What a mammoth flight!
The lead up to the trip was a bit nerve wracking as I had to have my Covid test within 3 days of landing here. And with all my flights and connections booked, and my anticipation and excitement growing, it would have been a real blow to get a positive test result a day before leaving.
But a quick trip to the pharmacy after coffee with June at The Oyster Box (on the list of places to go for a real treat) my negative result was a big relief. It meant I could do my final packing and head to King Shaka International Airport first thing on Thursday.
What an easy departure. Dropped my car at Avis, rolled my suitcase across to the terminal and checked in in the almost-empty departure terminal. It was ghostly quiet, a huge expanse of emptiness. No problem social distancing there! The flight was uneventful, just as I like them, and we took off over the green expanse of sugar cane fields, then made our first turn north and I felt I was on my way.
Empty King Shaka International Airport, Durban
It was a long wait in Joburg, and I wandered around (with my suitcase) waiting to check in, pestered by unofficial porters wanting to drag my suitcase around for me!
Then my first Business Class experience. At the head of the line (sorry pleebs in the back of the bus) zipped through check in, suitcase came in at the perfect max weight and it was tagged Priority! But because of Covid, no lounges were open, so none of those perks. Once again, I was at the front of the Lufthansa queue and on this leg of the journey on the 747-8, I had selected a seat in the upper deck. Lots of space, greeted by our flight attendants and had one of them take a picture to prove I was there! I was fortunate and had no one in the next seat; in fact the plane was barely half full.
Dinner in Business Class
Lufthansa is still on Covid routine, so service is fairly limited but the food was good and it’s such a pleasure to actually have a meal served on a real plate, with real silverware and a tablecloth. Not having food plopped down on your tray table in a throw away container! I finished off my meal with a cheese plate and a lovely glass of port which helped me sleep almost the entire journey on the full layflat seat/bed!
Flying in over Italy, the sunrise was spectacular and we landed in Frankfurt on time.
Once again, a ghostly airport. Early morning (we landed at 5:30 am) and nothing open. No coffee shops, no lounges, just echoing terminals. But the German police were out in force. Even though I was in the transit area and had been checked through, I was stopped a couple of times to have my Covid clearance checked. The long wait gave me a chance for a good walk before the next flight 4 hours later. The Lufthansa Business Class lounge did finally open at 7:30 but due to the rules, is not allowed to serve food or drink. However, they had a coffee cart and packaged food you could take out into the terminal to eat! I made use of the wifi to catch up on orders while I waited.
Camera on the tail
The last leg was the longest. I was fortunate again to have no one close to me. Service was better on this flight but as I has slept almost the entire night from Joburg to Frankfurt, the leg really dragged on and I watched movies and read. And I discovered the inflight cameras aboard the plane. It was fascinating watching the forward facing camera which is mounted under the plane as we took off and landed. And during flight, the camera on the tail displayed a sweeping panorama over the fuselage and across the horizon.
By now, wearing an N95 mask non-stop was getting old! The top of my nose was getting sore from the fitting wire and my nose kept running! I just felt like I needed air!
Surprisingly, there were two small children traveling with their mothers in business class and one was extremely noisy so I probably wouldn’t have got much sleep, even if I wanted to. I did feel for the young women, though, as I remember well travelling with Ryan and Cody, between South Africa and California when they were tiny.
Arriving in LAX, I had the fastest clearance I’ve ever experienced. One swipe of my Global Entry card and I was back! No one checked my Covid clearance, no immigration check, no customs, no nothing! My Priority suitcase was first off the plane and I walked out to the most welcoming sight of all - Ryan! That first hug was something I will remember forever.
Then it was on to the freeway south to Dana Point and Betsy and Barry.
I’d forgotten how brown SoCal is. And reminded how built up it is. Coming from Durban, where all the colors are brilliant; the greens greener, the blues bluer, the surroundings here look drab! Traffic wasn’t bad by California standards, but it’s going to take me a while to get back into driving on the wrong side of the road from the other side of my car, which was waiting for me at Betsy’s.
Not so warm Dana Point - aboard Yippee Kai Yay for a boat picnic
Now I am ensconced in my room in Dana Point. Because B&B are both vaccinated, they are comfortable about being around me without a mask and we have been down to Yippee Kai Yay, their boat, for a boat picnic and we’ve walked down to the Farmers Market, where we were amongst the few wearing masks and keeping social distance. We even stopped in at a new brewery on the way home.
This morning, I did my 3-day Antigen test and YAY! came out Negative and tomorrow I have my first Pfizer shot with the second scheduled for 14 days later.
