12th – 13th of March – Departure and arrival

A quick note; when touring Johannesburg I didn't bring my camera bag so I only had my phone camera. I apologize for the serious lack of quality/clarity in the photos.

My flight out of Copenhagen was at 1420 and as usual I arrive in good time. That turned out not being necessary, though, as there was barely any wait to turn in my bags (I had already checked in) and no wait at security. Bought some currency, had lunch and departed on time.

Boarding the top floor of an A380 in Copenhagen!

The A380 taking us to Dubai is special as half of the upper floor has been filled with economy seats (as opposed to probably any other A380 that fills the upper floor with business and first class). Though pre-booking one of the seats on the upper floor was more expensive than those below the cabin was smaller (2-4-2 as opposed to the below 3-4-3), not so long and barely half filled which made it a nice and quiet ride. I even had 2 seats by myself!

I had 4 hours in Dubai which I spent on walking around and having a very disappointing tapas dinner (though the dessert was great!) before boarding the next leg of the trip. What is it with people and their unwillingness to think? They announced first/business class to be first to board. They then called group D & E and 4/5ths of those queuing were turned away as they were group A/B/C. Listen to instructions. Read your boarding card. You are not a special snowflake. Rules also apply to you. Are you ignorant or just don’t care? I don’t know what would be worse. I lined up when group B & C was called and still people were turned away.

I boarded, found my seat and found that there was a free spot between me and my neighbour. Nice! We departed and arrived on time and despite watching a few movies I managed to get a bit of sleep. This plane was obviously much older than the A380 so I never felt as comfortable as on the first part of the trip.

I was picked up and checked in at the lodge at around 1130. Here I was given the offer to, together with an Irish couple that had arrived shortly before me, meet up with the rest of the arrive group and do a tour of Soweto. We all accepted and returned to the airport, met up with 5 others and our guide and spent the afternoon touring Soweto and various interesting spots in Johannesburg until returning to the lodge at around 1700.

I’ll be honest and admit that I always thought that Soweto (“South West [of Johannesburg] Township”) was primarily poor/slum area but what we saw indicated that it was just a suburb like any other with an estimated population of app. 3-4 million. While there are poor parts with squatters the middle class is by far the most represented there. Crossing through the centre of Johannesburg on the way to Soweto it at times looked more run down than what we saw in Soweto.

We saw the freedom charter with the 10 chapters, a memorial for Hector Peterson, the boy who was the first casualty during the unrest (and it wasn’t even intentional but a stray bullet) and “the world’s most famous street” where both Mandela and Desmond Tutu had lived at the same time (and the only street in the world with 2 recipients of the Nobel Peace Prize). All the time our guide was talking about anything we were passing by barely taking a break and I don’t think I remember but a fraction of it all. It was a bit heavy after 6 & 8 hours sitting on a plane.

Statues representing the 10 chapters (one behind me); The People Shall Govern!; All National Groups Shall Have Equal Rights!; The People Shall Share In The Country's Wealth!; The Land Shall Be Shared Among Those Who Work It!; All Shall Be Equal Before The Law!; All Shall Enjoy Equal Human Rights!; There Shall Be Work And Security!; The Doors Of Learning And Of Culture Shall Be Opened!; There Shall Be Houses, Security And Comfort!; There Shall Be Peace And Friendship!

Memorial for Hector Peterson (the year is 1992). The photo in the background is a photo of his mother carrying his body after being shot.

Nelson Mandela's house.

Plaque on Tutu's former house.

Apparently the most famous street in the world.

At 1800 we met for the usual introductory meeting where we all got to meet and introduce ourselves to the rest of the group and get info on the following days’ plans. The dinner was delicious South African BBQ and soon thereafter people left and went back to their rooms to be ready for tomorrow’s early departure at around 0630.

We are 15 in the group and I am lucky enough to have my own room. There is a daughter/teenager, an Irish couple a bit younger than me and the rest seem to be or be close to retiring. The average age of the group is much higher than I have expected. Also, 10 people are from the US which is surprisingly more people than I am used to, too. I guess that happens when you go on a National Geographic tour with a high level of comfort compared to the average tour. Also, 2 from Ireland, 2 from the Canada and me from Denmark.