i have arrived! After almost 16 looooooong hours in the air, our 777 touched down at dusk at OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa. (The ATL – JNB is currently the 5th longest direct flight in the world, by the way.) The flight really wasn’t terrible. I had fun and interesting row partners that chatted just enough to be entertaining, but were aware enough to know when it was time to watch the in-flight movie or sleep. And sleep I did, thanks to the lovely nurses at Peachtree Travel Clinic. I swear I slept about 11 hours!  Oh, this is fun…  Deciding to mix it up a little with my in-flight meals, I checked “Hindu” on the menu options.  I ate a lot of bread today.

Ok, there was something pretty terrible about some of the people on the flight. While I was in line for the lavatory,  A man in a camouflage jacket and hunting gear started talking to me. Right next to him was another man in similar gear, wearing an NRA hat.  Now don’t get me wrong. I believe in our Second Amendment rights. But what I don’t believe in, is coming here to hunt Big Game.  The first man started to talk to me, telling me that he’s from California, but he didn’t so much care for it as it is “too blue “.  That’s when I shut down. Not the time or place to start a political conversation. The only thing I wish I would have said was, “I don’t eat meat.” Because THAT would’ve changed his world view, right?.  Later I realized that Camouflage California  was not with Mr. NRA,  but I still decided not to like him or the group that Mr. NRA was with.  There were several big game hunters on the flight. In fact, the man that I was speaking to in the customs line was here to visit his sister who does indeed hunt big game. Ugh.

Things you won’t see in Atlanta Hartsfield-Latoya Jackson International Wig Shop and Nail Emporium:  I thought this was the handicapped stall. It was not. I did not go here.

Muslim Prayer Facilites:The last time I tried to go to prayer in a Muslim prayer facility was in Morocco during Ramadan. That didn’t really work out for me, so I just went up the escalators today.

We landed at 17:35 (that’s about 5:30 PM for you civilians out there) and the sun was already disappearing. By the time  I found my way out of the airport, it was already dark. It IS winter here, you know. I made my way to the hotel and found that I could get a 60 minute hot stone massage with an Indian head scalp massage AND facial for about $85 US.  Considering the stressful week that I’ve been through, you know that I absolutely deserved it, and I treated myself accordingly.  The next 20 days at least are going to be busy and not as plush,  but I did treat myself to the Intercontinental Hotel and the massage tonight because the hotel is located directly across the street from the airport, and I didn’t want to deal with taxis, panhandlers, and pickpockets.  Read this article about Africa’s busiest airport and you’ll understand Insider Airport Crimes

And guess who spilled coffee straight away on the fluffiest, clean, white comforter?! Yeah, that didn’t take long did it?  (See previous posts.)

My bougie first night in Africa:The purple neon reminds me of the old days, back in the *cough cough* old country of Orlando.

Tomorrow starts the real journey. Wake up 07:00, eat hearty breakfast of bread and coffee, and meet the Care For Wild/Save the Rhino folks at 10:45. For now, sleep is necessary to get on the time zone. More to come, my party people!

(Oh, I think something I’m going to add to the blog is the wide variation in restroom facilities that I encounter in Africa. Stay tuned.

Here is the Intercontinental restroom: