Arrival in Cape Town…Finally!

What a trip from Oklahoma City, USA, to Cape Town, South Africa! I’m still trying to tally the hours I’ve been awake.

Let’s see: woke up at 4 am Monday. Ed picked us up at 5 am for a ride to the airport. Then at 7 am a 2 hour flight to Chicago, add a 3 hour lay over there. Then a 1 1/2 hour flight to Washington-Dulles Airport, and tack on another 2 hour layover before boarding United #1022 for a 14 hour flight to Cape Town.

Oops…I forgot returning to the gate in Washington when we were close to taking off…seems luggage of 20 passengers had just caught up with them as we were leaving so I’m glad for them we went back to load up the cargo hold.

But back to the 14 hour flight. 14 hours is a long long long time. Even with 4 meals, snacks inbetween meals and a seemingly endless supply of movies to watch.

We were watching “Twisters” when the captain urgently asked everyone, including all flight attendants, to sit down and buckle up. A few seconds later we were flying into a thunderstorm at 37,000 feet and that plane was rocking for several minutes.

About that time multiple (movie) tornadoes were sweeping into El Reno adding to the drama.

Deplaning was a breeze. A delightful young lady took us from the plane to immigration to baggage claim and to the reception area (where we met the AMA tour company representative) and then to the parking garage where the hotel had a car waiting for us.

Riding into town gave us a wonderful view of Table Mountain swept with clouds.

The Cape Grace Hotel is gorgeous, sitting right on the waterfront area.

Our room has a great view of the marina.

The room itself is spotless and luxuriously furnished.

And the hotel’s restaurant (“The Library” sans books) awaits (although we’ll do room service tonight if we can stay awake long enough).

Tomorrow morning we start recovering from the long trip here…probably just walk around the marina area.

Tomorrow night we have dinner reservations at Gold Restaurant..14 courses from countries all over Africa (the recipes, not the meals themselves).

Barb’s two cents worth: Air travel went well. I had expected the long layovers at Chicago and DC to be tiring because we started without a full tank. Only had 3 or4 hours of sleep the night before.

But as usual Niles had done his research, and learned that our first class tickets would get us into the Polaris lounge at both stopovers. Bright, light, quiet spaces with various dining options. Ordering from the menu or buffet. Our waiter, Lisa, was a delight. Similar experience in Washington.

Our choice of aircraft for international travel is the 787 Dreamliner. Each passenger in first/business class has an individual cubical with tv/movie screen, headphones and seats that will lie flat with feet raised. Those comforts make a huge difference in the overall tiredness of the body. In our eighties we wouldn’t still be traveling internationally without the Dreamliner. Most airlines have them.