A labouring arrival
Arriving in South
Africa felt like another world, with announcements going out every few minutes
to warn us to be safe and to protect all by protecting ourselves. At Johannesburg,
all the travelators were not working as I walked that long distance from one
end of the airport to immigration control.
Before getting in
line, I was asked for my negative COVID-19 PCR test which was compared with the
name on my passport. I have found I need to use my full legal name rather than
the shortened versions that I have been identified with for longer than I can
remember than I might even miss the calling of my full first name just out of
being unfamiliar with it.
Using a cane meant I
could join the shorter queue of those being provided some assistance, my
temperature was taken and then the customs official pleasantly took my
passport, asked for my mask to be removed, checked all my particulars, stamped
my passport and sent me on my way.
No thrill at no
frills
Getting a trolley was
an involved exercise, I was already sweating profusely but the closest trolleys
were all locked up in chains. I eventually got one, collected my baggage that
had not been checked through to Cape Town only to encounter issues with the number of suitcases I could check-in with the partner airline that was to cover the Johannesburg
to Cape Town final leg of my almost 27-hour journey.
This was resolved at
the ticket sales desk and I was checked in to this no-frills single class
airline where we were seated 6-abreast before I gave up my window seat for a family
to sit together. The lounge setup was perfunctory but acceptable, the shoe-shiners
were nowhere to be seen.
On arrival in Cape Town,
the e-hailing ride section had been moved to another location, properly
signposted as I have demanded many times before. I have religiously worn my mask
through the whole travelling experience, it cannot be said of many other people.
We just need to keep alert, aware, appreciative of the situation we are in, and
we’ll be fine.
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