We Made It to Cape Town

On Sunday evening, London time, we boarded another big Virgin Atlantic plane -- this one bound for Johannesburg. We were all so exhausted, but excited to get to South Africa. For the first couple hours of the flight, we slept. But then dinner rolled down the aisle on a cart, and we roused ourselves to eat. In truth, the Virgin airplane food was fairly decent. And we were hungry. And eating passes the time on long flights. 

Hanging at our London gate. Get us to South Africa!

After dinner, Taylor fell back asleep. The rest of us eventually did, too. But night #2 on the plane didn't go as smoothly as the first. We didn't sleep as much and it was harder to find a comfortable position. First world problems, I know. 

We landed in Johannesburg about 10:15 in the morning. It took us about 25 minutes to get through customs, and then we grabbed our one checked bag -- a duffel. We made our way out of the international terminal and into the domestic terminal. We checked in for our 1:30pm flight to Cape Town and then plopped ourselves down at an airport cafe, where Tim and I ordered coffees, Taylor a smoothie, and Wyatt a hot chocolate. 

Coffee break in the Johannesburg airport.

Close to 1pm, we headed for our FlySafair gate. We boarded the plane and cheered that this would be our last flight for a while. About two hours later, we landed in Cape Town -- so tired, so sweaty, and so happy to finally be at our destination.

We had been advised to take Ubers everywhere in Cape Town, and so that's what we did. The Uber driver who took us from the airport into Cape Town was from Zimbabwe. He said he came to South Africa several years ago because it was safer and better here. 

Just minutes from the airport, we passed a large township. Townships are vast, impoverished settlements that were created under Apartheid to segregate the non-white population and remove them from designated central, affluent, 'white' areas. They're generally a mixture of formal, permanent housing and shanty towns. We knew there were townships in Cape Town, but it was still a shock to the system to see one so soon after arriving -- just the entrenched spatial divisions and inequality made so visible.

After a 30-minute car ride, we arrived at our Airbnb, a flat in the Green Point area of Cape Town. Our host let us in and promised to send some restaurant recommendations for dinner. After he left, we all showered...and that felt wonderful. We changed into fresh clothes (yay for that!), scooped up a restaurant recommendation from our host, and Ubered to the restaurant, an Italian one not far from our flat. Once again, our Uber driver was from Zimbabwe.

Dinner was delicious -- and inexpensive. Meals, and most everything else, cost about half of what they would in the States. 

Following dinner, we Ubered back to our Airbnb and promptly, literally fell into bed. 

Mmm, hot chocolate at dinner. (It's cold here!)

Delicious!

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