We have arrived at Cape Town ahead of our two weeks visit to Southern Africa. Our trip was not without mishaps.
At the Sydney departure gate Qantas staff told passengers to board our plane via Doors 1 & 2 as applicable so there was confusion when we found those doors labeled A & B not 1 & 2.
Once underway I discovered that my touch screen television would not react to touch and in any event something jamming the sound socket meant no sound could be received.
Later the flight attendant spilt water all over me and all over my meal tray (one positive, I discovered for the first that the pants I was wearing are water resistant).
We had to collect our luggage at Johannesburg airport prior to recheck-in for the ensuing domestic flight to Cape Town. H’s luggage did not appear. When eventually only one luggage was left on the carousel (same brand, model and colour as H’s but with different stickers) we assumed someone had probably taken hers off the carousel in error. Security looked into it and discovered that the owner of that other luggage was also scheduled to go to Cape Town. A call to their mobile phone was unanswered. We hoped that H’s bag would appear on the carousel in Cape Town but it didn't. The airline is following up and says it will deliver the luggage to our hotel when recovered.
Reporting the ‘lost’ luggage used up the transit time we had at Johannesburg leaving us under three minutes to navigate an enormous distance in a strange airport to reach our domestic connection. One man who appeared to be airport staff offered to help us find our way as we raced along endless promenades and up and down escalators. At the same time he scolded us for only leaving 3 minutes to get the connection as if the predicament was our fault. It was only when he said ‘I will help you and you will help me’ that I realised he had no status at the airport and he baldly admitted he expected a big tip. The moment I said I wasn’t going to tip him anything he dropped us.
The driver who collected us at Cape Town airport delivered us to the hotel. He told us en route that he'd been having a bad day too and he decided to accompany us to the hotel Reception just to make certain they were expecting us. Turns out they weren’t! He had delivered us to the wrong hotel!
Finally we are ensconced in the correct hotel. It seems pretty flash.
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| Table Bay Hotel, V&A Waterfront |
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| Table Mountain visible through main Lobby window |
Such stress. The hotel looks great.
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