First Impressions of Johannesburg

7-12-08

Johannesburg, South Africa

I landed in Johannesburg about 12 hours ago. My flight was grueling but uneventful. The last time I was on a flight this long I went to Australia. At that time, I  vowed never again to ride coach on a long flight. Somehow, I broke that vow, and there I was, again, on a 20 hour flight, with my knees in my chest. 

The plane stopped, picked up passengers and  re-fueled in Dakar, Senegal. The stop was the halfway point between Atlanta and Johannesburg….eight hours done and eight to go. Oddly, a pesticide crew came in and sprayed the plane while we were waiting on the tarmac to take off. They claimed that the pesticides were approved by the World Health Organization and were safe. I remain dubious about that claim. Now that I think about it, my lungs hurt. 

The last time I was in Africa was nearly ten years ago as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Burkina Faso. While I have some fond memories of BF, let it never be said that any of those memories started or ended at the airport, which was, in a word, janky. The tarmac’s footprint was roughly equivalent in size to that of your typical Southfield ranch. The luggage conveyor was roughly equivalent in size to that of your typical COSTCO grocery conveyor. The luggage circled the conveyor once, maybe twice if the operator was feeling generous, and then, swish, all the unclaimed luggage got loaded back on the plane which was idling by waiting to depart for its next destination – Lome.  If you did not manage to grab your bags the first time around there was always tomorrow…when the plane from Lome would come back and redeposit whatever luggage still remained unclaimed. Did I mention there was no jetway? And when I first landed in Ouaga it was about 110 F? Nope, no nice jetway across which to stroll from the tight confines of the plane to the air conditioned air port. Nope.  Just straight down the plane’s steps and across the sizzling hot ranch-sized tarmac straight to the itsy-bitsy “catch me if you can” luggage conveyor. 

Now, given this was my only previous exposure to any airport in Africa (well there was that brief stopover in Bamako, Mali…for some insight on that airport please reread the above paragraph). So you can imagine my great surprise when I landed at Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg which is roughly equivalent in size to Rhode Island. After landing, I was whisked off the plane onto the long, air conditioned jetway and into a marble tiled area that had clearly marked signs reading “Customs” and “Baggage Claim”. At that moment, I  knew everything was going to be all right. In baggage claim there were free luggage carts and many, many, luggage carousels, not conveyors,  but full on, bona fide carousels. Yay! I had already cleared customs so I grabbed my bag and headed toward the exit. Awaiting me when I arrived were two people from my job – one of my co-workers and and a staff driver. We loaded up my stuff in the mini-van and took the right side drive back into the city. While I was cautioned to leave the ‘Stang in the States for fear that it would make me the target of a carjacking, I quickly saw that many South Africans eschewed that warning and made their way around town in all manner of luxury and sports vehicles with not a few convertibles among the cars I saw. 

We arrived at my apartment complex which is lovely but heavily fortified and has guards both at the car entrance and in the building lobby. I can’t stop smiling about my new apartment.