Our adventure started today. After an amazing amount of travel we made it to Johannesburg where we are staying the night. The flight from Marseille to Munich was fairly uneventful. I don’t think I was awake more than 5 minutes on the whole flight. I completely missed the take off even. The Munich airport was easy to navigate and not as large as I would have thought. This was the first airport that we didn’t have to go through security again!
We had dinner at a little Italian place where the servers spoke Italian even! Then we made it on our long flight to South Africa. Of course just as we got seated on the plane the thunderstorms started and we were delayed. Apparently the rules in Germany state that no grounds crew can work while there is lightning in the area, so you can imagine the delays. In fact I could look outside the plane window and see several other planes full of passengers sitting at the gate.
When the lightning stopped, we got out on the runway, but due to more lightning we were grounded for more time. We finally took off at 11:40pm instead of the scheduled 9:55pm.
We both slept through the whole flight, but when we arrived in Johannesburg, the pilot came on to tell us that the airport wasn’t expecting us and there were no buses to take us to the terminal from our remote landing spot. We had to wait around on the plane for an extra 30 minutes or so waiting for the buses. The pilot kept coming on the air to let us know exactly which company was screwing us up. I think most people took the delay in stride.
Obviously, we missed our flight to Bulawayo. Our scheduled 2 hour layover was just not enough with all the delays. So with everyone else on our flight, we lined up to get rerouted to our destinations. South African Airways was very nice to put us on tomorrow’s flight to Bulawayo and set us up in a hotel with vouchers for all meals and room and everything. I think almost our whole flight is at this hotel tonight. =)
So, change of plans. Tonight we are staying in Johannesburg at the Peermont Metcourt which is connected to the fabulous Emperor’s Palace Casino. We paid for the internet connection and I’ve emailed the travel agent to see what will have to change tomorrow. In the meantime, I am so happy to have a shower and a bed to sleep in tonight.
So, what are you suggestions on what to do in Johannesburg for the rest of the day? =)