The Long Journey to Africa

Calgary-Amsterdam

After departing Calgary at 6 pm and saying good-bye to my teary family, we (my friend Emma and I) arrived in Amsterdam at 11 am local time. It was rainy but still felt warmer than snowy Calgary.   After a quick bite at the hotel, we took an afternoon nap which helped us prepare for a fun night out on the town. I quickly remembered why I love Europe and Amsterdam so much. Everything was green, quaint and lots of people were on their cool-looking bikes. So civilized.
  
We took the 'silent' carriage in a large train to Central Station to be warmly greeted by two friends. We had a great dinner in a little Italian diner near the red light district which was followed by a drinks in a corner pub where we sat outside and soaked in the glittering lights and canals. We somehow didn't get back to the hotel until 4 am (which felt quite normal...8 pm in Calgary!) and got up again at 7 am for our flight to South Africa.

Amsterdam-Johannesburg

Schipol Airport was a zoo on Saturday. It was like the world had descended upon Amsterdam to fly somewhere. We made through the madness to happily find a coffee and a charger for Emma's cell phone which she conveniently forgot (mine doesn't even work, mind you, so I need to sort that out soon). We got on board the gigantic plane that was KL591 to be told that we could not take off (as we were poised on the runway) due to a technical malfunctioning of the fire alarm system on board.  This definitely needed to be rectified, so we turned back for the gate.

We were then told that it would be quicker to all disembark the plane and use a different one instead of fixing the technical problem. This was met by a large groan! Instead of departing at 1030 am, we were to leave at 2 pm. This changed things arriving into Jo'Burg so late at night (like 1 am) and caused me concern for my baggage collection plan in which my landlady's friend was going to pick up half of my luggage to take to my new home in Pretoria. I doubt he would be up for doing this now.....I called and left him a message saying we were about 4 hours late.

Arriving in Jo'Burg was quite ordinary despite things I've heard. It was really late and I think being the only flight to arrive helped. Customs was a breeze as was collecting our bags. Allan, the baggage 'driver', was there after all! He had come late, bless him. He took my one bag back to Pretoria with him to drop off at Carol's (where I will be living). We then hopped into a cab and got to our hotel. I couldn't see much of Jo'Burg at this point, only the highway. I don't remember falling asleep....but zzzzzzzzzz was easy to take at this point.

Johannesburg-Cape Town

We woke up at 730 am to sunny and warm South Africa!!!! We were back at O.R. Tambo International before you could say 'Cape Town' and back on another plane. Flying into Cape Town was a joy! You could easily see the long coastline and beautiful Table Mountain, the clouds hugging it closely. We were picked up by Emma's friend Andrew, and he took us to our hostel located in the "Gardens" district of central Cape Town. It for sure helps having someone to shuttle us around and I'm looking forward to seeing more of the city tomorrow. We just got back from a nice dinner out. The rain is supposed to clear up by Wednesday thankfully!

I'm afraid my first impressions have been fairly limited to airports and cars. However, we did drive by some townships on the way into town and I could see first hand how segregated they are from the rest of the 'haves'. The city itself appears much more developed. Something I took note of quickly was how women carry their children, like on their backs, piggy-back style, and wrapped in cloth. I also have took note of how society seems be pre-occupied with gates and locks and keys. We have 3 separate doors to open before we even get to our private room. World Cup advertisements are also everywhere!!!

The rain has started up again...it sounds so loud out there! Torrential! Here's hoping it's less obnoxious tomorrow. Bye for now!

Feet on the ground in Africa (wow),
Brianna :)