what their other prices are like?

A beautiful, clear and sunny day but it was 1deg when we landed and it hasn't warmed up much yet! The waiting lounge ac is deficient and it's quite cold.

60 minutes late in taking off. We're up the very back of a 48-seat Embraer 145 aircraft that's quite roomy, though noisy.

Landed in Nelspruit through heavy, low cloud. Hooked up with the Lodge transport and drove the 90 minutes with a young Austrian couple. Surprising the variety of agriculture along the road: citrus, sugar cane, mango, paw paw and macadamia; mostly irrigated. Speed limit on a fair condition, two lane toll road was up to 120kph.

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Photos

Nelspruit Airport
Thatched roofs are quite common, especially on tourist related buildings. The airport was small and efficient.

Comments

[DOUGLAS]

Presuming the temps in Nelspruit were a little warmer: all the crops you mention belong to a tropical region.

[Morag]

Like the sound of these earplugs, need a workable pillow/neck support too. Who would have thought it would be sooooo cold.