TRAVEL BLOG December 16th and 17th, 2021 - CAPE TOWN to HOME

12/16/21 and 12/17/21- I receive my Covid results promptly at 10pm (negative as always) but Sharece didn’t. When we still didn’t have it by 12:30am I knew something was messed up so I get out of bed, put some regular clothes on and march to the front desk for them to call for me. The lab technician on the phone was quite rude to hotel reception, even though they messed up, and wait an hour before the email finally comes through. Losing sleep wasn't ideal but I was able to chit chat with reception during that time as he was eager to know about America and if people were actually protesting wearing masks and such.

The next morning, it takes only fifteen minutes to get to the airport with the roads almost empty for 7am and very peaceful. Looks like Covid all over again. We arrive with plenty of time to skate through passport control (which the guy didn’t even ask us to pull down our masks and waives us through), but our British Airways flight is being held at the gate for “paperwork”. It takes over an hour but we finally get in the air. We also have the entire 4 seat row to ourselves to stretch out in.

The flight is a long twelve hours with over nine of it being just Africa. That continent is huge. There was turbulence here and there but we make it to London shortly after 8pm. Once off the plane, we shuttle to Terminal 5 (packed like sardines) and find our next flight tomorrow is also through Terminal 5, however, they don’t allow people to stay there overnight; thus we have to shuttle over to Terminal 3 for the time being. We follow all of the signs and make sure to ask questions so we don’t accidentally leave the airport area and have to recheck back in, because if that happens we’ll have to get a Covid test and quarantine for several days before taking our flight home.

At Terminal 3, we have to go back through security again and dump our liquids we just got from the plane (can of soda and waters). You know, because that stuff is explosive, right? I think it’s another way to force you to pay for that again in the terminal.

We barely settle in when we’re told the lounge area is closing for the night and need to head to Gate 7. There's about fifty or so people here and it's impossible to sleep with them talking, snoring and even whispering into their phones. The chairs are also very uncomfortable as we choose the ones that lay back but have no cushion to them. Next time, always take the row of cushioned seats.

4am comes around and we're asked to go back to the lounge where we wait until 5am for the bus to Terminal 5. This is really getting ridiculous now, but what can you do? Scream? We queue for the shuttle, go through security and look for our next gate when we see our flight shows delayed until 11am. I want to give them a new motto: “American Airlines: We’ll get you there… eventually!”

While we wait I thought I’d take some time to go over some interesting differences in the English language. In the UK and South Africa, when something is available they say it’s “on offer”. “to let” means to rent and a traffic light is not called a traffic light… it’s called a “robot”.

At the gate, I’m selected for additional security, which includes a thorough pat down, and notice the other person searched has long hair as well. It’s been a while since I was profiled. I allow them to do their thing, give the person my number (just kidding on that one) and wait for boarding. I use this time to ask one of the flight crew to see if we can get an upgrade due to the cancellation of our first flight and she gives us a two-seater with more cabin room. That was nice. Well nice until we board and see the seats. They are the ones with a wall in front and no pockets to put anything in. You also have to bring up the tray and tv monitor AND right next to where they put babies on board, which one was already screaming in our ears.

I look around the plane for the previous seats we had, figuring they’d still available, and luckily find an entire row of 4 open. Without hesitation, or even asking, we move our stuff to that row. We did see the flight crew look around after noticing our previous empty seats but we didn’t give ourselves away (not wanting them to say we have to return back for takeoff or anything). It works like a charm. The flight home was relaxing and arrive around 2pm. Once we take the Uber home we’re exhausted to the max. We check our suitcase and confirm our wine bottles made it home unharmed, so everything is as it should be.

Another successful trip comes to a close, one in which we’re able to pull off with yet another Covid variant disrupting plans. The testing was a pain, and wearing masks was not fun during the long flights, but overall it was a fun adventure and a perfect way to celebrate our lives together.

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