Okay it has taken me long enough...here is the first of my daily meaderings since arriving in SA!

Wednesday 31 August. Cape Town International Airport.
WOW! What a journey. I arrived at RDU only to find I had left my cell phone and charger at home! Eeek! No worries, Chris came to the rescue (at my insistance) by giving me his phone to use while in SA. He is going to use mine (strange phone numbers stored on it and everything... brave man!)
The grumpy sleep deprived guy at the ticket counter was kind enough to book my luggage all the way through to Cape Town for me which meant less retrieving and re-checking for me, so I was happy....emphasis on WAS.
I think this is what lead to my baggage disappearing somewhere alongthe way. But it could also have something to do with the fact the my tickets were booked in 2 different names, which may have confused baggage handlers somewhere along the way.
I am not sure how long the battery will last on this laptop and as the converter plug is in one of the suitcases that has been lost today, I don't think I am going to be able to charge it later.
Anyway back to the flights. The flight from RDU to Atlanta went well andwas over before I knew it. I took my time getting off at Atlanta and walked, instead of riding the express train, between the concourses. I went from concourse/terminal B all the way to E. I'm glad I did as it helped loosen me up a bit for the flight. I was hungry but really did not want to pay $10 for a mediocore breakfast so I settled for junk for a lot less (ham, egg and cheese croisandwich) at $3.50. The caramel late also went a long way to perking me up. Going to bed at 2:30 and getting up at 3:30 is not smart! I then went and found my gate, got my boarding passes and found a seat near a very very tired couple from Salt Lake city.

With the two names, Delta had double booked tickets for me under both Plumstead and Blakeman, so I had to cancel one and stuck with the window seat and boy was I glad I did. I was in the last row (the row the backs up against the toilet) and I thought it was going to drive me crazy with people going by all the time, but it really didn't. The plane was not terribly full so there was space for the lady next to me to move to the row adjacent so we could each have 2 seats each to ourselves, which really helped when it came to moving around to prevent stiffness. Anyway back to the story. The attendants on the Atlanta to De Sol Island stretch were fantastic! Attentive, happy and great service providers. I wish I could say the same for the De Sol Island to Johanessburg croud...they were terrible. More interested in telling jokes in the galley and gossiping about eachother than they were about customer service. Oh well, you win some you lose some, but it was definitely a wake up call to me about SA customer service. I knew I was getting closer to home as it became increasingly worse! I had a good flight...very long and tiring as I only managed to cat nap for about 10 minutes at a time, but I did get some good reading done and watched a few movies; Madagascar, Monster in Law and The Interpreter. I got my nose into a Michael Connelly book and I have to say the Harry Bosch stories are always fascinating! We had a 1 hour lay over in De Sol but it went by quite quickly.

Apon arriving in Jo-burg a large group of us were sent to the wrong passport control and so had to be ushered back through the airport to the right place. Got through passport control without a hitch but hit a huge snag in the baggage claim area. 1. it was PACKED with people trying to get to and fro with their carts loaded with baggage, gone are the manners of the USA. I waited nearly an hour, watching the carousel going round and round, baggage getting fewer and fewer, until I eventually gave up hope that my luggage had made it and went to report it. BOO HOO, I hate it when this happens. Anyway I was already running late so I ran from International arrivals to Domestic departures, got through Security, placed a very quick call to my dad letting him know what was going on and then dashed to the gate only to find that I was a paper ticket short (as SAA had re-directed my flight, making it 2 extra stops instead of 1, which meant there were not enough paper tickets to go around), they would not let me get on the plane! I eventually got mad and then almost lost it and balled my eyes out (but didn't). They eventually let me on the plane, but took my receipt as proof of ticket purchase. Grrr. I was mad. I got on the plane to find it was packed full like sardines and someone else was in my seat, double grrrr. I finally got my seat back and had half of it taken up by a rather large man who (like me) had not showered in the past 2 days but (unlike me) he had no deodorant on! I really tried my best to not touch him but it was very difficult, like being stuck between a rock (the wall) and a damp, soft, hairy, smelly place! EWW. Anyway, I made do. I read my book and he snored. Lunch was interesting...makes me not want to choose the Vegetarian (lacto, ovo, glyco) meal again. Eastern food will be the food of choice next time!

I arrived safely in Cape Town and besides being told that my luggage "may" be in Cape Town due to loading error, it was not. I went to check they had all my details and address so they can get it to me ASAP! Now I am sitting in the Departure lounge at Capetown International Airport, killing time until my flight leaves at 6pm (4 hours will be killed in total). I am going to sign off for today as I would like to conserve the battery for as long a possible. I will also try and do an entry every day so I have an actual account of the happenings in my life while here in SA. Yawn. I'm so tired! Bed would be SOoooooo good right now actually knowing I have PJ's would also be! Cheerybyebye O:o)