Heading South
It’s supposed to be an easy flight to South Africa. It’s only a two hour time difference and it’s all downhill! We beg to differ. Sitting up all night wishing for a bit of shut eye is no fun. Most of the flights are through the night from UK and we much prefer a daytime flight where you can pass the time watching films or TV programmes. Anyway we made it. TW attempted to introduce a bit of late drama at LHR as she tipped a whole bottle of water into her lap whilst sitting comfortably in the departure lounge. Fortunately, in addition to a kitchen sink, she also carries a change of clothes in her hand luggage. Or, more accurately, my hand luggage. So, with the flight being called, she disappears into a remote loo to change. We should have run for the flight but my legs are gone so we had to take a chance. Happily we made it onto the plane in time for a Prosecco and took off on time. After about eleven and half hours we set down in sunny Cape Town. Virgin Atlantic was very good but the paint job on the wing left a lot to be desired. Hope its not indicative of maintenance issues on their fleet of 787’s. The queue for immigration was not too bad. At least we did not have to suffer the indignity of the slow lane like we do now on the continent. We were trying our best not to look lost as we headed out into the African sunshine. We were quickly intercepted by an AVIS/Budget golf buggy to take us to our rental car. Just as well as its helluva distance on foot. Our Budget Lady was efficient and were soon the proud renters of nice little blue KIA. Not sure why we were give a blue car, most other cars on the road are white. Good to stand out, NOT! So after carefully examining and photographing our little car we headed off to Somerset West. It’s a good road and easy to navigate. The ‘townships’ alongside the road are a reminder of the big gulf between rich and poor here. It was only a 40 minute drive to our little cottage, Just Unwind. We had been promised an early check-in but our host had contacted us the previous day to inform us that we would have to wait. Happily the cleaners sprang into action and the Cottage was ours for three weeks.
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| Nearly there on Virgin Atlantic |
After a quick change we headed to D & D’s for a coffee and then our first experience of a South African Supermarket. Not a terribly relaxed shopping expedition. Checkers is one of the big chains and has a decent selection but it all seemed a bit edgy. Some dubious characters seem to be hanging around. The parking attendants seemed friendly but, as new arrivals, we were not at all sure who’s side they were on. We were expected to give the attendants a reward for their help. This posed a problem as initially we had no small notes or coins, just about all our payments were with a card. We managed to gear ourselves up after a few days and were able to hand over a small note or coin. I attempted to get a loyalty card from Customer Services. The young lady took my driving licence and passport and keyed information in but apparently my ID was inadequate. TW reckoned I was getting hacked so we decided to abort the mission and pay a premium for our goodies.
Some of the grocery prices are reasonable, other items cost more than UK. The quality was good though. We hadn't really come to terms with the currency at this point, when you multiply the price by 23 it makes everything look pricey. The Avocados were our best purchase, very tasty.
We did make a couple of further visits to Checkers but we were not comfortable. We opted instead to go to the local Woolworth stores which seemed to be in much safer locations. We also started to eat out more as the trip wore on. Restaurants and Cafes meals are very reasonably priced and it was nice to interact with the staff. Another factor was that our cottage was a bit basic with just a microwave and stovetop and sadly no dishwasher, apart from me!
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