Our flight this morning was longer than the last and as we took off from Dubai the flight attendants sprayed something inside the cabin which apparently is in accordance with South African legislation. We finally landed at Johannesburg at 16:16 local time, 15:16 BST, making the total flight time 8 hours 11 minutes. The airport people were very friendly and we were greeted by a lady in arrivals who took us 10 metres to another greeter who proceeded to take us to the Drifters Inn. At the airport we met Rich and Deb, Canadian husband and wife who have just spent a month in Greece and Turkey and who, ironically, had had trouble with the Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt that Ian and I wanted to catch to Johannesburg. It seems as though Lufthansa had completely overbooked their flight and offered Rich and Deb a refund and an alternative flight to Johannesburg via Namibia, which they gladly accepted. We all gathered outside the Drifters Inn for a run through on the itinerary and then the group had some dinner and anti-malarial pills. We all had a discussion about who was taking which prescription. There are seventeen of us on the safari which is maximum capacity so it should be a tremendous experience. Lots of different people of different nationalities and many sole travellers to whom I have full admiration.
We retired early for the night having had little sleep since leaving the United Kingdom. That was when the combination of lack of sleep and unfamiliarity set in and realising how far away from home I was some tears rolled down my cheeks. Comforted by Ian, again, I got myself together and had a comfortable sleep. The Drifters Inn was lovely, the bedrooms had very high ceilings which were thatched with ensuite shower rooms which were also thatched. They were very tasteful.
I managed to break the toilet at Drifters Inn.
Copyright 2002 Helen Fuller. All rights reserved.