My journey started at my home in Los Angeles, where it was 70F, and my destination was Cape Town, where it was 80F. I tell you this because, in this context, wearing sandals, light-weight pants, and a t-shirt on the plane seems a reasonable choice. Perhaps not so much when changing terminals through snow at JFK. Silly me, thinking I would not have to leave the terminal to catch my connection. (Stupid: flight connection transfers that require you to walk through snow.) Boy my toes were cold.
The trip was LA to New York (5 hours), a layover in New York (4 hours), plane de-icing in New York (2 hours on the tarmac), New York to Johannesburg (15 hours), quick run through immigration in Johannesburg (1.5 hours), and Johannesburg to Cape Town (2 hours).
Now, trips like this I am fairly used to. This is the second time I have flown to Cape Town from LA. And I have done other long hauls like LA to Auckland, New Zealand. The one thing I really want after a trip like that, a nice hot shower. (Do you see where this is going?) Stupid: Hotels without hot water.
OK, two stupids out of the way.
Cape Town is a stunningly topographically beautiful city with a series of huge bays and of course its central feature Table Mountain, a huge plateau in the middle of the city. (Cool: How gorgeous Cape Town is.)
(My picture really does not do it justice.)
Having been to Cape Town before, my goal was more social than sight-seeing. My girlfriend, who I worked with in Santa Barbara California, now lives in Cape Town with her husband. So a quick cold shower and text message later, she picked me up and we were off to have drinks. (Cool: Catching up with old friends.) The following morning she gave me a tour of Cape Town.
Then it was off to work on the ship. Returning to the ship after vacation, or in my case, nearly two years on land, I imagine is a lot like being a rock star. Every person you pass greets you warmly and welcomes you back. Many people are excited to see you and can’t wait to catch up. You get to be the exciting popular person of the day. People would stop by my office just to welcome me back and there were lots of hugs. It is an awesome experience. (Cool: returning to warm welcomes onboard.)
More coming…
