Day 1 - 11 hour flight, and 11 hours on the road

The thought of an 11-hour flight can be quite daunting. Knowing that I will land in Johannesburg at 7 in the morning, and not be able to sleep all day is even more daunting. I tempered this with 2 things. I slept very little the previous night - packing up to 3 am. I also went out for a couple of drinks before my flight. Yes, such is the madness. I was done packing at 11pm. I was out at Holland Village with Jupiter - talking and laughing over a couple of drinks - till 12:20am. I was at the airport at 1am. The flight took off at 2:15am, or that was the scheduled time atleast. I was asleep before the plane took off. And other than an orange juice and a supper, nothing else interrupted my 8 hour slumber. Such is the power of sleep deprivation and 2 vodkas. With 2 hours left to landing, I started watching ‘Guru’ on the flight. Needless to say, I wasnt able to complete the movie, so feel free to tell me how it ends.

When the flight approaches Jo’burg, the sunrise colours and the city lights below form a beautiful picture. That alone is worth the effort of checking-in early online for a window seat. It is. Also, the city lights spread until so far away - Jo’burg is apparently the world’s largest city not located by a river or port. Aha. The touchdown was smooth, the immigration was quick, the baggage was the last. The customs were stopping everyone and asking questions - but a smiling indian girl who said ‘Good morning officer, how are you?’ was allowed to proceed without any questions or checks. Stepping out at the airport and not seeing the familiar face you are searching for is a bit scary. People coming and asking if you need a cab and trying to give your directions does not help either. But thankfully, before I noticed him, Buzz noticed me. Yippppeeeeee! It was so nice to see you (see, I can be polite at times!).

We drove out the airport, and then we drove towards Sandton, and then we drove some more. In true Buzz style, we missed the exit, lost the way for some time, and then managed to come back the right way. I was of course not complaining. To be driven around and not have to pay fare - when did that happen last? The expressway offers a good view of mostly vast stretches of nothing, the sun in the eyes is just warm and awesome and the radio plays good music. It reminded me of so many places. Stellenbosch in South Africa. Or California in US. Or Randwick in Sydney. It was a good start to the day. We reached the travel agent, gave my passport for the Zimbabwe visa, went to the supermarket to pick up food, and finally got home. Without losing the way this time. (Fine, I’m just being mean... Buzz is actually a good driver). The apartment is beautiful. The cluster is called Morningside and has Tuscan architectural influence. Buzz has a ground floor place, with a cute garden at the back. The bedroom opens into the garden, and is mine for the week. Dopey got the second bedroom with the inflatable bed. Buzz is being a good host and parking himself on the couch. That is just an excuse for watching more television!

After freshening up, Dopey and I ate at a cafe below the office, while Buzz wrapped up some work. As fate would have it, we bumped into his boss at the cafe, who then went on a guilt trip and told Buzz not to come to office during his leave anymore. Hehehehehehehe. We finally left Sandton, and went to Jo’burg city center. Shopped for household stuff at Oriental Plaza - their version of a Little India. Then we drove to Newtown. Finally, we drove to the Zoo Lake, which was just lovely! Acres and acres of gardens, with a lake in the center. Joggers, dog walkers, couples on benches, swans in the lake, pelicans by the lake. It was just so utterly beautiful, I hope we can make time to go there again. Watching sunset over a lake, with a mild windy winter to make you walk just a bit faster - I would trade it in for my city life any day!

Gosh, how am I going to convince myself to go back?