Arrival in South Africa! And the Preceding Flights...

Well friends, here we are, at the beginning of this year that I will be spending in South Africa. I am excited to be under way. So, let me tell you how I got here...

Flight to Amsterdam
Well, the folks as well as my sister and brother in-law were kind enough to drop me off at Pearson International Airport, and not long after that I was up and under way on a Royal Dutch Airways flight to Amsterdam. It was a nice flight in fact, except that I was sick for a good portion of it. I suppose I was foolish to drink the wine on with the meal provided, and subsequently was sick for the last half of the flight. Nothing too epic, but I did wretch once or twice. Oh well. I arrived in Amsterdam veeeeeeery tired, with three hours until my next flight.

Amsterdam Airport
I was a little anxious about catching the connecting flight, but as it turns out my gate was just 50 meters down the hall from where I got off the first plane, so all of a sudden I had three hours to kill before I had to board the next plane. Amsterdam airport (from what I saw of it) was pretty nice, smaller than what I thought it might be though. I stopped for breakfast at a nice little place called 'the Amsterdam cafe', it seemed appropriate. There I had a real coffee and a nice croissant, it was excellent. After purchasing some gravol I caught my flight to Johannesburg.

Johannesburg
The flight into Jo'burg (as everyone around here seems to call it) was uneventful, I wasn't sick at all, and I slept for most of it, so that was fine. Upon arrival in Jo'burg I was a bit apprehensive about finding my baggage, passing customs and somehow making it to the hotel that I had reserved, but it all went off without a hitch. The only tense part was finding the appropriate shuttle to take me to my hotel, but after tipping some baggage carriers quite generously, I was treated very well. I'm always a bit hesitant about the whole 'tipping' thing in a new country, it always feels a bit like bribery to me, which in fact, it is actually more akin to than traditional tipping, I would say. It is helpful when you are in a bind, but how much is it reinforcing negative social policies? Whatever the matter, I made it to my hotel no problem by 11:00pm South African time.

Pietermaritzburg
Due to all the time changing I was quite unable to sleep last night, so I feel asleep around 12 and awoke at 5 feeling I could sleep no more. It was a nice peaceful morning though, and I was able to get some reading and writing done. I checked out of the hotel by 8 and was well in time for my flight to Pietermaritzburg. Jo'burg Airport was quite busy, finding my flight was a bit tense, but I got it sorted out with plenty of time to spare. Enough time, in fact, to enjoy a cappucino from a nice little stand. After a brief 1.5 hour flight in a tiny plane I landed in Pietermaritzburg to be greeted by my aunt and uncle, Dan and Yvonne. It was nice to see some familiar faces. We drove the immense two minutes to their house, and now here I sit, all settled in at 17 Croft Rd for two weeks.

I shall be sure to update you with a bit more substance as the week goes on, but I thought I would begin by trip down. It was quite uneventful and perhaps boring, I will admit, but frankly, a lack of eventfulness is something you hope for an international flight.

So adieu for now, and I will post again soon. And I'll try to get some photos up before the end of the day.